We Went to Art School

Let’s Eat: A series about the things we do around the table. #letsEat #irl

Between the three of us, we can comfortably call Rhode Island, the smallest state in the country, a home. For most of his life, John grew up in a small town called Tiverton, on the eastern border of Li’l Rhody. His family has been here for generations, with deep roots in manufacturing along the coast. On the other hand, Bruce and I spent our college lives, a mere four years in Providence, at the Rhode Island School of Design. Yet for the two of us, going to RISD was a significant part of lives, and undeniably a deciding detail that kept us in New England to pursue Greycork. This past week, we felt it was time to do a pop-up dinner for our homies back at art school.

We were headed to Nikolas’s home, a good friend of mine that I rode bikes with on the RISD Cycling team. His house on College Hill is a historic one full of character, and his roommates know how to decorate it with beautifully meaningful things that really make it feel like home. From the “My Goodness, My Guinness” posters, to the flags of everyone’s ethnic origin, carefully arranged ladders and lights, and the artwork scattered across the space, the house was perfect to invite friends over.

A minute after opening two Brooks benches and a table, the dining room was setup! It fit perfectly in their small space, with plenty of room for seating and walking.

We brought out the drinks and laid out the pizza from Wickenden Street’s Pizza Pie-er. It’s unlikely alternative to Providence’s popular Nice Slice, Fellini’s, and Anotonio’s, but it was a strong move — the box top was designed to be torn into individual plates, saving us from doing dishes. The pizza was gone before we realized it.

Of course, when people find out there’s free food and drinks, everyone and their friends show up to join the party.

Even one of my close friends who’s in Buenos Aires for the semester, Daniela, joined us through Snapchat! Bruce’s basketball buddy, Wayne, came through, my teammates from the RISD Cycling squad, Brian and Lukas rolled in, and our Greycork product photographers, Rob and Lucas, decided to stop by too.

It really started to feel like we were back in college. It’s a warm feeling to have everyone around the table to catch up and tell stories of what all of us have been up to, and get to know the new friends who joined us. Clearly, it was a good crew to spend time with.

Lukas filled us in about McMass and Hello Velocity, and how they’ve been getting a ton of coverage with the media. Surprisingly, John’s cousin, Kate, wrote about McMass in an article on Entrepreneur magazine — honestly, what a small world it is to make a connection like that.

We had to wrap up the night with a little bit of Super Smash Bros. before hitting the road. And of course, Bruce thought he would win against Barron, Alex, and Lucas….and instead he lost, over and over again. We couldn’t end the night like this, so we were off to the Wild Colonial bar for a game of darts with Nikolas, Lukas, Rob, and Annice.

To think Bruce would find redemption…nope. Clearly our time for being college kids again is over for the night. With our furniture boxed up, and the car loaded, we were back to the real world. It was a good feeling to revisit our art school roots again.

Alec Babala / Greycork