Rhode Island Museum of Science and Art Gears Up for Major Installation

Monday, January 03, 2011

GoLocalProv Features Team

One of RI's newest, most innovative museums is taking a big step this spring with a major installation, and relying on some creative fundraising to pull it off.

The RI Museum of Science and Art will open The Gear Table Project, a multi-week installation opening March 3 at Slater Mill's gallery in the Blackstone Valley Visitors Center in Pawtucket. The open-ended, hands-on kinetic sculpture will allow users to interact with all kinds of examples of gears meshing and in motion: the kinetic transfers of energy that were behind the very beginning of the industrial revolution on the shores of the Blackstone River.

Half science, half art

Half demonstration of science, half work of art, The Gear Table is a defining project for this newish organization that has popped up at AS220's Foo Fest and WaterFire with creative approaches to where art and science intersect. Tantamount, though, is that the user engages in an active, open-ended experience.

"Our goal," say RIMOSA organizers, "is to wean visitors away from asking what they are 'supposed to do' and use their own imaginations to see what they CAN do."

Funding as creative as the project

Toward that end, RIMOSA has been raising funds to support the installation: just this week, they announced winning a grant from the June Rockwell Levy Foundation and Rhode Island State Council on the Arts.

But to further their quest, RIMOSA offers an online Kickstarter fundraising campaign that allows donors to support the project at any level (beginning at $1), with immediate feedback on getting the organization closer to its goal. RIMOSA's Kickstarter goal is $1,800; as of Jan 3, 16 backers have pledged $836, and the campaign must make its goal by Thursday, March 3, to receive its funding. To see the RIMOSA Kickstarter campaign page, and to donate, go here.

As is part of Kickstarter's fundraising mechanism, varying levels of pledge yield certain rewards: a pledge of $100 or more yield riches including acknowledgment on RIMOSA's Web site, a piece of material used in constructing the exhibit, a limited edition t-shirt, and a pair of ticket to the organization's February 24th fundraising event featuring renowned author, Caldecott Medalist and MacArthur Genius fellowship recipient David Macauley (for more information on this event, go here). To watch a video about The Gear Table Project, go here.