My sister has worriedly mentioned all of my merchandise. I was hit with a disappointment earlier this year when I read that the Museum at Johnson and Wales University had stopped collecting and is closing to the public.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A city treasure is going behind closed doors.
The Culinary Arts Museum at Johnson & Wales University will be closed permanently to the public as of Feb. 27, the school said in a media advisory. The space on Harborside Boulevard will be for university use only at the conclusion of the winter term in February.
The museum opened in 1989, and its holdings include more than 200,000 pieces.
The artifacts, and the stories of the menus, machines and memorabilia from restaurants and homes, were special things that brought long-gone experiences alive for visitors. It was one of the nation’s only museums of its kind.
It will merge with the university’s libraries and continue to be a resource for JWU students, faculty and staff. Since 2014, the museum has hosted a Teaching Lab, a learning area for student and faculty scholarship with a hands-on experience that connects the culinary arts with other academic disciplines.
"Our curriculum has moved toward more collaborative learning, so we need spaces on campuses where our students can come together to work in teams," Lisa Pelosi, vice president of Communications & Government Relations. "We have been encouraging our students to come to the museum as a place to meet and study."
"For now, the museum space will remain as is," she said.
In 2012, the university began a strategic plan that would chart a path for the future. When Richard J.S. Gutman’s tenure as director at the museum was ended last summer, the writing seemed to be on the wall for changes.
Martha Sheridan, president and CEO of the Providence Warwick Convention and Visitors Bureau, was on a JWU committee that advocated expanding the museum to a downtown location.
“It’s an incredible asset and attraction no other city can claim,” she said in September, after Gutman's departure. “I can’t help wondering what’s next for this treasure.”
The university is continuing its effort to digitize the museum’s holdings for research and viewing online at
http://www.culinary.org/Collections/.
I have sought out MIB items for my collection so that I could donate them to this museum and now that is not a viable plan. What a world, what a world.
