1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Director Luchino Visconti’s recently restored cinematic epic recreates 19th-century Italy during the tumultuous years when the aristocracy weakened and the middle class rose to form a united, democratic country. Burt Lancaster stars as the aging prince watching his culture and fortune wane as his upstart nephew joins opposition forces. Screened in conjunction with the exhibit Pilgrims of Beauty and awarded the 1963 Palme d’Or at Cannes, The Leopard translates Giuseppe di Lampedusa’s novel into a classic masterpiece.
(1963/185 min./For mature audiences/In Italian with English subtitles) Watch trailer here. Co-sponsored by Cable Car Cinema. Free with museum admission.
11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
After visiting the galleries, are you inspired to make art of your own? Express yourself with drop-in art-making for all ages. All materials provided.Meet in Fain Education Classroom.
1:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Langston Hughes’s powerful and poignant poems, dating from the Harlem Renaissance through the 1960s, continue to resonate today. Two-time Grammy Award-winning performer Bill Harley reads Langston Hughes’ poetry aloud, along with members of the community, and accompanied by the Daniel Ian Smith Jazz Trio.
Coordinated by Anne Edmonds Clanton; co-sponsored by RISD’s English Department with additional funding provided by the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities; reception follows. Free.
7:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Art Shots-Frameworks: Seeing Outside the Box
This art historical tour with Carrie Swan, PhD Candidate in Archaeology (Brown University), 2012, examines the changing form and function of the picture frame, and explores its relationship with the artwork it encloses. Explore art and design through gallery talks spanning centuries and cultures from the perspective of student artists and art historians.
11:15 AM - 12:00 PM
Enjoy a close look at a work of art together through lively discussion, followed by sketching and activities in the galleries. All materials provided. Talks are 30 minutes; ages 6+. Meet at Farago Entrance, 224 Benefit Street
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Travel to 19th-century Italy through the evocative literature and innovative works of art from the time. Short readings, paired with paintings, prints and sculpture in the exhibit Pilgrims of Beauty: Art and Inspiration in 19th-Century Italy, stimulates connections and shared observations. Artists considered include Ingres, Turner, Sargent, and Whistler, along with authors Wharton, Hawthorne and James. Your guides on this journey include Christina Bevilacqua, Director of Programs and Public Engagement at the Providence Athenaeum, artist Anthony Bevilacqua (RISD BFA Painting '99), and RISD Museum Associate Educator Deborah Wilde.
4 Sessions - Sundays, February 12 + 26; March 11 + 25; 2-3:30 pm. Course meets at the RISD Museum. Museum and Athenaeum member $135, non-member $150. Advance registration required by Friday, February 3; limited space. Click here to be placed on the WAITING LIST.4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
The Choir from Queens College at the City University of New York in Queens, NY, will perform in the Museum's Grand Gallery.
The Queens College Choir is the Aaron Copland School of Music's principal undergraduate choral ensemble (Queens, NY). Comprised primarily of music majors, the group engages in a wide variety of performances throughout the academic year, including concerts of a cappella choral music, opera productions, and major works with orchestra. The Queens College Choir performs regularly in Manhattan, and has appeared in many of the city's prestigious venues, including St. Patrick's Cathedral and Carnegie Hall. In December 2010, the ensemble was invited to perform at the New York State School of Music Association Convention in Rochester, New York, and recently recorded Bright Sheng’s Two Folksongs from Qinghai on the Naxos label.
Repertoire will feature works by Victoria, Brahms, Rautavaara, Penderecki showcasing a wide array of choral singing from Renaissance polyphony to 20th century works featuring the poetry of Lorca.
The Queens College Choir will be visiting Providence to perform as part of the American Choral Directors Association Eastern Division Conference.
Free with museum admission.
11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Robert D. Mowry, Curator of Chinese Art at the Harvard University Art Museum, will speak about Korean Ceramics of the Chosun Dynasty (1392-1910), Korea's longest and last Imperial dynasty. Professor Mowry will illustrate his lecture with many images of these unique ceramics drawn from collections all over the world.
