Jim Barnes is Professor of Architecture at Rhode Island School of Design and is principle of James Barnes Architects in Providence. A 1969 graduate of RISD, he has been a member of the RISD faculty since 1972, teaching courses in architecture and interior architecture. He has also served the school by providing architectural services for several renovation projects and by holding many committee and administrative positions. He received the RISD Alumni "Teacher of the Year" award in 1995, and the 1998 John A. Frazier Award for excellence in teaching.

Please provide a slide projector and screen. This presentation is suitable for family audiences.
Unlike most forms of art, architecture is a part of everyone's daily experience. Living and working in buildings, walking and driving between them, we often occupy space without adequately understanding or appreciating the structures that define that space. Even if we enjoy looking at buildings, we may struggle to explain our preferences for certain styles or historical periods. This presentation offers amateurs an introduction to key concepts and vocabulary terms of historical and contemporary architecture. Learning to look at buildings with architectural eyes may help you experience your daily environment with greater awareness and enthusiasm.

Charles "Jeff" Moore was trained and worked for many years as a cabinet- maker, serving for three years as Chief Carpenter for the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. He has been with the Preservation Society of Newport County for seventeen years, beginning as the Furniture Conservator and acting now as Chief Conservator. As a graduate student in Historic Preservation, he was a Fellow of the Smithsonian Institution's Conservation Analytical Laboratory. He is the 1999 winner of the Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission Frederick C. Williamson Professional Service Award.

Both presentations require a slide projector and laser pointer. Demonstrations for "All That Glitters" require a sturdy folding table and good light. These presentations are suitable for family audiences.

Late nineteenth-century Newport was a place where promising architects could demonstrate their talents by designing elaborate homes for wealthy summer residents. McKim, Mead and White established their reputation by using shingles to give a distinctive look to their commissions. The 1883 Isaac Bell House is an early example of a Shingle Style house and is now in the collection of the Preservation Society of Newport County. Learn about the processes of discovery, preservation, conservation and interpretation of decorative surfaces currently underway in this historically rich structure.

 In the last three decades of the nineteenth century, the industrial boom swelled the fortunes of American entrepreneurs. While immigrant laborers poured into New England's mill villages and cities, wealthy magnates began to build increasingly opulent "summer cottages" in Newport. The use of gold leaf and other metals on decorative surfaces attests to the power of rich industrialists to support the endeavors of traditional artisans. Learn about the technical process of gilding and examine samples of decorative metals in houses from the collection of the Preservation Society of Newport County. For small groups, this discussion can include an actual demonstration of techniques.
Richard Greenwood was trained as an archaeologist and historian, and takes an interdisciplinary approach to studying the American landscape and the cultural forces that have shaped it. He has focused on the intersections of social, economic, and technological forces in Rhode Island history: his research interests include mill villages and the industrial revolution; the Blackstone Canal and the transportation revolution; and the evolution of the Rhode Island dairy farm. He is a staff member of the Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission.
Milk and dairy products have traditionally been prominent in Euro-American diets, and the dairy farm has been a constant in Rhode Island history since the colonial era. From the first colonists raising their herds in the Narragansett Country (now known as South County) to today's farmers confronting suburban sprawl, Rhode Island farm families have been adapting an essentially traditional practice to tumultuous change for more than three hundred and sixty years. This historical overview of dairy farming in a changing landscape provides intriguing insights into the evolution of our attitudes about our food, our land, and our selves.
If a slide projector and screen are available, the speaker will use slides. This presentation is suitable for family audiences.
William "Mack" Woodward is a native Texan architectural historian who has served on the staff of the Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission since 1976. As the Commission's Planning and Land Use Coordinator, he assists Rhode Island municipalities in integrating preservation activities into community planning, development, and revitalization. He has published several surveys of historic resources and scholarly articles, and is currently writing a book about Rhode Island landscapes.
City residents, visitors, and even television or movie audiences can easily recognize that Providence is not what it used to be. It is transformed in both image and reality from what it was only twenty years ago. However, the story of how Providence has taken shape is complex and not immediately visible. The recent reworking of both the natural and built environment is the citys third major transformation since the late 1840s. The circumstances that informed each metamorphosis reveal significant trends in urban history and provide insight into the changing needs and hopes of Providence's citizenry.

Rhode Island may appear as a mere speck on some maps of the United States, yet its 1200 square miles have a remarkably varied topography with a rich array of historic landscapes. High quality of landscape design is evident in its gardens, burial grounds, cemeteries, parks, parkways, campuses, farms, and golf courses. These landscapes are visually noteworthy, but they are even more compelling because of what they reveal about the people who have used them over the past 300 years. This look at human design of and designs upon the land reflects changing priorities and attitudes about shaping the natural environment.

Please provide a dark room and, preferably, a screen for slides. This presentation is suitable for family audiences.

AS220's "Action Speaks", a topic-driven panel discussion and radio show. He is the director of the Charles Fortes Elementary School Museum Project, which recently received a large grant from Disney. As co-creator of the South Kingston Neighborhood Congress, he has participated in a grassroots campaign against sprawl in his community

Mathias Oppersdorff has been a professional photographer since 1965. Although he was born in Boston, he has been a life-long South County resident and was instrumental in expanding the Trustom Pond Wildlife Refuge. He holds an MA in Political Science from American University in Washington, DC, and worked for eighteen years as a travel photographer for Gourmet magazine. His publications include Adirondack Faces and People of the Road. The latter is a result of his twenty-six year involvement with a "gypsy" group in Ireland known as the Travellers or Tinkers. In 1994, the South County Center for the Arts hosted his photo exhibit, South County Faces. When he is not photographing stone walls, he works on putting together a photo book on Arabia.
In our era of chain link fences and concrete barriers, stone walls strike us as charming and quaint features of South County's rural landscapes. In spite of their apparent simplicity, they are monuments to a dying tradition of craftsmanship. Their builders, many of them Native American or African American, worked like sculptors, assessing the attributes of each stone and using them to create unique structures. This presentation uses slides of stone walls and their makers, along with material from recent interviews, to tell the story of a craft that has left its mark upon the land.
Marc Joel Levitt is a storyteller, writer, and educator with a varied background, including a stint in the Merchant Marines. After graduating from Cornell University with a degree in Labor Relations, he taught nursery school, edited a newsletter, and performed as a "New Vaudevillian". For four years, he was writer, producer, and director of the syndicated radio variety show, "New England Chowda' Hour". For the last five years, he has created and hosted

Please provide a slide projector and screen.