KINGSTON, R.I. – May 22, 2026 – It’s not just digitally enhancing a hidden New England colonial-era endangered landmark that has Deleonya Brown excited about being a University of Rhode Island College of Arts and Sciences fellow.

She wants to learn more about herself, both personally and professionally. That opportunity will come as the result of her working with the Stanton-Davis Homestead Museum in Stonington, Connecticut, to build the nonprofit’s brand identity through graphic design.

The College of Arts and Sciences Fellows Program offers URI Arts and Sciences undergraduates paid 10-week summer fellowships to participate in research, scholarly, or creative projects under the supervision of a faculty mentor. Fellows may also receive credit for a directed study.  

Brown will play a key role in reshaping the branding for the Stanton-Davis Museum—the oldest working farm in Connecticut—to help detail its importance to New England’s colonial history. Brown will redevelop the Stanton-Davis Homestead Museum’s website and visual branding, build its Instagram presence, and create designs for the nonprofit’s letterhead and business cards. 

This work will include creating collateral materials for the museum, such as flyers, posters and brochures. URI Associate Teaching Professor, Design Studio and User Interface Design Certificate Director Clarisa Carubin, who taught Brown in her Graphic Design I and II classes, will mentor Brown on this project.

“This little museum has so much history, so much background and has something that hits close to home for me,” said Brown, a senior from Pawtucket who will graduate in December with an art degree. “I just love this opportunity because I’m able to perform real-life work and engage with a nonprofit that is trying to keep its historical importance.”

Brown, who is building her design portfolio and is seeking freelance work upon graduation from URI, credits Carubin’s teaching of foundational aspects of design software for putting her in the mindset that design work is always subjective. “I really learned in her classes how to take critiques seriously,” Brown said. “Once you receive the critiques, there’s room to understand how I can do my work better and how to reach a target audience.”

Historical preservation

Thomas Stanton, who co-founded the town of Stonington, settled in southeastern Connecticut in 1651 and subsequently built the homestead after he was granted permission to establish a trading post along the Pawcatuck River. Stanton was notable for supporting the fair treatment of the Native Americans, being appointed as counselor for the Pequot and Mohegan tribes at the time.

John Davis, of Long Island, New York, bought the property in 1772 after the Stanton family lost the home due to unpaid debt. It remained in the Davis family until the late John “Whit” Davis donated the homestead for preservation before his death in 2016. The homestead is undergoing extensive renovations to conserve both the home and its colonial artifacts for future generations.

The homestead was also the home of Venture Smith, who was enslaved there by the Stantons and eventually bought his freedom in 1765. Smith’s autobiography, “A Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Venture, a Native of Africa: But Resident above Sixty Years in the United States of America, Related by Himself,” is one of the earliest known works documenting slavery in colonial America.

Brown said she is looking forward to sharing Smith’s inspiring story of becoming free in the United States and seeking a better life, as well as shining a new spotlight on multicultural history within colonial New England.

“I’m African American, and this project will help me learn more about myself because there’s so much history about African Americans that has not been talked about,” Brown said. “The homestead is small, but it has so much history. That’s why graphic design is so important for something like this—to help bring something to light that no one had expected or initially thought of.”