Presented by the Pottery and Porcelain Club, free and open to the public.
3:30 PM - 5:30 PM
7:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Join RISD Museum Gallery Interpretation Fellow and Brown alumna (BA '10, MA '11) Hollis Mickey to look closely at George Nakashima's Lounge Chair and discuss the creative process of its making. Explore art and design through gallery talks spanning centuries and cultures from the perspective of student artists and art historians.
11:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Saturday+Sunday, February 18 + 19, 11 am–4pm
Join us for the third-annual Providence Children’s Film Festival (PCFF), featuring an exciting, kid-friendly schedule of independent and international films, animations, and presentations—with related activities and workshops in the Museum! Visit providencechildrensfilmfestival.com for the week-long schedule of PCFF events and screenings; free Museum admission with PCFF ticket.
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Ages: Students ages 6+ and their adult companions
11:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Saturday+Sunday, February 18 + 19, 11 am–4pm
Join us for the third-annual Providence Children’s Film Festival (PCFF), featuring an exciting, kid-friendly schedule of independent and international films, animations, and presentations—with related activities and workshops in the Museum! Visit providencechildrensfilmfestival.com for the week-long schedule of PCFF events and screenings; free Museum admission with PCFF ticket.
11:00 AM - 1:00 PM
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Enjoy a close look at a work of art together through lively discussion, followed by sketching and activities in the galleries. All materials provided. Talks are 30 minutes; ages 6+. Meet at Farago Entrance, 224 Benefit Street
6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
At the museum, join a conversation with artists and designers. Take gallery exploration into your own hands. Exercise your artistic potential with unexpected approaches and methods.
Free admission with valid college ID
Hands-On Art: Color Glow
6-8 pm | Fain Gallery, 3rd Floor
Museum educator Mari Robles (RISD MA, Art + Design, ’12) leads hands-on experiences with color. Use unique techniques and materials. All materials provided, no experience necessary.
Multimedia Gallery Experiment
6-9 pm | Museum Galleries
Christopher Novello (Brown University, BA ‘11), a video game instrument performance artist, wanders the galleries interpreting space and mood into sound via the codebending instrument he built.
Talk: A Sculptor’s History of the Eye
6:30-7:30 pm | Metcalf Auditorium, Chace Center
How have sculptors depicted the eye, across the history of art? While the representation of light and reflection is central to the history of painting, sculpture had inventive strategies to imitate the live and active substance of the eye. Elizabeth King, Senior Professor of Sculpture at Virginia Commonwealth University, will present the arc of historical sculptural investigations that merge with the long quest to understand how the eye works from the optics and the physiology of vision, to the riddle of how the eye transforms light into perception.
Co-sponsored by RISD’s Sculpture Department and Brown University’s List Arts Center, Department of Visual Art, and Department of History of Art and Architecture
Art Shots: Hold It!
7-7:30 pm | Meet at the Babylonian Lion, Ancient Galleries
Explore art and design with gallery talks spanning centuries and cultures from the perspective of student artists and art historians. Join RISD Museum Gallery Interpretation Fellow and Brown alumna (BA '10, MA '11) Hollis Mickey in looking closely at the form and function of several vessels in the collection.
Opening Celebration: RISD Students’ Sitings Installations
7:30 pm | Museum Galleries
Winning site-specific installations by RISD students respond to and exploit the Museum’s architectural idiosyncrasies, collections, and habits of its visitation. Celebrate the winning entries for the annual Sitings 2012: Museum in Motion competition, juried by artist Nancy Chunn (Chicken Little and the Culture of Fear). This year’s winners are Anther Kiley (RISD MFA Graphic Design ’13) and Anya Ventura (Brown MFA Public Humanities ’12) for FRAGMENTS (6th floor) and Rachel Grobstein (RISD MFA Painting ’13) for Lostronaut (6th floor).
