September 19 Gallery Night - 5:15 pm tour details announced!

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We will leave at 5:15 pm from the Graduate Hotel at 11 Dorrance Street, and return to the Graduate around 7:15 pm. September tours include exclusive spaces showcased in partnership with DESIGNxRI.

This tour will be led by Gallery Night Guide Bradly VanDerStad and will be via trolley or mini coach. We will visit the following locations and exhibits:

  • AS220 Project Space - At AS220 Project Space, experience Contemplative Remains, an exhibit by Jamie Murphy Hlynsky. Pieces from across different mediums are selected to reflect on current or historical American icons and the issues they represent. In the Reading Room, To The Letter by Emily Coxe pairs early obsessive hand-lettered phrases in gouache work with more recent work that re-investigates the gestures of layering and warping.

  • Asterfields (with DESIGNxRI) - Asterfields is an independent design house where art meets life, celebrating the intersection of craft, color, and creativity. The studio designs products to be lived in, treasured, and worn out, and strives to inspire self-expression and celebrate the individuality of their customers. This month, they are thrilled to present Garden of Delights, an exhibit of mixed media paintings by Nicole Deponte.

  • Galerie le Domaine - Galerie le Domaine presents a solo exhibition of the works of Neal Walsh. Walsh’s work is primarily abstract, playing with the subtleties of light & variations of forms, evoking the urban mill he began his painting career in & the rural community where he now lives and paints.

  • RISD Museum - The RISD Museum has a variety of different exhibits on view. On the Gallery Night tour, you can get a taste of the many amazing exhibits that the museum has to offer! This month, explore their newest exhibition Listen!, curated by the RISD art circle, a group of teens from RI and MA.

REGISTER IN ADVANCE OR SHOW UP THE NIGHT OF!

Half of the seats on the trolley or mini coach will always be available (first-come, first-served), completely free, to anyone who shows up on Gallery Night! The other half of the seats are available to reserve in advance via Eventbrite. We ask that you donate $1 when you check out, for the convenience of guaranteeing your spot on the tour of your choice ahead of time.

Accessibility notes:

  • Many of the Gallery Night art spaces are wheelchair accessible. However, the trolleys we hire for Gallery Night cannot accommodate wheelchairs.

  • All tours involve some walking and some stops may include stairs.

  • We invite wheelchair users to enjoy self-guided tours on Gallery Night, and have created some suggestions (Make Your Own Tour tab page) where we note which galleries are wheelchair accessible.

Some notes to help you out the night of the event!

  • We recommend arriving to the Graduate 5 to 10 minutes before your tour time. One of our volunteers will be at a podium with a Gallery Night banner, near the main entrance, and will check you in and answer any questions!

  • If your plans change, please remember to cancel your Eventbrite reservation so that someone else can enjoy the tour.

  • Tours occasionally run late. We recommend allowing buffer time if you're planning on attending another event after ours.

And…enjoy a sneak peek of some of the artwork you can see at these spaces on gallery night!

September 19 Gallery Night - 5:00 pm tour details announced!

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We will leave at 5:00 pm from the Graduate Hotel at 11 Dorrance Street, and return to the Graduate around 7:00 pm. September tours include exclusive spaces showcased in partnership with DESIGNxRI.

This tour will be led by Gallery Night Guide Barbara Zdravesky with guest guide Jo Lee, a board member at DESIGNxRI.

This is a walking tour - make sure you wear comfortable shoes and dress for the weather! In addition to murals and architecture along the way, we will visit the following locations and exhibits:

  • Bela Monde (with DESIGNxRI) - An apparel and accessories brand founded by Lisa Limer and Johnnie Chace, crafting timeless coats and accessories that focuses on luxurious fabrics, pattern, and color.

  • AS220 Main Gallery - At AS220’s Main Gallery, appreciate two exhibitions. In Eveline Luppi’s Geometric Color Identity, Luppi reveals the complexities of contemporary life through meditative uses of color and geometry and her complex and explorative paint practices. Main Character Energy by Anthony Gregg presents a collection of works that explore the dichotomy of comfort and chaos. That visual play between tension and calm capture the events of processing surrounding environments.

  • AS220 Aborn Gallery - Explore the boundary between art, poetry, and the natural world with Realmz by RI artist, Natural. Natural presents a series of works that illustrate his visual and musical languages through a range of materials like spray paint, acrylic, and sculpture.

