Saturday, July 18, 2009: I've been to both Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in Providence. In reality, after I walked through the main campus of Brown University, I entered the ground floor of Manning Hall, the location of a branch of the Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology. (The main museum is in Bristol, RI.) Inside, students of the university set up different temporary exhibit themes covering certain aspects of Human societies. When I was there, I saw Believing Africa. By way of pictures, texts, and exhibit items, I learned about how the people of sub-Saharan Africa combine their beliefs in world religions, such as Christianity and Islam, with their indigenous beliefs and of how these beliefs affected their lives. Afterward, I walked over to the Museum of Art-RISD, 224 Benefit St. (401-454-6500). On four floors, I observed many works of art, from ancient Egypt to the present, from around the world, via paintings, drawings, and sculpture as well as decorative arts, period rooms, and photos. As art museums go, this was a mid-sized museum compared to the bigger art museums in New York City; Philadelphia; and Washington, DC, but I spent over three hours here. When I was there, one of the temporary exhibit areas presented the works of architect and designer Marcel Breuer. Thus, via pictures, furniture, and scale-models of buildings, I looked at the places and items that Breuer designed. The Breuer-designed building that I'm most familiar with was the Whitney Museum of Art in NYC.
Although the picture is of Marble House, the article is about the RISD and Brown University. I thought that the Marble House made for a better photo subject, but I did visit it alone with the Breakers in Newport, RI, the day before.
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