ART in Embassies (AIE), the US State Department, has began its inaugural art program in partnership with the Rhode Island School of Design. ART in Embassies: Morocco, which will be a winter-session studio art course, is being taught by artist Jim Drain as well as other RISD students and will culminate in a student-made large outdoor sculpture outside of the US Embassy building in Rabat, Morocco. The program will also involve classes taught by textile artist Soukaina Aziz El Idrissi of Morocco, dean of fine arts from RISD Anais Missakian, and interim associate provost Patricia Phillips. Chief curator of ART in Embassies Virginia Shore told the Wall Street Journal, “The mission of the ART in Embassies is to advance our nation’s cultural diplomacy through the international exchange of visual arts, culture, and ideas. While AIE has worked with more than 10,000 artists, museums, collectors, universities, and dealers over the past fifty years, this project with RISD is one of the most involved collaborations to date. Led by artist Jim Drain, along with ten RISD students, this project is engaging talented artists from both the US and Morocco. As part of our fiftieth anniversary, this project is representative of the culmination of our collective efforts, and one worth celebrating.”