Eleventh Annual Philbrick Poetry Project Award and Reading

Fri 5/8, 7pm: Eleventh Annual Philbrick Poetry Project Award and Reading, with poet judge Marilyn Nelson and winner Jennifer E. Whitten. Poet judge Nelson has chosen Whitten's manuscript Auction as the 2009 Philbrick Poetry Award winner. Join us for the presentation of the award, and a reading by both poets. As part of the award, the Athenaeum has published Auction as a chapbook; copies will be on sale at the reading. The Athenaeum's Philbrick Poetry Project is named for long-time Athenaeum members Charles Philbrick, a noted poet, and his wife Deborah, a mentor to many poets, and fosters the art of poetry in RI and New England. Funded in part by the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts. Free and open to the public!

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)

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

Evening of High Spirits

Wednesday, December 3, 7 - 9pm

An Evening of High Spirits to Benefit
The Providence Athenaeum!

Warmly welcome upcoming winter holidays with Dickens, lively music, seasonal treats, and a Port tasting, too! Actor Robb Dimmick conjures the world of Dickens with readings from A Christmas Carol, fiddlers extraordinaire Cathy Clasper-Torch and Mike Fischman play spirited accompaniment, Blackstone Caterers serve celebratory appetizers, and Campus Fine Wines pours a variety of Port wines to toast the merriment.

Thank-you to our event sponsor Hegeman & Co. Fine Jewelry

Valerie Tutson

Fri 11/28/2008, 5-7pm:

SALON - Storyteller Valerie Tutson on Once and Future Storytelling. In Senegal they say, "When an old person dies, a library is buried." Tutson explores storytelling, the work of Rhode Island Black Storytellers and its annual FUNDA FEST in January, and the relevance of this ancient oral art form in today's image-driven technical age; as she slyly puts it, storytelling is not a spectator sport! Co-presented with the RI Foundation. For Athenaeum members and their guests.

Senator Lincoln Chafee and Ted Widmer

Tues, 10/14/2008, 7pm:

Election Day Approaches: What's Next? In an increasingly global world fraught with conflicts past, present, and promised, what is the future for US foreign policy? As the 2008 presidential campaign (aka The Hundred Years' War) closes, what is America's place in the world? What should it be? Come converse with two contrarian witnesses to history, former Senator Lincoln Chafee (now distinguished visiting fellow at Brown's Watson Institute), a liberal conservative, and Ted Widmer, former foreign policy speechwriter for Bill Clinton, now Director of the John Carter Brown Library, a conservative liberal. Copies of Senator Chafee's Against the Tide: How a Compliant Congress Empowered a Reckless President and Ted Widmer's Ark of the Liberties: America and the World will be available for sale and signing, thanks to Borders!

Free and open to the public.
(Sponsor: Yankee Travel, yankeetravel.com)

Nancy Austin and Caroline Woolard

Fri, 9/26/2008, 5-7pm:

SALON - Historian Nancy Austin and artist Caroline Woolard update us on Albert J. Jones, forgotten founder of the RISD Museum of Art (RI's very first), in a preview of their 9/27 installation/performance about Jones (part of Cryptic Providence, an art/program series at North Burial Ground), and explain why RI almost didn't get the Museum (opening its new Chace Center on 9/27).

As a prequel to the Athenaeum's new program series, The Once and Future Library, Austin discusses the primacy of print over visual culture in 19th century Providence. Jones came of age in a city abrim with books and periodicals, joined the Athenaeum, and left for Europe with a notable personal library. Print culture lured future RISD founder Helen Rowe (Metcalf) to Providence, where with her brothers she opened a bookstore, established a global periodicals market, and wrote and published a widely circulated newspaper. Join us to talk about books, art, libraries, and museums, from the 19th century to now.

For Athenaeum members and their guests. (Sponsor: risdworks, risdworks.com)