History of Art and Architecture Resources at Brown University
Slide and Digital Image Collection
The Art Slide Library, a branch of the Brown University Library, is located on the 4th floor of List Art Center. The Slide Library’s own digital image collection, using Luna Insight, is available to faculty and students at Brown and may be accessed through a Josiah search. Please see a staff member for specific information concerning downloading and searching in order to make full use of the Luna collections. In addition, the University Library licenses ARTstor, which is a repository of hundreds of thousands of art and architecture-related images. The slide collection is still available and students and faculty may borrow slides or photographs for use in Brown University courses. New slides are no longer made but faculty may request new digital images for teaching, made either from slides or from book plates. Students may use the public scanner, available during the Art Slide Library’s hours from 8:30-5:00 Monday through Friday. Undergraduate students are encouraged to use the slide and/or digital collections for the following purposes:
- Illustration of an oral report in a Brown course.
- Study related to a paper topic in a Brown course.
- Study related to a studio project in a Brown course.
- Study related to building a model for a Brown course.
Both graduate and undergraduate students are also encouraged to contact the Art Slide Library staff to make appointments for individualized research consultations concerning their papers or projects. A small collection of reference books is available for on-site use.
To learn more about the collections, please visit the Art Slide Library’s web site.
David Winton Bell Gallery
The Bell Gallery mounts six to eight exhibitions during the school year. The collections of the Gallery comprise nearly 5,000 prints and drawings, as well as a number of contemporary paintings and sculptures. The collections are open for study purposes at designated times, or by appointment. (The galleries of the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, are also open to Brown students by ID.)
Undergraduates are employed as gallery guards and as assistants in the installation of exhibitions.
David Winton Bell Gallery Website
Center for Old World Archaeology and Art
The Center for Old World Archaeology and Art exists to bring together students and faculty in this field at Brown while retaining departmental affiliations (in History of Art and Classics). Courses are offered in Greek, Roman and Near Eastern art, architecture, and archaeology. A course in the methods of field work prepares students for excavations. An undergraduate Reading Room with a reference library provides a quiet and personal environment for study. A major role of the Center in the University's life is the close daily contact among faculty, students, research associates, and Parker Visiting Scholars. Frequent colloquia bring scholars of Old World Archaeology and Art from this country and from abroad to 70 Waterman Street.
Center for Old World Archaeology and Art Website
The Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design
The Museum's collection traces the history of art from antiquity to the present, housing more than 85,000 objects in all fields of art and design including, Greek and Roman sculpture, American furniture and decorative arts, nineteenth-century French painting and contemporary art. The galleries of the Museum are open to Brown University students with ID free of charge. Frequently, the Department of Art and Architecture offers classes at the Museum which allow students to work with objects first hand. Additionally, the Museum offers several summer internships which are open to Brown students.