Gallery Night Providence is pleased and honored to welcome two very special guest guides who will join us on two of our November 16 tours. Meet Crystal Williams, President of Rhode Island School of Design, who will be a guest guide on the 5:30 pm tour, and Joe Wilson, Jr., Director of Providence Art Culture + Tourism, who will be a guest guide on the 6:00 pm tour.
Photo of Crystal Williams. Photo credit, Jo Sittenfeld.
Crystal Williams, RISD’s 18th President, is a teacher, leader, advocate and poet who believes that education, art and design, and commitments to equity and justice are essential to transforming our society.
As a faculty member, she has focused on advancing artistic inquiry and engagement. As a leader, her work has ensured that institutions are more effective, mission-aligned and diverse, equitable and inclusive.
Prior to coming to RISD in 2022, she was Boston University’s inaugural vice president and associate provost for community and inclusion. Williams held similarly catalytic roles at Bates College (2013–17) and Reed College (as a faculty leader from 2000–11 and as a dean from 2011–13). She began her academic career at Reed as a professor of English.
An award-winning poet and essayist, Williams has published four collections of poems. She is the recipient of several artistic fellowships, grants and honors, including a fellowship from the MacDowell Arts Colony, an appointment as the Distinguished Visiting Professor of University Writing at DePauw University, and a Master Poet residency at Indiana University. Williiams’ poem Elegy for Us, in response to Faith Ringgold’s American People Series #20: Die, was commissioned by and is part of MoMA’s Poetry Project, a tour of poems responding to pieces in the museum’s permanent collection.
The daughter of an educator and a musician, Williams was raised in Detroit, MI and Madrid, Spain and holds a BA from New York University and an MFA from Cornell University.
Joe Wilson, Jr. is currently the director of Providence Arts Culture + Tourism. Many will recognize him from his previous role as a member of the Resident Acting Company and Artistic Staff at Trinity Repertory Theater, where he founded Trinity Rep’s Center for Activism and Performance. He has shared his knowledge of the arts through lectures at educational institutions and conferences around the country.
He has an extensive background in theater, holding an MFA in Acting from the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theatre Training Program. He has worked both on and off Broadway (2000 Tony Award-nominated production of Jesus Christ Superstar, and 2018 Tony Award-nominated Iceman Cometh starring Denzel Washington).
Joe has received many honors, including from the Rhode Island Black Heritage Foundation, and received the City of Providence 2020 MLK Hall of Fame for Outstanding Service. In awarding Joe the Rhode Island Council for Humanities Public Scholar Award, the Council stated that, "Joe Wilson Jr. is a force who uses his skills, his talent, and his passion to enact, concretely, what the humanities can do to change the world."
Joe serves on the boards of the Providence Tourism Council, the Providence/Warwick Convention and Visitors Bureau, and WaterFire Providence.