In the Making
In celebration of RISD’s 150th anniversary, In the Making explores what makes the RISD Museum distinctive: a collection shaped by teaching, experimentation, and an ever-evolving understanding of art and design. Since its founding, the museum has assembled more than 100,000 works spanning antiquity to today and cultures across the globe.
In the Making examines how and why objects entered the RISD Museum collection, tracing shifts in institutional priorities and cultural contexts over time. More than 75 objects on view reflect one-of-a-kind artistic production to larger-scale manufacturing locally and beyond, global textiles and decorative objects that speak to materials and techniques, photographs and posters that capture important sociopolitical movements, and bold acquisitions that challenged cultural norms. The exhibition reveals collecting as an active, reflective practice—one that continues to shape how these works are studied, taught, and understood today.
Curated by Emily Banas, associate curator of decorative arts and design.
RISD Museum is supported by a grant from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, through an appropriation by the Rhode Island General Assembly and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and with the generous partnership of the Rhode Island School of Design, its Board of Trustees, and Museum Governors.