This 3 Questions Series offers the chance to learn more about board members, grantees, and longtime supporters of the Humanities Council. In the coming months the Council will continue to share these conversations as a window into the people who make up the Council’s unique network.
Robert Craven, Esq (he/him/his)
Attorney at Law, Adler, Pollock & Sheehan P.C., Adjunct Professor, Community College of Rhode Island
Lives in Providence, RI
As you join the Humanities Council’s board, what do you find most interesting or exciting about the Council’s work? Or what are you hoping to learn more about through your board service?
I find the Council’s investment in our history – our shared story – to be the most interesting part of the Council’s work. I am also incredibly excited to take an active role in the Council’s mission of enriching civic engagement in our state.
How do you interact with Rhode Island’s humanities and cultural sector personally and/or professionally? Can you share a favorite program, exhibit, project, performance, screening, or other humanities activity you’ve participated in recently and what you took away from that experience?
Recently, I partook in the West Side walking tour that is part of the Council’s Rhode Tour program. During the tour, I learned about the fascinating story of the neighborhood’s Wedding Cake House.
(Rhode Tour now has 36 tours and nearly 360 stories of places and communities across Rhode Island. Explore for free on the Rhode Tour app or online at: rhodetour.org.)
You have lived in several different places – what is it about living in Rhode Island that you find compelling?
To me, Rhode Island is compelling because of its sense of place, its culture, and its history. Walking down Benefit Street in Providence’s East Side or Thames Street in Newport you can feel the centuries of culture and an intimate connection to Rhode Islanders long gone. You don’t get that anywhere. We have something incredibly unique here in Rhode Island and its organizations like the Humanities Council that help preserve the stories of those who made our state all that it is today.
Learn more about Robert and other board member by reading their biographies here.
