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.
Website that uses the weather to make programmatic selections from the RISD Museum based on conditions, first in Providence, then in a city of the user’s choosing. The goal was to give museum-goers a tangible point of access to art, and to make unexpected groupings of objects.
This seven-foot-tall Christ would have been suspended above an altar or screen, the juxtaposition of his damaged body and calm, downward gaze reminding those below him of both his humanity and his divinity.
A colossal Romanesque head in the RISD collection has yet to be securely identified, but the sheen of his nose suggests that it was rubbed by many penitent hands during the course of this sculpture’s life.
During the Fall of 2015, Sheila Bonde’s graduate students in the Department of the History of Art and Architecture at Brown University undertook an investigation of the wood sculptures in the RISD Museum collections. This multi-author paper includes some of their findings.
Why is contemporary English artist Paul Scott interested in a ceramic technique and imagery from the 1700-1800s? How does he work with transferware to comment on environmental issues and systemic racism in the United States?
While the sixth-floor galleries are undergoing an extensive renovation, the Museum is carefully studying and conducting conservation work on the monumental 12th-century wooden Dainichi Nyorai Buddha. When the Buddha is returned to its gallery in late spring 2014, it will be stabilized and we'll know much more about the art that went into creating this nearly 10-foot-tall sculpture.
Isabella McCormick (Brown/RISD 2015) explores the intricacies of the Gorham Narragansett Salad Set and their reflections on Rhode Island culture, insights gained from her meticulous cleaning of the utensils as part of her Mellon Summer Internship in conservation.
Agrippina the Younger watches as men of the emperor move nearer and nearer to her. They carry weapons. Having survived one attempt on her life, she knows that she will not survive another.
Curatorial assistant of contemporary art A. Will Brown interviews artist Steffani Jemison about her film *Maniac Chase* (2009), *Escaped Lunatic* (2010–2011) and Personal (2014)
The discovery of these treasures resembles that of a valuable manuscript. They are a new “Codex Africanus,” not written on fragile papyrus, but in ivory and imperishable brass.
These are additional resources we’ve found useful to engage in dialogue and to provide information around environmental and climate issues, impacts and actions.
How does a landscape painting made in 1828 by English-American artist Thomas Cole both reinforce and intervene in settler-colonial ideas about the environment and Native American people?