Matthew Bird

Matthew Bird has spent the past 30 years working in different parts of the art, design and gift professions and finding ways to bring his professional experience into the classroom teaching design and design history at RISD. Trained as an industrial designer and metalsmith, his own design work has been sold in gift stores, museum stores, galleries and catalogues throughout the US and overseas. He has developed and managed multiple retail environments and participated as a designer and buyer for several others. Bird has curated and designed museum exhibitions that helped introduce design into fine-art institutions. His knowledge of manufacturing and materials informs his teaching and writing about design history, making the information especially useful to students learning the practice of design.