After the completion of the Andrew W. Mellon Lecture Series in 1987, which firmly established visiting artist lectures as an invaluable addition to the liberal and fine arts education, the RISD community sought new funding opportunities to continue allowing students to engage with notable scholars. The resulting Arts and Humanities Lecture Series, which ran from 1987-1990, brought noted philosophers, historians, authors, critics, artists, and humanists to campus to expose student artists to broader perspectives.
The first two years of funding was provided by the R.I. State Council on the Arts, with further funding coming from private donors. Artists in the lecture series included Errol Morris, Adrienne Rich, Alexander Ginzberg, and Frances Fitzgerald.
The complete roster of visiting lecturers is as follows:
1987-1988:
1988-1989:
1989-1990:
The use of certain documents and collections may be restricted. Please consult the Archives staff for further details.
Permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from archival materials must be obtained in writing from the Archives. The researcher assumes full responsibility for use of material and for conformity to all applicable laws, including copyright.
RISD/Arts and Humanities lectures, Rhode Island School of Design Archives.
The eight VHS cassettes record lectures presented as part of the Arts and Humanities Lecture series, 1987-1990. Tapes include talks by Eric Fischl (1987), Gunther Schuller (1989), Carlos Fuentes (1989), Milton Glaser, Adrienne Rich (1990), and April Gornik (1990).
Transferred to the Archives from the Fleet Library at RISD.
Programs, schedules, and clippings are found in the General Vertical files.
See the Andrew W. Mellon Grant lectures, series 32.01, posted on the Fleet Library at RISD's Digital Commons website.
The VHS tapes are available as mp4 files on the Fleet Library at RISD's Digital Commons website.