  • 134 Collaborative / Mathewson Street Church - Ewa Roselli and her daughter Chloe Moers connect their work in a joint exhibition on the beauty of nature. Ewa’s vibrant and intuitive large paintings, as well as her smaller nature-inspired watercolors, will be on display. Paired with each of the watercolors is a poem gently crafted by Chloe.

REGISTER IN ADVANCE OR SHOW UP THE NIGHT OF!

Half of the spots on the tour will always be available (first-come, first-served), completely free, to anyone who shows up on Gallery Night! The other half of the spots are available to reserve in advance via Eventbrite. We ask that you donate $1 when you check out, for the convenience of guaranteeing your spot on the tour of your choice ahead of time.

Accessibility notes:

  • Many of the Gallery Night art spaces are wheelchair accessible. However, the trolleys we hire for Gallery Night cannot accommodate wheelchairs.

  • All tours involve some walking and some stops may include stairs.

  • We invite wheelchair users to enjoy self-guided tours on Gallery Night, and have created some suggestions (Make Your Own Tour tab page) where we note which galleries are wheelchair accessible.

Some notes to help you out the night of the event!

  • We recommend arriving to the Graduate 5 to 10 minutes before your tour time. One of our volunteers will be at a podium with a Gallery Night banner, near the main entrance, and will check you in and answer any questions!

  • If your plans change, please remember to cancel your Eventbrite reservation so that someone else can enjoy the tour.

  • Tours occasionally run late. We recommend allowing buffer time if you're planning on attending another event after ours.

And…enjoy a sneak peek of some of the artwork you can see at these spaces on gallery night!

Thank you to all who attended August 15 Gallery Night!

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Paintings by Fior De La Cruz and Anahid Ypres on display at Anahid's art studio in Providence. 

August 15 Gallery Night was a blast!

Between the 5 free guided tours and people visiting the gallery shows on their own, we had at least 583 people participate.

We had many local folks as well visitors from out-of-state, including a trio of friends (one from Boston, Colorado, and we didn't catch the third place!) who were staying in Saunderstown for the week on a visit to yarn stores in RI and MA and wanted to add an art experience to their week. We also had other out-of-state visitors from Massachusetts, Virginia, and California. We even had 1 person who was visiting from France!

Enjoy some photos and tidbits in the recap below.

The 5 pm tour had the pleasure of seeing Neal Walsh’s crafted, textured work at Galerie le Domaine at Domain Properties. And it wasn’t just the Gallery Night guided tour that saw this show - there were easily a hundred people over the course of the night who attended the opening reception!

Providence Art Club

The tour group also visited the Providence Art Club, which had two exhibits at once. In the Maxwell Mays Gallery the Club hosted Homage to the Square: An Exhibition of 16” x 16” Artworks, featuring 40+ Exhibiting Artist Members of the Art Club. This was the Club’s third time hosting a show with this square theme.

In the Dodge House Gallery the Club showcased artWORKS: landscapes, featuring young artists affiliated with Riverzedge Arts of Woonsocket. The Club was excited to partner with Riverzedge for their annual exhibition and help them to bring this work to Providence. Brad Fesmire of Riverzedge and many of the artists were on hand the night of the reception and gallery night to talk with visitors. Speaking in the photo, RI Secretary of State Greg Amore.

The tour visited Anahid Ypres Art Studio, with guest artist Fior De La Cruz. On display were works from De La Cruz’s most recent body of work, “Looking Inwards.” This collection of paintings explores themes of mental health, identity, and the interconnectedness of our world. Visually, the paintings draw inspiration from the ecosystem of coral reefs. De La Cruz is returning as a guest artist at Anahid Ypres Art Studio for September Gallery Night, so if you didn’t catch her work in August, you still can on September 19!

The exhibition at The Gallery at City Hall, There’s No Place Like Home: Work from the One Nation One Project Residencies at Carroll Tower and Chad Brown, was well-attended. As you can see from the photos below, there was a lot of engagement with the artists and the work! The show will still be up in September, so if you missed it this month, you can check it out for September 19 Gallery Night.

