Providence Athenaeum – Providence, RI

2020

In 2019, the Providence Athenaeum commissioned Skylight Studios to sculpt a bust of Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797), the British writer and women’s rights advocate. The Athenaeum was beginning a mission to add to its collection of sculpted portrait busts ones that represented figures who were writers, who left an important legacy, who had a connection to Providence, and who would diversify the collection of portrait busts in race and gender. They wanted the bust of Wollstonecraft done in the traditional style to complement the existing sculptures. Robert researched the writer and designed concept sketches. Once a sketch was chosen, he sculpted the bust in clay and, when finished, cast it in plaster for the Athenaeum.