Rhode Island – Culture of Corruption?

Tues 4/28, 6-7pm: WRNI presents Rhode Island – Culture of Corruption? the second installment of Policy and Pinot, a new conversation series on vital issues affecting our state. Join WRNI General Manager Joe O'Connor and WRNI political reporters Ian Donnis and Scott MacKay as they interview Robert Clark Corrente, U.S. Attorney for RI, and Mike Stanton, Providence Journal reporter and author of The Prince of Providence, about the role of corruption, past and present, in Rhode Island's political culture. This event is free and open to the public, but space is limited and RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED! To be part of the conversation, while also enjoying a glass of wine, please reserve with Rita Cidre, WRNI Membership Director, at rcidre@wrni.org or 401-351-0203

Andrew Losowsky

Fri 4/24, 5-7pm, SALON - Series: The Once and Future Library, part 7: Why Books Matter. The digi-vangelists are ready to burn down the libraries and put everything online - or so the story goes. In fact, digital has an extremely complex relationship with the physical world, and a book is a lot more than just words on a page. Andrew Losowsky, Providence based author of The Doorbells of Florence, media expert, and journalist (The Guardian,The Wall Street Journal, The Times of London), will explain how technology has changed the purpose of books, reveal how to keep print relevant, and talk about the future of storytelling. Technophobes and technophiles alike will find plenty to talk about!

For Athenaeum members and their guests.
(Series Sponsor: Dan Siegel, M&S Rare Books)

Matthew Goodman

Mon 4/20/2009, 6pm: Co-presented in partnership with the Providence Public Library: Matthew Goodman on his The Sun and the Moon: the Remarkable True Account of Hoaxers, Showmen, Dueling Journalists, and Lunar Man-Bats in Nineteenth-Century New York, takes place at PPL’s Empire Branch, Empire Street in downtown Providence. Fans of the 1830s: don’t miss this account of an 1835 tabloid-inspired hoax about a telescope that showed fantastical life on the moon, including scandalously-behaving flora and fauna. In the ensuing furor everyone had an opinion, including Poe, who claimed plagery.

Timothy S. Philbrick and Anthony Ramos

Fri 4/17/2009, 5-7pm: SALON – Artists Timothy S. Philbrick and Anthony Ramos on their upcoming Providence Art Club show, Native Sons. Lifelong friends, master furniture maker Philbrick and painter/video arist Ramos both grew up in RI and are finally showing their work together. It’s an RI first for Ramos, who lives in the south of France and has shown in Boston, Barcelona, Florence, and Paris among other locales. Philbrick’s furniture has been featured in many museum shows and permanent collections; his pieces are known for their sense of proportion, luxurious design, exquisite craftsmanship, and unique understanding of the materials (for more: timothyphilbrick.com). Ramos’s works engage and interpret the cultural, political, and social complexities of a global world. Providence Art Club show runs 4/19-5/8.

For Athenaeum members and their guests.
(Sponsor: Studio Hop, 810 Hope Street, 621-2262)

Margaret B. Stillwell Prize 2009

Margaret B. Stillwell Prize 2009
*FOR UNDERGRADUATES*

MONETARY PRIZES
First $750 / Second $500 / Third $250,
as well as gift certificates will be awarded.

In order to stimulate the interest of students in books and printing, and in all the bibliographical concerns which motivate its members, the John Russell Bartlett Society has established this annual prize competition, open to undergraduates at any Rhode Island college or university. In so doing, the Society honors the memory of Margaret Bingham Stillwell, Brown University Class of 1909, the University's first woman Professor of Bibliography and a renowned scholar of early printing, with the intent of encouraging students to share her lifelong pleasure in reading and book collecting.

A contestant's collection may be in any field. It may emphasize some particular interest within a field, or exemplify certain bibliographical features such as edition, issue, and other conditions of manufacture and sale; illustration, type, calligraphy, binding, etc. All types of books, including paperbacks, may be included, as long as their place in the collection can be justified (the inclusion of textbooks is nevertheless discouraged, except in rare cases).

Any undergraduate of a Rhode Island college or university who wishes to compete is invited to obtain an entry form and a brochure containing rules and guidelines for the competition from the Chair of the Stillwell Prize (name and address below).

Entry forms for 2009 must be submitted by April 3, 2009 and addressed to "Stillwell Prize, Box A / John Hay Library, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912"; or as an e-mail attachment, by arrangement with the Chair. The final competition and judging will take place at 6:00 p.m. on April 16 at the Providence Athenaeum, 251 Benefit Street at the corner of College Street, as part of an evening event sponsored by the John Russell Bartlett Society.

RULES FOR THE 2009 STILLWELL COMPETITION

Before entering, contestants are strongly encouraged to contact the Stillwell Prize chair, Richard Noble, at the John Hay Library, Brown University (Richard_Noble@Brown.EDU; 401-863-1187).

The competition is open to all undergraduates attending Rhode Island colleges and universities.

Written entries (essay and bibliography) must be submitted by April 3, 2009

Aaron Jungels

Friday 4/10/2009, 5-7pm: SALON - Choreographer and multi-media artist Aaron Jungels of Everett Dance Theatre on his new, Silas the Teenager, on stage at the Carriage House Stage April 17-19 and 24-26. Inspired by his 16-year-old nephew Silas, who has autism, Jungels utilizes vivid imagery and evocative physicality in depicting the pleasures and challenges of interacting with Silas. Interweaving video projection, dialogue, choreography, and kinetic-sculptural stage props, Jungels reflects upon the way Silas perceives the world. A live score by Alec K. Redfearn and five musicians accompanies the performances. Jungels researched the latest studies on the autistic mind; new theories about how people with autism perceive and process information about the world, as well as their reports "from the inside," guided the development of his work. Jungels received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts Creative Capital's Multi-Arts Production Fund and the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts to produce Silas the Teenager.

Free and open to the public! Sponsor: Antiques & Interiors

Jeremy Dibbell

Fri 4/3, 5-7pm, SALON - Series: The Once and Future Library, part 6: Massachusetts Historical Society librarian Jeremy Dibbell on The Libraries of Early America project. Using the online book-cataloging site LibraryThing.com, scholars and volunteers from around the country are creating digital catalogs of personal and institutional libraries from the colonial and early national periods, including those of America's first three presidents, Benjamin Franklin, Lady Jean Skipwith, and the Providence Athenaeum's own Founders' Collection. These digital catalogs allow users to efficiently compare libraries (what books did John Adams and Benjamin Franklin have in common?), and search collections that may not exist today in physical form or are spread across multiple institutions and private collections. Users can enter their personal libraries into LibraryThing and see what books they have in common with early American readers.

For more on Libraries of Early America, including links to the various collections now in place or in progress: www.librarything.com/groups/PLEA.

For our Founders' Collection: www.librarything.com/profile/ProvidenceAthenaeum.

For Athenaeum members and their guests. Series Sponsor: Dan Siegel, M&S Rare Books, msrarebooks.com