As an extension of JWU Library, the Culinary Arts Museum is a hidden gem of the Providence Campus, with a 165,000-item strong collection of historic artifacts associated with the fields of culinary arts, food studies and hospitality.
Home to a vast collection of artifacts ranging from historic menus to rare cookbooks, the museum serves primarily as a teaching space for students.
The space also hosts changing exhibits around culinary themes, including diner history, cultural and practical artifacts. Students can also access the museum’s vast archive of historic menus, cookbooks and community-curated recipe collections for research purposes.
The content here bridges different disciplines — nutrition, design, marketing, liberal arts — so students get to connect their coursework with the collection in creative ways.”
Erin Williams,Collections Manager
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — March 27, 2026 — Guests gather at Johnson
How the Collection Has Evolved
For the past two decades, our collections manager has worked closely with students to catalog, preserve and display the museum’s collection, which numbers more than 165,000 artifacts related to culinary, hospitality and food studies.
JWU’s collection began in 1979 through a large donation of cookbooks to the JWU Library and was later expanded through another major gift from a donor, which led to the founding of the museum itself. “Early on, the collection was very broad,” Erin Williams explained. “Over time, we focused on culinary, travel, tourism and hospitality.”
Culinary History Is Community History
The Culinary Arts Museum opened its doors to the public to celebrate RI250. Groups toured a showcase of community cookbooks around the RI250 theme, an exhibit curated by Collections Manager Erin Williams and Jahnele “Jelly” Williams ’27.
Looking for an unforgettable event space? The Culinary Arts Museum houses thousands of historic culinary and hospitality artifacts, offering a unique space for private events and gatherings for up to 330 people.