“It was easy and felt like a refined, privileged experience. Timing and pace was perfect. And it was free!”
— Attendee on the 5 pm tour

The 5:30 pm tour visited New Harvest Coffee & Spirits to see Baubles, Bangles, and Beads: The Treasures of Wolf E. Myrow, a show of photographs by Robert W. Easton.

The tour also visited the Chazan Family Gallery at Rhode Island College. Tourgoers enjoyed the show, Corporeal Reflections, which featured the work of sculptor Elvis Rodriguez and painter/ceramicist Sam Lowder.

At the WaterFire Arts Center, visitors had the pleasure of seeing NetWorks Rhode Island and the Chazan Collection: A Half-Century of RI Patronage. This was a large-scale exhibition featuring over 100 NetWorks Rhode Island artists, celebrating a dynamic community of innovative artists living and working in Rhode Island and their champion, Joseph A. Chazan M.D.

Gallery Night was the featured organization for TroopTop Thursdays this month! Because of the rain, we had a welcome table inside, complete with puzzles people could work on together.

And one more quote! Thanks again for joining us for August. We hope to see you in September!

“The venues were excellent. The convenience of the trolley was wonderful. Jenn Wilson does a wonderful job of communicating the info about the venues.”
— Richard, 5 pm tour

August 15 Gallery Night - 6:30 pm tour details announced!

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We will leave at 6:30 pm from the WaterFire Arts Center at 475 Valley Street, and return to the WaterFire Arts Center around 8:30 pm.

This tour will be led by Gallery Night Guide Emily Gray with Guest Guide Tapia. We will visit the following locations and exhibits:

  • AS220 Main Gallery with three exhibits this month. “New Works” by Daniel Moran Sullivan. Using a combination of life drawings and digital editing, the artist explores the infinite possibilities of imagination, illustrating loved ones through as many lenses as possible. The next exhibit is “The Superposition of Bill Murray” by Piotr Butiewicz. In this series of digital collages, Butiewicz uncovers the mysteries of Bill Murray manifestations from years of dedicated research and presents a convention of Bill Murray entities from numerous multiverse dimensions. The third exhibit is “The Thing We Call Home” by Antoine Soued. Through a slow and detailed process of inking, hatching, dotting, and masking, Soued takes original photographs from major world cities and strips them down to atemporal negatives to reveal what is essential in its most naked form.

  • AS220 Aborn Gallery. Artists Asma Kazmi and Anabel Vasquez Rodriguez are revisiting their 2004 performance of “Ecolgias Solidaris” to explore new understandings on politics, colonial heritage and collective memory. Featuring heterogeneous images, objects and gestures, “Ecologias Solidarias” creates a vital space for dialogue and reflection.

  • AS220 Project Space, showing “You Caught Me Dreaming” by Renée Elizabeth Neely-Tanner. Reflected in a lyricism of materials and textures, this collection of abstract paintings honors spiritual presences and historical practices of making. This exhibit challenges boundaries placed on Black female creatives including the luxury to dream.

  • The Gallery at Sprout CoWorking presents “Strangers of Strangers” and the works of the following artists: Ana Popescu, Grace Weidner, Jaewon Hwang, Joohee Park, Kahee Bae, Katharine Frank, Keana Walters, Seongjoo Moon, Seungwon Baek.

  • WaterFire Arts Center. WaterFire Arts Center welcomes the work of over 100 artists in its new exhibit, NetWorks Rhode Island and the Chazan Collection: A Half-Century of RI Artistic Patronage. Celebrating the artistic community of RI & their champion, Dr. Joseph A. Chazan, this exhibit brings together a previous portrait project by Dr Chazan, works from his collection, & new submissions by RI Artists. Also enjoy sips, snacks, and live music as part of the weekly Thursday Night TroopTop celebration!

REGISTER IN ADVANCE OR SHOW UP THE NIGHT OF!

Half of the seats on the trolley or mini coach will always be available (first-come, first-served), completely free, to anyone who shows up on Gallery Night! The other half of the seats are available to reserve in advance via Eventbrite. We ask that you donate $1 when you check out, for the convenience of guaranteeing your spot on the tour of your choice ahead of time.

Accessibility notes:

  • Many of the Gallery Night art spaces are wheelchair accessible. However, the trolleys we hire for Gallery Night cannot accommodate wheelchairs.

  • All tours involve some walking and some stops may include stairs.