Co-sponsored by RISD’s Graduate Studies Department.
Work in Process: Architectural Sketching + Textile/Apparel Design
7:30-8:30 pm | Works on Paper + 20th-Century Galleries, 3rd Floor
Join RISD student, Sheri Fabian (RISD MFA Architecture '13) for a conversation in the galleries about the place of sketching and travel in her practice and in relation to historical examples on view in the exhibit, Pilgrims of Beauty: Art and Inspiration in 19th-Century Italy.
Sakura Bready (RISD BFA ’14 Textile Design) and Elise Pelletier (RISD BFA ’14 Apparel Design) were inspired by textiles in the Museum’s collection and created a new textile design and related garment. Talk with them about this creative collaboration.
6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
How have sculptors depicted the eye? Elizabeth King, Senior Professor of Sculpture at Virginia Commonwealth University, speaks about how science and art merge in the long quest to understand how the eye works.
Co-sponsored by RISD’s Sculpture Department and RISD Museum and Brown University’s List Arts Center, Department of Visual Art, and Department of History of Art and Architecture. Free.
7:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Join RISD Museum Gallery Interpretation Fellow and Brown alumna (BA '10, MA '11) Hollis Mickey to look closely at several vessels in the collection to discuss form and function. Explore art and design through gallery talks spanning centuries and cultures from the perspective of student artists and art historians.
7:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Winning site-specific installations by RISD students respond to and exploit the Museum’s architectural idiosyncrasies, collections, and habits of its visitation. Celebrate the winning entries for the annual Sitings 2012: Museum in Motion competition, juried by artist Nancy Chunn (Chicken Little and the Culture of Fear). This year’s winners are Anther Kiley (RISD MFA Graphic Design ’13) and Anya Ventura (Brown MFA Public Humanities ’12) for FRAGMENTS (6th floor) and Rachel Grobstein (RISD MFA Painting ’13) for Lostronaut (6th floor).
Co-sponsored by RISD’s Graduate Studies Department.12:15 PM - 1:00 PM
Emily Peters, Associate Curator for Prints, Drawings, and Photography and Laurie Brewer, Assistant Curator for Costume and Textiles, provide a close examination of objects, fabrics, and figures in this panel painting and explore the sensual intentions of the work. Specialists from various fields offer differing views on single objects, stimulating thinking about social context, artistic interpretation, and the ever-evolving meaning of objects.
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Enjoy a close look at a work of art together through lively discussion, followed by sketching and activities in the galleries. All materials provided. Talks are 30 minutes; ages 6+. Meet at Farago Entrance, 224 Benefit Street
10:30 AM - 12:00 PM
Focusing on the Museum's current exhibits Painting Air: Spencer Finch, Chicken Little and the Culture of Fear and Building Blocks along with the permanent collection, this course closely examines art created from the late 20th-century to today. Museum Educator Sarah Laperle leads each class in critical analysis and lively discussions about art. Drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, and installation will be considered, along with artists’ writing and art criticism of the period.
3 Sessions - Saturdays, February 25; March 10 + 24. Members: $135, non-members: $150. Advance registration required by Friday, February 17; limited space. Click here to pre-register now.1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
After visiting the galleries, are you inspired to make art of your own? Express yourself with drop-in art-making for all ages. All materials provided.Meet in Fain Education Classroom.
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Rhode Island dance company JUMP! is known for its site-specific dances set in Providence’s urban landscape. Now it moves into the Grand Gallery in Tableaux Vivantes, a slow-moving recreation of the RISD Museum’s own paintings and sculpture! Art comes to life in this performance of controlled elegance and intense athleticism. Free Museum admission the last Saturday of every month. For information about JUMP!, visit jumpdancecompany.org.
