March 2, 2010
John Nicholas Brown Center, Library
357 Benefit Street
3-5 p.m.
E. Larson Gunness, independent financial advisor
Download the registration form for this workshop. Please fax the registration form to 401 863-7777 by Wednesday, February 24.
Economic times are tough in the aftermath of the banking collapse of 2008 and 2009, and will be for some time. People face intense financial pressure in their personal lives. Artists, musicians, writers, dramatists, and other creatives feel this acutely. Many are unsure how to develop the skills and knowledge they’ll need to find their way through. Tools, resources, and approaches from the world of business and personal finance can be embraced by the arts and humanities communities, but only if the transfer of knowledge is done in a way that understands and addresses their unique needs, concerns, and interests. If you have made a commitment to your creative practice, and are struggling with the financial implications of that commitment, then this workshop is for you. Those who work in small and lean organizations dedicated to providing support to creative practitioners are also encouraged to attend.
February 11, 2010
John Nicholas Brown Center, Library
357 Benefit Street
9 a.m.-12 p.m.
Jane Lancaster, independent scholar; Deborah Obalil, principal at Obalil & Associates; Shawn Parker, independent museum and project management professional; Madelyn Shaw, independent curator and museum consultant; Erin Wells, exhibit designer
Download the registration form for this workshop. Please fax the registration form to 401 863-7777 by Friday, February 5.
Are you interested in breaking into the world of nonprofit consulting or freelance work? Do you have skills to offer but are unsure of how to connect with the organizations that might need them? Join us for a panel discussion on consulting and freelance work in the nonprofit / humanities sectors! You’ll have the opportunity to hear from a freelance writer, a freelance curator, a freelance designer, a nonprofit consultant, and a museum consultant about the challenges and advantages of their work and to have your questions answered. Panelists will address issues such as how to find opportunities, how to create a good relationship with clients, and how to find a balance between project work and the administrative tasks necessary to keep your consulting business running smoothly.
Workshops are open to staff and volunteers at New England cultural organizations. Details about workshops are posted about three weeks prior to the event.
February 9, 2010
RISD Museum, Chase Center
Michael P. Metcalf Auditorium
20 North Main Street
6 p.m.
Jay Brown, director of Liijiang Studio
Join us for the first lecture in a new Brown/RISD lecture series: "Curating Contemporary Art: Perspectives on Practice."
In 2004, Jay founded Lijiang Studio, an arts practice based in a rural farming village in southwest China's Yunnan Province. Since then, Lijiang Studio has facilitated and produced about 80 residencies and 25 exhibitions in urban, rural, domestic, public, and private settings. These events are co-curated with the artists involved and with members of that local community. Highlights include "Jianghu Mobile Video," Kunming, 2005, "To Raise One Question After Another," Beijing, 2007, "Another China," Berlin, 2007, and "World Heritage Beer Garden Picnic," Lashihai, 2008. Before Lijiang Studio, Jay worked at the Nature Conservancy's China program based in Yunnan and at various museums including the National Palace Museum in Taipei and the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Jay graduated from Princeton University in 2001 with a degree in art history and certificate in East Asian studies.
February 3, 2010
John Nicholas Brown Center, Library
357 Benefit Street
7 p.m.
Alice Pung, author of An UnPolished Gem and editor of Growing Up Asian in Australia
Born in Melbourne, Australia, to Cambodian parents, Pung is a non-fiction and fiction writer, journalist, and playwright. Her memoir Unpolished Gem won the Australian Book Industry Association award for Newcomer of the Year and was short-listed for numerous other state and national awards. Pung's short story collection Growing Up Asian in Australia is studied at secondary schools around her home country. Her work was also included in Best Australian Short Stories 2007. On her first visit to the United States, Pung is one of a new cohort of Asian-Australians writing and speaking about their experiences as the first generation to come of age after the repeal of the White Australia Policy.
November 14, 2009
RISD Museum of Art, Danforth Room
20 North Main Street
10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Barbara Palley, Landau Fellow at the Museum of Modern Art
Download the registration form for this workshop. Please fax the registration form to 401 863-7777 by Tuesday, November 10.
Educators and staff at cultural and nonprofit organizations are often charged with evaluating their programs, but are often without the resources or expertise to do so. Learn the basic steps of designing a study: developing a feasible project goal, framing a good evaluation question, choosing an appropriate method, and analyzing and reporting findings. This hands-on workshop will use the RISD Art Museum as an environment for our own study, and applications to other informal learning settings will be explored.
Barbara Palley has 13 years of experience in museum education. Currently, as the Landau Fellow at the Museum of Modern Art she conducts evaluation and visitor research. Formerly she managed school partnerships and professional development at the Brooklyn Museum, and assisted in arts education research at Harvard Project Zero. She holds an Ed.M. in Arts in Education from Harvard University's Graduate School of Education.
