 In a rare move that places young people directly within the institution’s collecting history, teens in the RISD Art Circle (RAC) have selected a work of contemporary art for accession into the permanent collection of the RISD Museum. Their selection, Críptido y Monedas V (2025) by Argentine artist Santiago Licata, has now been formally accessioned and becomes a lasting part of the museum’s holdings.
“We wanted RAC teens to see themselves as people who can shape what a museum collects,” said Tsugumi Maki, Museum Director. “Not someday, but now. When young people participate in decisions at this level, they are not simply learning about museums. They are helping define what museums become. Opportunities of this scale are rarely extended to high school students.”
The RISD Art Circle is a yearlong program for high school artists and art enthusiasts who engage deeply with the museum’s collection and learn about art, materials, and museum practice. Meeting most Saturdays from September through June, participants develop creative projects while gaining insight into how museums operate behind the scenes. In recent years, RAC teens curated a well-received exhibition Listen! (2024–2025), selecting works from the museum’s Prints, Drawings, and Photographs collection and contributing personal reflections shaped by issues relevant to their lives and communities. Building on that foundation, this year’s cohort was invited into a more consequential process: researching contemporary art and recommending a work for acquisition.
Guided by museum educators and curators, including Christina Alderman, Director of Family and Teen Programs; Dominic Molon, Interim Chief Curator and Richard Brown Baker Curator of Contemporary Art; María Fernanda Mancera, Assistant Curator of Indigenous Art; Gabrielle Walker, Nancy Elizabeth Prophet Curatorial Assistant; along with On-Call Educators Maxine Wo and Sherly Torres, and student worker Hannah Oh, the group traveled to New York City to visit leading art fairs, meet with gallerists, learn about the art market, and examine how museum collections grow. Through sustained discussion, debate, and research, the teens ultimately recommended Licata’s work for acquisition.
Críptido y Monedas V (2025) features a concrete pigeon with a spectral human-like face perched atop a tower of Argentine pesos. The sculpture explores materiality, urban symbolism, and systems of value, including economic, cultural, and social frameworks. During their deliberations, the teens drew connections between Argentina’s economic instability, the symbolism of currency, including the phasing out of the penny in the United States, and the financial pressures they face as they prepare to begin their adult lives. The work resonated as both timely and personal.
“A lot of young people aren’t super interested in museums, but a lot of museums aren’t interested in young people,” said RAC participant Olivia Lee. “By inserting ourselves into the history of the museum, we are also pushing it to think about what matters to us.”
“This artwork hit on the values we want to discuss, but in new and exciting ways,” said Calliope Goldman, another RAC member. “We want art that has an important message about culture and identity,” added RAC member Gabriela Rijos Santos. “We hope it moves people.”
“Access and the ability to work on a project as significant as this is a tremendous opportunity for both the museum and the teens involved,” said Christina Alderman. “Not only are the teens learning about museums. The museum is learning as well. The teens are shaping the museum in a very direct and enduring way.”
“This acquisition reflects the teens’ careful consideration of material exploration, narrative complexity, and systems of value,” said Dominic Molon. “Their insights were central to the decision-making process and enriched the museum’s understanding of the work.”
By extending real authority in collecting, the RISD Museum affirms that young people have a stake in defining cultural memory. Through the RISD Art Circle, teens are not simply future audiences. They are active participants in shaping the institution today. |
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