11:15 AM - 12:00 PM
Enjoy a close look at a work of art together through lively discussion, followed by sketching and activities in the galleries. All materials provided. Talks are 30 minutes; ages 6+. Meet at Farago Entrance, 224 Benefit Street
1:30 PM - 3:30 PM
Draw your way through the history of art. Artist and art educator, Margaret Owen uses a range of techniques—from thumbnail sketching to portrait drawing--to guide new and seasoned students through the topics of composition, line, pattern, proportion, volume and shading. Each class will focus on one collection in the Museum and will culminate in improved drawing skills and an increased knowledge of art.
5 sessions - Sundays, February 26; March 4 + 25; April 1 + 15, Members $90, non-members $100. Advance registration required by Friday, February 17; limited space. Click here to pre-register now.6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Giovanna Borasi (Curator of Contemporary Architecture at the Canadian Centre for Architecture) shares how environmental and social issues influence today’s urbanism and architecture.
This lecture is the first in a series of four. March 15, Pablo Helguera; April 5, Spencer Finch; April 12, Robert Blackson.
Co-sponsored by the RISD Museum, RISD’s Division of Graduate Studies and Brown University’s Malcolm S. Forbes Center for Culture and Media Studies.
12:15 PM - 1:00 PM
RISD Professor of Furniture Design John Dunnigan and John Tschirch, Director of Museum Affairs for The Preservation Society of Newport County, exchange views on the materials and meanings of a beautiful 19th-century Italian mosaic souvenir table top seen in the exhibit Pilgrims of Beauty. Specialists from various fields offer differing views on single objects, stimulating thinking about social context, artistic interpretation, and the ever-evolving meaning of objects.
5:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Nationally known Rhode Island native Duke Robillard brings his jazz trio to the RISD Museum for Music Thursday. B.B. King called this two-time Grammy nominee and co-founder of Roomful of Blues "one of the great players". Enjoy the music and drinks from our cash bar. Wander the museum galleries, including the newly opened Painting Air: Spencer Finch exhibition.
For information about Duke Robillard, visit dukerobillard.com.
The music is free with museum admission.
6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Color belongs to the arts and sciences. It guides daily decisions and opens gateways towards understanding natural phenomena. Artist Spencer Finch (RISD MFA Sculpture, ‘89), writer and photographer Michael Benson, along with marine biologist, Dr. Christopher Deacutis, discuss color systems, speculations, and deceptions. The program is presented in conjunction with the exhibit Painting Air: Spencer Finch.
Co-sponsored by RISD’s Sculpture Department; Brown University’s Center for Vision Research; and the National Science Foundation, RI Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research at RISD. Free with museum admission.
10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
Building Creative Connections: Art, Language, and Literature
This workshop investigates the connections between language and visual art and how explorations of art can animate the experience of understanding various types of texts. Discover parallels between the way we construct meaning from visual art and make sense of informational and literary texts. Educators develop skills to evaluate art and artifacts, and to lead dynamic discussions that deepen students’ abilities to describe, analyze, and interpret artworks that are relevant to curriculum. This session is geared especially to English Language Arts teachers, but is open to educators of all subjects.
PD credits are available. $25 per person. Advance registration is required, call 401-454-6552 or email mlefast@risd.edu for more information.
2:00 PM - 3:20 PM
Residents of Meredith, NY were in favor of clean energy and the additional income attached to wind turbines, but unexpected complications negatively impact their daily lives. Arguments on both sides are captured in the documentary.
(2010/80 min./not rated) Watch trailer here. Co-sponsored by RISD’s Respond|Design and Cable Car Cinema. Free.12:15 PM - 1:00 PM
Degas’ bronze sculpture of a ballet dancer is the point of departure for Julie Strandberg, Senior Lecturer, Theatre Arts and Performance Studies at Brown University and Jeff Hesser, Senior Critic, RISD Foundation Studies and Illustration Departments to consider performance and anatomy. Specialists from various fields offer differing views on single objects, stimulating thinking about social context, artistic interpretation, and the ever-evolving meaning of objects.