October 29, 2009
John Nicholas Brown Center, Library
357 Benefit Street
7 p.m.
Marci Reaven, managing director of City Lore and co-founder and director of Place Matters
A project of City Lore and the Municipal Art Society, Place Matters has spent the past ten years tracking, documenting, and promoting the places that connect New Yorkers to the past, host community and cultural traditions, and keep the city distinctive. The work of Place Matters is based on nominations of places submitted by the public and can be adapted to any location. Place Matters co-founder and director Marci Reaven will discuss the kinds of places people care about and strategies for promotion and protection.
Watch Marci's talk at the JNBC contributor page of Brown's iTunesU
October 20, 2009
John Nicholas Brown Center, Library
357 Benefit Street
1-4 p.m.
Jessica Jennings, producer, director and cinematographer; Jim Karpeichik, director of photography / editor of Ocean State Video; Michelle LeBrun, director, producer, and educator; Frank Muhly, writer and producer
Download the registration form for this workshop. Please fax the registration form to 401 863-7777 by Wednesday, October 14.
Is your nonprofit looking for creative ways to use film to communicate its message? Bring your ideas and your questions to this workshop. Come hear filmmakers Jessica Jennings, Jim Karpeichik, Michelle LeBrun, and Frank Muhly describe how they have worked with Rhode Island nonprofits to conceive, produce, and distribute films that convey organizations’ stories in powerful and effective ways. The presenters will address many logistical, budgetary, and creative issues related to getting educational and promotional films made and seen.
September 25, 2009
John Nicholas Brown Center, Library
357 Benefit Street
1:30-3:30 p.m.
Ron M. Potvin, assistant director and curator of the John Nicholas Brown Center and member of the Rhode Island Historic Sites Coalition steering committee; Valerie Talmage, executive director of Preserve Rhode Island and founding member of the Rhode Island Historic Sites Coalition
Are you worried about the sustainability of your historic site? Wondering if collaboration could be a survival strategy? Imagining that there are opportunities to improve your organization to become higher performing and more effective? Preserve Rhode Island has recently concluded a business planning project for Rhode Island historic sites. Five sites from Rhode Island participated in the pilot project. PRI has developed a template for business planning for historic sites and has identified opportunities for historic site organizational collaboration. Join us for a conversation about the future of historic sites: What is a business planning template? What methods were used to create this plan? What were the common (and uncommon) findings among the participating sites? Is collaboration an effective model? How can this plan benefit your organization? Come prepared for some blue sky brainstorming about how the historic site sector in our region can become stronger and have a greater impact.
September 24, 2009
John Nicholas Brown Center, Library
357 Benefit Street
7-9 p.m.
Join the John Nicholas Brown Center for an evening of dramatic readings of oral histories collected from longshoremen of the ILA Local #1329 (Providence and New Bedford). Directed by Sylvia Ann Soares and performed by Mishell Lilly and Jim Webster, these dramatic readings will be followed by a slide show of dock life and a discussion.
Made possible by a grant from the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities (RICH).
September 23, 2009
Smith-Buonanno Hall, Room 106
Brown University
7-9 p.m.
This documentary, narrated by Gabriel Byrne, reveals the social and environmental costs of mining in Butte, Montana. First in the 2009-10 series, “Nature and Legacy: Humanists, Scientists and the Environment,” the film chronicles industrial exploitation and its effects on the people and the land. Producer/director, Pamela Roberts, and co-producer/co-writer, Edwin Dobb, will be on hand to answer questions. For more information, visit the film's Web site.
The “Nature and Legacy” series features films, lectures, and panel discussions on the environment, from the perspectives of humanists and scientists alike. Future panel discussions will include topics such as “Toxins,” “Climate Change,” and “The Loss and Return of Nature.”
Download a poster for the event
Curating Contemporary Art
Jay Brown, director of Lijiang Studio, will deliver the first lecture in a new Brown/RISD series on curating contemporary art.
Growing Up Asian in Australia
Author Alice Pung will speak about her experience as an Asian-Australian growing up after the repeal of the White Australia Policy.
Beer Gardens, Bookstores, and Ballrooms
Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden in Queens, NY, is one of the treasured places that has been brought to the attention of Place Matters.
By the Sweat of Our Brow
Sylvia Ann Soares whose father, Arthur S. Soares, served as president of the International Longshoremen’s Association Local #1329 from 1954-1974, directs dramatic readings based on the oral histories of longshoremen.
Butte, america
Professor Patrick Malone provided critical research to the makers of the new film on the history of Butte, Montana.