The history of the Gorham Manufacturing Company is intertwined with that of Providence and Rhode Island. This uniquely local story has provided the opportunity for the RISD Museum to learn from the experiences of community members who have intersected with Gorham's legacy.
As the world bears witness to the recent tragedies of George Floyd’s death, the deaths of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and the countless numbers of Black people before them, it’s difficult to feel like I have anything new to say on a subject that I should meet with respectful listening, but as the director of this institution it is my job to lead both in words and in deeds.
How are museum collections constructed? Producer Emma Vecchione searches for an answer in examining the police raid of a 1978 art exhibition, a collection of pictures at the RISD Museum, and the family photographs on top of her mother’s television set.
As a curatorial intern for the Contemporary Art Department at the RISD Museum during the summer of 2016, I was introduced to the in-depth experience of museum work.
This was the introduction to Out of Line, an open studio space for RISD Museum visitors during the run of the exhibition Lines of Thought: Drawing from Michelangelo to Now From the British Museum (October 6, 2017–January 7, 2018).