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Fri, 10/3/2008, 5-7pm:
SALON - Janet Carlson on her new memoir, Quick, Before the Music Stops: How Ballroom Dancing Saved My Life.
A competitive ballroom dancer in her twenties, Carlson quit to raise a family and pursue a high-powered editing career. Twenty years later she "had it all" but was lost at heart. Then her husband gave her a gift of ballroom lessons, and in one spin around the floor she found her footing again. Her return to the ballroom let her end an unhappy marriage, put her heart back into work, find time for her children, and rediscover a sense of balance and grace. Join us for a conversation about the dance of life. Books available for sale and signing thanks to Borders!
For Athenaeum members and their guests. (Sponsor: Jillian Siqueland of Residential Properties, 401-274-6740)
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)
Tues, 9/23, 6:30-8:30pm:
The Athenaeum hosts The Covenant with Black America: Education, with Dr. Warren Simmons, Executive Director, Annenberg School for Education Reform, Brown University; moderated by Mary Sylvia Harrison, Vice President of Programs, the Nellie Mae Education Foundation. How do the disparate educational opportunities within Providence’s diverse population affect the quality of life and prosperity in the city? Join us for a conversation on how to address the disparities between Black America and White America. The Covenant with Black America is a program series based on Tavis Smiley’s bestselling essay collection, The Covenant, outlining key life issues and providing lists of resources to help people improve their lives. It is funded by the RI Council for the Humanities, presented by Anne Edmonds Clanton; more info: 401-258-1910. Free and open to the public! (Sponsor: Benefit Street Antiques, 140 Wickenden Street, 401-751-9109)