7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
Textile scholar Angela Sheng, Associate Professor, McMaster University, shares the history and innovations of silk through the lens of pre-modern technology and society in China. This talk relates to the Museum’s exhibit, From the Land of the Immortals: Chinese Taoist Robes and Textiles.
Offered as part of Brown University’s Year of China; co-sponsored by RISD’s Department of History of Art and Visual Culture and Division of Liberal Arts, along with the Haffenreffer Museum Brown University and Brown University’s History Department. Free with museum admission. Free admission to museum members including RISD, Brown University, along with Bryant University, CCRI, RI College, and Roger Williams University.7:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Musicians from Community Works perform Romandic-era compositions for piano and strings by Grieg and Schubert in the impressive surroundings of the Museum's Grand Gallery.
Free with Museum admission.
11:15 AM - 12:00 PM
Enjoy a close look at a work of art together through lively discussion, followed by sketching and activities in the galleries. All materials provided. Talks are 30 minutes; ages 6+. Meet at Farago Entrance, 224 Benefit Street
2:00 PM - 2:45 PM
Monet said he wanted to “paint the air.” Bill Miller (RISD BFA Painting ’91), Adjunct Faculty in RISD’s Painting Department, and Bill Warren, Chancellor’s Professor of Cognitive, Linguistic, and Psychological Sciences at Brown University, consider Monet’s s landscape painting in terms of color, light, and perception. Specialists from various fields offer differing views on single objects, stimulating thinking about social context, artistic interpretation, and the ever-evolving meaning of objects.
6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Does art inspire social change? Curator, artist, and educator Pablo Helguera’s (Director of Adult and Academic Programs, MoMA) work involves a variety of pedagogical and participatory strategies. He shares his experience with socially engaged art.
This lecture is the second is a series of four. April 5, Spencer Finch; April 12, Robert Blackson.
Co-sponsored by the RISD Museum, RISD’s Division of Graduate Studies and Brown University’s Malcolm S. Forbes Center for Culture and Media Studies.
11:15 AM - 1:00 PM
Enjoy a close look at a work of art together through lively discussion, followed by sketching and activities in the galleries. All materials provided. Talks are 30 minutes; Meet at Farago Entrance, 224 Benefit Street
12:15 PM - 1:00 PM
RISD Professor of Printmaking Andrew Raftery joins Daniel Harkett, RISD Assistant Professor of History of Art + Visual Culture, to analyze an unusually large-scale print by Jean-Pierre-Marie Jazet in the exhibit Pilgrims of Beauty. Specialists from various fields offer differing views on single objects, stimulating thinking about social context, artistic interpretation, and the ever-evolving meaning of objects.
6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Artist Spencer Finch’s (RISD MFA Sculpture '89) recent work and his selection of objects from the Museum’s collection, on view in Painting Air, examine artistic influences and the persistent drive to give form to the intangible.
This lecture is third in a series of four. April 12, Robert Blackson.
Co-sponsored by the RISD Museum, RISD’s Division of Graduate Studies and Brown University’s Malcolm S. Forbes Center for Culture and Media Studies.
6:00 PM - 8:15 PM
Consider painting from 18th-century Grand Tour watercolors to 20th-century acrylic abstractions. This course approaches paintings in terms of their historical context and fabrication. Handling materials, using tools, and sampling techniques from Neoclassical to the present offers a unique opportunity to understand paintings and their makers. Co-taught by art historian Sarah Laperle and art educator Paul Carpentier.
3 sessions - Thursdays, April 12 + 26; May 10. Members $180, non-members $200. Advanced registration required by Friday, March 23; limited space. Click here to pre-register now.
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
In conjunction with the exhibition "Pilgrims of Beauty: Art and Inspiration in 19th-Century Italy", discover some of Italy's elegant, but lesser known, white wines and fine cheeses. The evening begins with a gallery talk by Exhibition Curator Crawford Alexander Mann, followed by a chance to sample wines provided by Bottles Fine Wine and cheeses provided by Whole Foods University Heights.
