the Rhode Island General Assembly ratified "An Act to Incorporate the Rhode Island School of Design", "[f]or the purpose of aiding in the cultivation of the arts of design". Over the next 129 years, the following original by-laws set forth these following primary objectives:
The instruction of artisans in drawing, painting, modeling, and designing, that they may successfully apply the principles of Art to the requirements of trade and manufacture.
The systematic training of students in the practice of Art, in order that they may understand its principles, give instruction to others, or become artists.
The general advancement of public Art Education, by the exhibition of works of Art and of Art school studies, and by lectures on Art.
Metcalf directed the school until her death in 1895. Her daughter, Eliza Greene Metcalf Radeke, then took over until her own death in 1931.
=== Beginnings ===
The school opened in October 1877 in Providence. The first class consisted of 43 students, the majority of whom were women.
For …
