Events

Families will meet at the nature lab and explore independently. The lab is a perfect place to bring a sketchbook and spend time drawing or just enjoy looking around! For some, an hour will be more than long enough to explore every part of this magical space, for others, a day wouldn't scratch the surface.

Please be extremely respectful of this space and everything it contains. No running, no touching.

In the 1920s and ’30s, RISD faculty member Edna W. Lawrence would spend summers driving across the country collecting natural specimens for students to work with in her Nature Drawing
class. In 1937 she founded the Nature Lab with an original collection of 1,286 objects (including shells, butterflies, minerals, skeletons, seed pods and taxidermy) that grew to more than 25,000 items by the time she retired 38 years later. Today the Natural History Collection includes nearly 80,000 individual specimens.
http://naturelab.risd.edu/collections/edna-w-lawrence-natural-history-collection

This class will be appropriate for all ages. It is not drop off, parents are required to attend. Under 2, if not participating, do not need to register for a space but may attend.

Animal Careers
When we think of working with animals, many jump to the idea of being a vet, but did you ever think of being a zookeeper, a research scientist, or even a dog-clothing designer? This session will focus on the array of options students have when choosing a career path in the animal world. We will have a guest speaker and conduct a service project for the shelter at the end of the program.


Registration cost is per family and will be donated to RISPCA. We ask that families also bring an item to donate on the day of the class. See the wishlist graphic.