Friday, July 29, 2016

Coming Soon!

BIG NEWS! This fall, the Museum will unveil some major updates to our Coming to Rhode Island exhibit, a time-traveling adventure through the state’s immigration history:
  • Explore an imaginative interactive gallery that highlights the story of an Irish immigrant who worked on the construction of Fort Adams. 
  • Discover a reinvented Story Center with an array of intriguing hands-on activities that explore culture and diversity. 
  • And navigate a reconstructed “time tunnel” that guides visitors’ adventure through the story galleries. 
The Museum will be closed September 6-8 to begin these renovations, and the exhibit will remain closed until construction is completed in November. Check back for stories and photos of the intriguing process!

Exhibit concept images by Museum Graphic Designer Valerie Haggerty-Silva.

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Make Some Music!

This summer, kids and adults will explore beats and rhythm and make some joyful noise on two vibrant interactive sound sculptures newly installed in our Children’s Garden.

Original creations by our exhibits team, the playful sculptures were inspired by an installation they initially designed and fabricated for Harriet and Sayles Park last summer. Part of the city’s PopUp Providence initiative – an innovative urban place-making program that supported temporary and inexpensive artistic and cultural interventions to enliven neighborhoods across the city – the captivating musical components were well used and well loved.


Whether banging on drums or ringing bells, children inherently respond to making and sharing music. Designed to accommodate a range of physical abilities and skills, the sound sculptures invite children of all ages to play a variety of inventive percussion instruments in their own ways and create meaningful interactions with music and with each other. Making music together promotes confidence and social skills, as well as the development of language, mathematical and spatial thinking – and it's just plain fun!

By incorporating a variety of intriguing reclaimed objects and new materials, the sound sculptures offer kids a hands-on musical experience with both usual and unusual instruments, including bells and tongue drums fashioned from steel propane tanks, triangles and large wooden and metal chimes.


The sound sculptures will infuse the garden with creative exploration this summer and beyond, and inspire families to express themselves while discovering ways that everyday items can be playfully repurposed. Feel the beat!