The Nature Lab was established in 1937 by Edna W. Lawrence, a faculty member and alumna of RISD, to offer students the opportunity to experience the patterns and structures found within natural objects. The collection has grown to include more than 80,000 nature specimens including shells, bones, insects, birds, mammals, reptiles, crustaceans, wood, feathers and a small collection of live animals.
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Rhode Island School of Design. Edna W. Lawrence Nature Lab records, Rhode Island School of Design Archives.
This collection documents the activities of Karen Idoine between 1996-2005 in her position as the curator of the Nature Lab, and primarily contains information pertaining to the planning and execution of events sponsored by the Nature Lab. Among the records included are meeting minutes, Karen Idoine's notes, budgets, correspondence, slides, news clippings, release forms, information on program presenters, flyers, pamphlets, publications and promotional materials, photographs, architectural plans and drafts of speeches.
Also included in the collection is a small group of records addressing the administrative functions of the Nature Lab, including a five year plan, reports, budgetary information and publicity materials.
Additionally, the collection includes 17 audio and 28 video cassettes documenting Reimagining Ecology, a symposium held at RISD in 1998 as a part of A Year of Art and Nature that attracted a large number of presenters from both the arts and sciences. Many of the video and audio cassettes encompass information about both the Year of Art and Nature and Reimagining Ecology. These cassettes are found under the Reimagining Ecology series. Two video cassettes relating to the 60th Anniversary of the Nature Lab are in the Subject Files series. Audio cassettes are marked with an 'A' in the folder list, video cassettes are marked with a 'V.'
The materials are in two series:
The records were transferred from the Edna W. Lawrence Nature Lab.