Attendees must be over 21 years old. Advance registration suggested.
Cost: Members: $20 per person, Non-members: $25 per person.
For more information, call 401-454-6505
6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Curator Robert Blackson (RISD BFA ’97, Sculpture and Director of Exhibitions and Public Programs, Tyler School of Art, Temple University) considers his curatorial collaborations with artists, including Jeremy Deller (Manchester Tracks).
This lecture is the final in a series of four.
Co-sponsored by the RISD Museum, RISD’s Division of Graduate Studies and Brown University’s Malcolm S. Forbes Center for Culture and Media Studies.
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Providence Athenaeum Salon: Curating the City, part 2
“The Classical Ideal: Italianate Architecture in Providence,”
a conversation with Crawford Alexander Mann III, the RISD Museum’s former Andrew W. Mellon Curatorial Fellow in the Department of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs and newly-appointed Joan and Macon Brock Curator of American Art at the Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, and James Hall, Executive Director of the Providence Preservation Society.
As Providence became a powerhouse of industrial and shipping might in the mid-19th century, its merchant class and civic leaders sought to recast their city as a metropolitan center on a par with European capitals. Frequently, the strategy employed was to turn to the architectural language of the Italian Renaissance as an inspiration for the design of prominent domestic, civic, and institutional buildings, many of which survive still to adorn the streets of our city. Join Mann and Hall for a discussion examining both the cultural context for this movement, and its lasting impact on the built environment of Providence. Mann curated the exhibit Pilgrims of Beauty: Art and Inspiration in 19th-Century Italy, on view at the RISD Museum February 3 through July 8, 2012.
Salon is free and open to the public. For more information contact Christina Bevilacqua, cbevilacqua@providenceathenaeum.org or 401-421-6970, x28.
Curating the City is a 3-part series in which guest salonnier James Hall invites speakers to address strategies for evaluating, sustaining, and enhancing cities in the 21st century. By re-positioning urban “preservation” as an effort to “curate” the city, we can stimulate productive discussions on what we can expect from cities in such areas as architecture (new and old), experience, inclusive planning, and quality of life. The Athenaeum’s generous sponsor for the entire Curating the City series is KITE Architects, kitearchitects.com.
6:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Schola Cantorum of Boston will perform works by Palestrina, Monteverdi and others in celebration of the exhibition - Pilgrims of Beauty: Art and Inspiration in 19th-Century Italy.
Galleries will open at 6 PM. At 7:30 PM, Exhibition Curator Crawford Alexander Mann will present a Gallery Talk. The concert will take place in the Grand Gallery starting at 8 PM. A light reception will follow.
Space is limited and advance registration is suggested.
Tickets are $35 per person.
Click here to register or call 401-454-6505 for more information.
1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Explore the influence of Italian architectural precedents on our city’s civic and residential buildings during the 19th-century, including works by Thomas Tefft and Alpheus Morse. In conjunction with the Museum's exhibition Pilgrims of Beauty: Art and Inspiration in 19th-Century Italy, James Brayton Hall, Executive Director of The Providence Preservation Society, leads.
Moderately strenuous walk on College Hill. Tour begins at the RISD Museum with a brief presentation in Danforth Lecture Hall.
Museum + Providence Preservation Society members: $15, non-members: $20. Advance registration required by Friday, March 30; limited space. Click here to pre-register now.
2:00 PM - 2:45 PM
Dutch painter van Ruysdael recorded the landscape and everyday life in 17th-century Holland. Hal Cook, Professor of History at Brown University and Eric Goetz, Chief Technology Officer of Goetz Boats, interpret the scene from the perspective of boat building and scientific understanding at the time. Specialists from various fields offer differing views on single objects, stimulating thinking about social context, artistic interpretation, and the ever-evolving meaning of objects.
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Art and Science