Specimens

[by Fred Lynch in Providence, Rhode Island]

The Edna W. Lawrence Nature Lab is where almost every student for decades at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) has drawn—except me. It holds the 80-year-old Natural History Collection—an invaluable learning resource consisting of over 25,000 items of natural science, such as bones, bugs, minerals and plants. In a beautiful bright room, classes visit for inspiration, research and discovery. Students can pull treasures from the shelves for drawing at long tables. One could draw a fox, a fossil, a fish or a fern all in one day, if one would like.

Recently, on a quiet winter day, I paid a visit to the Lab at long last. Sketchbook in hand, I found myself in the back room (a.k.a. the “bone room”) with eight human skeletons. Finally, I had lived one of RISD’s signature experiences. It occurred to me as I drew that I’ve been associated with the school since 1984—first as a student and now as a professor. I’m a RISD specimen myself.