Administrative History
RISD began its graduate program in 1957 with Art Education, a one year curriculum expanded to two years in 1992. The school has changed degrees over the years awarding the MS, 1958-1963, MFA, 1964-1966, MAE, 1973-1993, and MA, 1994-2017. In 1964, RISD created the one year Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program, modeled on the undergraduate program, for students seeking their art teaching certification. The department offered a three year summer Master of Art Education program for teachers, 1973-1995. Reflecting the end of the undergraduate program, the Division of Teacher Education became a department under the Division of Graduate Studies in 1973.
Project New Directions, created 1994, was a for-credit professional development program for arts educators from Rhode Island schools attended week long summer academies and single day workshops with the objectives to develop and support arts education in Rhode Island, created and hosted by TLAD. Funding was provided by the U.S. Department of Education’s Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) and the Health and Education Leadership for Providence (HELP) Coalition. National and state level advisors, including artists and arts educators, supported RISD’s administrative staff of Paul Sproll (Project Director), John Chamberlin (Associate Project Director), Carole Villucci (Assistant Director), and Barbara Pichette (Project Coordinator).
Project Open Door, 2005-2017, partners TLAD with Providence School District to develop robust arts curricula and provide after-school programming for students at low-performing schools. The program began informally with Feinstein High School, and expanded to a collaboration with Hope High School and others in Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls, and Woonsocket. Funding for Project Open Door has been provided by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Rhode Island Foundation. Administrative staff from RISD, Paul Sproll (Project Director) and Lauren Allen (Associate Director), work alongside PSD superintendents, educators, and artists.
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Rhode Island School of Design. Department of Teaching + Learning in Art + Design External Projects records, Rhode Island School of Design.
The external projects records of the Department of Teaching + Learning in Art + Design document the program’s engagement with art education practitioners in Rhode Island public schools through specific initiatives, 1994-2013. The bulk of materials relate to Project New Directions (PND), a series of professional development workshops and summer academies offered several times each year, 1994-2006. Curricula and handouts developed by the department are supported by documentation in the form of photographic materials, participants’ reflections, and reports to funding agencies. A separate, currently unprocessed series (2007.73) contains further materials on the development and implementation of PND.
Other projects, primarily under Project Open Door alongside the Providence School Department (PSD), are also present in grant proposals, correspondence, and meeting notes on these collaborations, 2002-2014. Most records originate from TLAD department head Paul Sproll; other administrators and collaborators represented include former RISD president Roger Mandle, Hope High School principal Nancy Mullen, Hope High School principal, and Laura Travis and Valerie Kline. Supplemental materials include framed posters, awards, and bound catalogs and portfolios.
This collection is arranged in three series:
Materials are arranged chronologically within each series.
Transferred to the RISD Archives by Professor Paul Sproll, Department of Teaching + Learning in Art + Design.
Project New Directions records represent TLAD’s professional development workshops and summer academies, held for arts education professionals from Rhode Island schools.
This series is arranged chronologically within three subseries.
Curricula and Handouts document the materials used within each professional development (PD) course, including original material, readings, and slides. The series also contains photographs by both the department and students documenting these events.
Chronological by PD course. The order of materials within each course represents the materials’ arrangement as maintained by TLAD.
PND Reports contain materials sent from TLAD to funding agencies as official reports on the program. This series also contains correspondence between TLAD and the US Department of Education’s Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE).
Chronological. The order of materials within each report represents the records’ arrangement as maintained by TLAD.
The Published Materials hold copies of articles written about Project New Directions and statements put out by TLAD as newsletters that comment on the state of PND.
Chronological. Undated materials precede other materials, arranged as maintained by TLAD.
These records document the relationships between TLAD, Providence School District, and specific schools therein, including after-school arts programming for students at underperforming schools as part of Project Open Door. Materials primarily include grant applications and correspondence.
This series is arranged chronologically within three subseries.
Grant application records contain application forms, narrative statements of intent, and any additional materials as per the requirements of various state and federal funds. Programs represented in these records include RISD @ Hope @ RISD, RISD-Links, and Project Open Door.
Chronological. The order of materials within each application represents the records’ arrangement as maintained by TLAD.
Correspondence, proposals, and course materials related to collaboration between TLAD and Providence School District. This includes after school programming at Hope High School, Davies High School, and Feinstein High School, and professional development workshops with PSD itself.
Chronological by particular school or project.
The Published Materials hold copies of articles written about TLAD’s collaboration with specific schools within PSD, as well as awards given honoring TLAD’s external projects.
Chronological, with bound materials located at the end of the subseries.
Items in this series correspond with records from Series I but exceed the size limits of the boxes for the rest of the collection and are housed separately. These include framed materials and oversize books.
This series is arranged chronologically.