The Museum of Work & Culture???s 2016 Valley Talks Schedule [FREE EVENTS]
January 15 and 29; February 12 and 26; March 12
The Museum of Work & Culture, 42 S. Main St., Woonsocket, R.I.
Museum of Work & Culture to Launch Free Lecture Series January 15
(WOONSOCKET, R.I.) ??? Beginning January 15, the Museum of Work & Culture will host Valley Talks, a series of biweekly historical lectures. All talks are free and take place at 1:30pm 1at the Museum of Work & Culture.
The series will kick off with photographer David Pinkham, who will discuss his experience photographing the abandoned mills of the Blackstone Valley The talk will be presented in conjunction with the Museum???s current gallery exhibit, Vanishing Industrial Heritage of the Blackstone River Valley, which presents the work resulting from Pinkham & Cindy Wilson???s three-year mission to record the remaining mills along the Blackstone River.??
Pinkham???s photographic education began at the School of Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and has continued with numerous workshops, most recently including study in Rockport, Maine, and Santa Fe, N.M. He has previously showcased his work at the Newport Art Museum, Providence Art Club, Redwood Library & Athenaeum, and Bristol Art Museum.
Other Valley Talks will include:
January 29: Ravenous Brewery Founder Dorian Rave discusses establishing the first Nano Brewery in northern Rhode Island, the process of making beer, and plans for the future of the business.
February 12: Documentary filmmaker Kenneth Proudfoot screens The Amazing Life & Times of Austin T. Levy and will lead a Q&A on the production of the film that chronicles the life of one of Rhode Island???s leading entrepreneurs and philanthropists.
February 26: Ellen (Wright) Puccetti & Claire (Bissonnette) Wright Boudreault present the history of Wright???s Dairy Farm & Bakery, chronicling the growth of the family business, the experience growing up on the farm, and what goes into raising cows and making their famous pastry.
March 12: Writer and ??historical reenactor Paul Bourget explores life in Civil War encampments, detailing issues of transportation, camp set ups, medicine, military chores, and especially food.
About the Museum of Work & Culture
The interactive and educational Museum of Work & Culture shares the stories of the men, women, and children who came to find a better life in Rhode Island???s mill towns in the late 19th- and 20th centuries. It was recently named ???Best Overlooked Museum??? in New England by Yankee Magazine.
About the Rhode Island Historical Society
Founded in 1822, the RIHS is the fourth-oldest historical society in the United States and is Rhode Island???s largest and oldest historical organization, as well as its only Smithsonian Affiliate. In Providence, the RIHS owns and operates the John Brown House Museum, a designated National Historic Landmark, built in 1788; the Aldrich House, built in 1822 and used for administration and public programs; and the Mary Elizabeth Robinson Research Center, where archival, book and image collections are housed. In Woonsocket, the RIHS manages the Museum of Work and Culture, a community museum examining the industrial history of northern Rhode Island and of the workers and settlers, especially French-Canadians, who made it one of the state???s most distinctive areas.