Chapter 3: A Place for Design: RISD at the Hoppin Homestead, 1878-1893

At the founding of the Rhode Island School of Design, instruction in freehand drawing was fundamental to its educational mission across the fine, applied, and mechanical arts. In that era of innovation and entrepreneurship, drawing was considered as necessary a skill as we might consider computer proficiency today. Of course, drawing and competence in art were considered acceptably genteel pursuits for women, but this was secondary to the enthusiasm for drawing as a means of expression that might find any number of outlets, from sketching the figure to designing teaspoons or inventing new machines. It was not until the twentieth century with the rise of industrial capitalism, the regulated white-collar professions, and the cult of the expert that the hope is abandoned of having a visually literate nation of artists, designers, mechanics, entrepreneurs, and scientists who could create and communicate together through drawing. In the specific situation of 1890s Providence, RISD’s successful winning of the Jones Bequest lawsuit resulted in RISD developing a unique hybrid institutional identity that embraced multiple conflicting identities and a both/and approach to art and design. Even today, different aspects of the institution reveal a multifaceted response to this ongoing, dynamic, cultural conflict. Being the Rhode School of Design was a conviction and a choice. It was a drive to be contemporary and devoted to what we would know term STEAM practice. Show less

At the founding of the Rhode Island School of Design, instruction in freehand drawing was fundamental to its educational mission across the fine, applied, and mechanical arts. In that era of innovation and entrepreneurship, drawing was considered as… Read more