Friday, November 18, 2016

Coming to Rhode Island is NOW OPEN!


Last night, we celebrated the opening of our imaginatively updated Coming to Rhode Island exhibit with a playful party for 150-plus members, supporters, partners and other friends. The dynamic environment, which offers an interactive, time-traveling exploration of history and culture through stories, was received with rave reviews!

For hundreds of years and continuing today, people have come from all over the world to what is now Rhode Island – whether voluntarily, coerced or forced – and everyone has stories about where their families are from and how and why they came. Coming to Rhode Island shares real stories of real people who have immigrated to our state – how they lived, what they left behind, the challenges they met, the solutions they found – and is designed to encourage respect for diversity and build empathy for others by making personal connections to their stories.

Pretend play is one of the major ways that children of all ages explore stories in Coming to Rhode Island, and is an important means of engaging with history and culture. Research also shows that pretend play is closely related to developing empathy and abilities for problem solving, taking different perspectives, and relating to others – skills which develop with time and practice through early childhood and into adulthood.

Take a look at some scenes from the opening event and several of the exhibit’s components:

Upon opening Coming to Rhode Island, kids immediately flocked to our partial replica of Fort Adams, scrambling onto the deck and constructing a wall of foam bricks!


They also did a bit of gardening in the plot adjacent to the fort’s boarding house.


In the vibrant new Story Center, visitors were intrigued by an installation conceptualized by Pawtucket-based French artist Philippe Lejeune, which challenges perception and encourages discovery of how something (or someone) looks from different and unexpected perspectives.


A self-portrait drawing station, which asks visitors to look in the mirror, draw their portraits, and share something that’s important about them that nobody sees.


At this station, build with a set of blocks with diverse eyes, noses and mouths to create unique faces and expressions.


Museum staff seriously engaged in playing one of several versions of mancala!


Browse books representing many people and cultures in a cozy book nook.


And the exhibit’s talk-back board, which prompts, “The United States is made up of people from many different places, of a variety of races, who have many different religions and beliefs – and we’re all Americans. Who are you?”


But pictures can only tell you so much – please come see for yourselves! Go to www.ChildrenMuseum.org for visiting information and a calendar of related events. And click here for a peek at the process of creating Coming to Rhode Island.

Tremendous thanks to our many community partners – especially the Fort Adams Trust and The Museum of Newport Irish History, for collaborating with us on the development of our Fort Adams gallery. And our gratitude to the funders who generously supported the exhibit: The Champlin Foundations; The Children's Workshop Foundation; CollegeBound Saver; June Rockwell Levy Foundation; Murray Family Charitable Foundation; The Providence Journal Charitable Legacy Fund; Rhode Island Council for the Humanities, an independent state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities; The Ryan Family Foundation; and Nancy Smith Worthen, in memory of Margaret L. Worthen (as of November 14).

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Coming to RI: Finishing Touches!

The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of activity as we finalize our Coming to Rhode Island exhibit.  Here are some final peeks at the installation process.

Exhibit designer Chris and muralist Harley Bartlett hanging Harley’s incredibly beautiful murals in the Fort Adams gallery – more on the mural process later.


Crew member Mark grinding the cannon created for the Fort gallery in partnership with Cumberland Foundry – more on that later, too!


Chris installing the railing for the Fort’s second level.  It’s very fun to climb the ladders and onto the deck!


RISD student Lisa working on the wheelbarrows for kids to cart foam bricks and stones around the Fort.


Chris installing “story cubes,” one of several activities exploring culture and diversity in the exhibit’s Story Center.  The cubes are particularly important because they share a dozen stories of a variety of real Rhode Islanders who have come to and settled in our state, expanding on the four stories told in the galleries.


Crew member Zach putting the finishing touches on the exhibit’s vibrant entryway.


Graphic designer Valerie mounting photos and labels in the Story Center.


We’re very nearly ready for you, thanks to the months of hard work of the exhibits team and the critical contributions of our many partners.  Come see for yourselves all weekend long, beginning Friday, November 18 at 9:00 AM!

Coming to Rhode Island is supported by The Champlin Foundations; The Children's Workshop Foundation; CollegeBound Saver; June Rockwell Levy Foundation; Murray Family Charitable Foundation; The Providence Journal Charitable Legacy Fund; Rhode Island Council for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities; The Ryan Family Foundation; and Nancy Smith Worthen, in memory of Margaret L. Worthen (as of November 14).  The Irish gallery was developed in collaboration with The Museum of Newport Irish History and the Fort Adams Trust.

Monday, November 14, 2016

Encouraging Empathy

Our reinvented Coming to Rhode Island exhibit is about exploring history, immigration and culture through stories. But even more than that, it’s about fostering EMPATHY – about developing respect for the diversity of individuals that make up our world, about understanding that diversity makes our communities richer and stronger, and about finding compassion for others by making connections to their stories. It’s a particularly relevant message at this moment in our world – at a time of divisiveness, dissension and discord, empathy is more important than ever.

Research shows that pretend play is closely related to developing empathy and other social-emotional skills. As children pretend and play in Coming to Rhode Island, they learn to relate to and communicate with one another and to take others’ perspectives. They also explore a wealth of different stories – stories of Rhode Islanders past and present, stories of people of different cultures and backgrounds, stories that encourage them to think about and appreciate what’s unique about themselves and others.



Here are a few curated lists of children’s books that include some excellent stories for encouraging empathy and cultivating compassion, recommended for reading and discussing together:
Look for several of these stories in our new exhibit.

Do you have other favorite books that foster empathy, kindness and inclusion? Please share in the comments.