With the upcoming holiday season and all of the shopping that goes with it, some mindful giving guides for the holidays will be posted on documama soon. My lists will include products from companies conscientiously aiming to produce conflict mineral free products.
Photo credit RISD Museum
“To tell a great story about American art is a particularly RISD story”-John W. Smith Museum Director
As the leaves turn to bright colors in New England, and the Thanksgiving holiday approaches, the air chills and the American history that surrounds us is subtly evoked. Our children study our early history in school this time of year and the RISD Museum in Providence Rhode Island has joined the conversation with their retrospective exhibit entitled Making It In America. Rhode Island School of Design is known for its focus on the making of art, and with this recently opened exhibit, the Museum of RISD outlines how the works of our past remain relevant, and revelatory to the makers of today.
There was a tandem progression of American development and mastery of design that took place early on as settlers and then influences from varying cultures staggered into the country. The craftsmanship and personality of objects seen in furniture styles, and portraiture tell the story with a perspective on how we portray ourselves within the context of the American Dream.
Co-Curators Elizabeth Williams of arts and design and Maureen O’Brien of painting and sculpture collaborated by pulling together pieces from the RISD collection. Together their selections narrate the way in which our American identity evolved through the objects both functional and decorative that were crafted and displayed between the early 1700s and the early 1900s. The curators then brought in the celebrated decorator and decorative arts historian Thomas Jayne to really make the objects pop.
Thomas Jayne
Thomas Jayne used his understanding of how important color and pattern were to American design as a context for the geometry of the objects in the space. A number of portraits are mounted on replicas of early American wallpapers that coupled with Rococo frames, as Thomas Jayne put it “makes the Copley’s sing in a way white walls never would”. Thus exhibiting the 18th century paintings in a uniquely pop culture look.
In an exhibit that is as much about opportunity in America as it is the art that came out of those opportunities; the varied experiences are on display, a wood spindle chair remade out of a spinning wheel, set nearby an ornate silver serving piece. A cabinet by a Finnish immigrant highlights the varied styles that merged as the cultures did to become a uniquely American style.
Artist Unknown, ca.1700
The making of art in America merges with American ambition, but as you walk through the collection you realize the story begins and ends with the Native Americans. One of the first pieces upon entering the gallery is the Painting entitled Native American Sachem and one of the last is the Paul Manship tabletop bronze pair of sculptures created nearly 200 years later, the Indian and Pronghorn Antelope atop a Frank Lloyd Wright table. The modern architecture of the Chase Center Galleries serves as the canvas for this collection of more than 100 outstanding works of painting sculpture and decorative arts made in between. The exhibit opened on October 11th and will run through February 9th.
Paul Manship, 1885-1966
The RISD Museum was established in 1877 “American art has played a central role at the RISD Museum since it’s earliest days, and we celebrate this legacy with Making It In America.- Museum Director John W. Smith
To stay up to date with all RISD Museum happenings Like RISD Museum on Facebook & Follow them on Twitter
As I prepare to send my kids off to school tomorrow for a new year of learning and enrichment, my feelings are a mixture of excitement, and melancholy. This promises to be a great school year for the kids, but the summer flew by too quickly. There is another sense, and I felt it as I bemoaned the cost of school supplies and new shoes for all four kids. I felt it when I mourned the end of summer fun and carefree days, and I know that is a side effect of doing the type of writing that I do. I write to raise awareness and it was a nagging awareness that had me admonishing myself for begrudging the privilege of opportunity while knowing that so many children in the world will never even have the chance to attend school this year.
The statistics are these:
-A staggering 130 million children around the world are not in school—70% are girls. (Opportunity International)
-A girl with an extra year of education can earn 20% more as an adult. (World Bank) ·
-Educated mothers are more than twice as likely to send their children to school. (UNICEF)
Despite the awareness of these numbers Education in other areas of the world is not always provided free for it’s citizens like it is here.
“Education is a pathway out of poverty and has seen the accelerator effect it has on improving lives and strengthening communities.”- Opportunity International
The microfinance organization Opportunity International has developed the Invest In One Child Campaign, to help tackle the issue and to ensure that all children have access to an education through the availability of their school fee loans. With the assistance of loans, parents are able to afford their children’s tuition and thus change their future. Opportunity International was founded to provide hope to the poorest of the poor through the transformational power of microfinance. Instead of just investing in the adults of a community , Opportunity Internationl is investing in the future of the community as well, it’s children. According to their studies the number one reason that families in certain countries in Africa do not send their children to school is lack of financial resources. Followed by lack of access to education facilities in rural communities and governments not being able to fund school construction, and meet demand. The Education Finance Initiative program also funds school proprietor loans, allowing educators to open quality schools in rural communities where there is need. Opportunity International is currently running education programs in Ghana, Uganda, Malawi, Kenya, Dominican Republic and Rwanda.
Photo curtesy of Opportunity International, Ridgeway School
Backie Namatovu & Maria Mbabazi
By raising funds to support its education finance initiative, Opportunity International is helping to send children who would never have had the chance otherwise, to go school. Currently donations are being matched up to $35,000 dollars. It costs roughly $240 dollars to send a child to school for a year, or $1 a day, so the matched funds have the possibility to send entire communities of kids to school for the year. Imagine the positive impact that would have on their futures. It is known that education is a pathway out of poverty, and Opportunity International believes in the power of investing in one child at a time.
I also believe in the power of one, the power of one small act to inspire big changes, and one person being able to make a difference in someone else’s life. Even if that someone is across the world and we may never meet. when we act together the impact can be great. You can join the movement to provide an education to one child and give them the opportunity for a brighter future.
I wrote this post as part of The Global Team of 200, a highly specialized group of members of Mom Bloggers for Social Good that concentrates on issues involving women and girls, children, world hunger and maternal health.
Our Motto: Individually we are all-powerful. Together we can change the world. We believe in the power of collective action to help others and believe in ourselves to make this world a better place for our children and the world’s children.
