The building at 15 Westminster Street currently holds RISD’s Fleet Library, but it was originally built in 1919 for the Rhode Island Hospital Trust Company, a grand commercial bank. From a desire to inspire a sense of wonder and recontextualize RISD’s spatial history within the larger history of Providence, rose an installation and scavenger hunt that briefly served as a portal to the building’s past.
A reception desk recreated from archival photos and placed in its original location drew viewers into the installation. Ephemera on the desk introduced visitors to the function and character of the Rhode Island Hospital Trust Company, and instructions and a map set them on a scavenger hunt. At four different locations, participants collected faux banknotes with information about the company and the building printed on the backs. Those who completed the hunt wrote their name on a blank check to enter a raffle to win an authentic safe deposit box from the vault that still exists in the building’s basement.
"It’s 1919 at 15 Westminster St. and the Rhode Island Hospital Trust Company wants to welcome you into our splendid new banking facilities. Come by to chat with an information clerk, open an account, and participate in a scavenger hunt for a chance to win an authentic safe deposit box from our underground vault! We look forward to meeting potential customers from the Providence community and offering our friendly services.
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Ok, it’s not actually 1919, but I did actually recreate a 1919-era information desk, and there is actually a scavenger hunt! It’s short and fun and historically immersive, and you will, in fact, be entered into a raffle to win a real twentieth-century safe deposit box pulled straight from the 500-ton vault that still exists beneath RISD’s Fleet Library. As many know, the building at 15 West used to be a luminous bank. This project seeks to tangibly contextualize RISD’s spatial history within the larger history of Providence, and I hope you will take a moment to stop by and step into past. (The Library is open to Brown students with ID during open hours.) This work will be up through mid-February 2023.
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– Naya Lee Chang BRDD 24, Furniture 24
