The Providence Journal / Andrew Dickerman
An old-fashioned jukebox at Johnson & Wales' Culinary Arts Museum.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The Culinary Arts Museum at Johnson & Wales University will close in May for an inventory and cataloguing that will last 16 months and involve a former president of the Rhode Island School of Design.
The museum, on the school's Harborside Campus, is a victim of its own success. Its first delivery of gifts was in 1989, and they haven't stopped coming. They now number more than 250,000 items.
J&W hired Roger Mandle, former RISD president, to figure out how to expand the reach of the museum holdings. His first recommendation was that J&W get to know the depth of the collection. Then he will help interpret how the museum could be a stronger presence for the school community and the public.