  • We invite wheelchair users to enjoy self-guided tours on Gallery Night, and have created some suggestions (Make Your Own Tour tab page) where we note which galleries are wheelchair accessible.

Some notes to help you out the night of the event!

  • We recommend arriving to the Graduate 5 to 10 minutes before your tour time. One of our volunteers will be at a podium with a Gallery Night banner, near the main entrance, and will check you in and answer any questions!

  • If your plans change, please remember to cancel your Eventbrite reservation so that someone else can enjoy the tour.

  • Tours occasionally run late. We recommend allowing buffer time if you're planning on attending another event after ours.

And…enjoy a sneak peek of some of the artwork you can see at these spaces on gallery night!

August 15 Gallery Night - 6:00 pm tour details announced!

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We will leave at 6:00 pm from the Graduate Hotel at 11 Dorrance Street, and return to the Graduate around 8:00 pm.

This tour will be led by Gallery Night Guide Irene Yibirin (fluent in English, Spanish, and French) and will be via trolley or mini coach. We will visit the following locations and exhibits:

  • RI Center for Photographic Arts. The “Fifth Annual Juried Spotlight Members' Exhibition” will feature work from Members: Lee Cott, Laurie Peek, Reed Pike, Keith Prue, Matt Temple, Sean Sullivan and Martha Wakefield. One of three annual member exhibitions, this Spotlight series was conceived as a way to present ideas that carry across a group of images and to shine a light on our members. Enjoy this expanded look at the members featured and the different ways they assembled a selection of images to present an idea beyond a single frame.

  • Studio Hop is a local studio & shop specializing in contemporary fine art, hand crafts, jewelry, ceramics, & clothing.

  • RISD Museum. The RISD Museum has a variety of different exhibits on view. On the Gallery Night tour, you can get a taste of the many amazing exhibits that the museum has to offer! This month, explore their newest exhibition Listen!, curated by the RISD art circle, a group of teens from RI and MA.

REGISTER IN ADVANCE OR SHOW UP THE NIGHT OF!

Half of the seats on the trolley or mini coach will always be available (first-come, first-served), completely free, to anyone who shows up on Gallery Night! The other half of the seats are available to reserve in advance via Eventbrite. We ask that you donate $1 when you check out, for the convenience of guaranteeing your spot on the tour of your choice ahead of time.

Accessibility notes:

  • Many of the Gallery Night art spaces are wheelchair accessible. However, the trolleys we hire for Gallery Night cannot accommodate wheelchairs.

  • All tours involve some walking and some stops may include stairs. RI Center for Photographic Arts is on the 2nd floor of a building with no elevator.

  • We invite wheelchair users to enjoy self-guided tours on Gallery Night, and have created some suggestions (Make Your Own Tour tab page) where we note which galleries are wheelchair accessible.

Some notes to help you out the night of the event!

  • We recommend arriving to the Graduate 5 to 10 minutes before your tour time. One of our volunteers will be at a podium with a Gallery Night banner, near the main entrance, and will check you in and answer any questions!

  • If your plans change, please remember to cancel your Eventbrite reservation so that someone else can enjoy the tour.

  • Tours occasionally run late. We recommend allowing buffer time if you're planning on attending another event after ours.

And…enjoy a sneak peek of some of the artwork you can see at these spaces on gallery night!

August 15 Gallery Night - 5:45 pm tour details announced!

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We will leave at 5:45 pm from the Graduate Hotel at 11 Dorrance Street, and return to the Graduate around 7:45 pm.

This tour will be led by Gallery Night Guide Bradly VanDerStad.

This is a walking tour - make sure you wear comfortable shoes and dress for the weather! In addition to murals and architecture along the way, we will visit the following locations and exhibits:

  • The Gallery at City Hall presents Celebrating One Nation One Project: Artwork from Carroll Tower and Chad Brown, a joint initiative with Providence Housing Authority. Two artists in residence at Carroll Tower and Chad Brown for a year present their work made during this experience.

  • BankRI Turks Head Gallery showcases the work of Rachel Hulin in Photographic works from Unreliable Narrator & Equine Film Stills. Hulin uses AI to create equine-focused images, building the image through her specific directives & her unique editing process to create surprising outcomes.

  • Rhode Island State Archives. Mighty Voices: Petitioning for Change Throughout History features an array of original manuscripts written by Rhode Islanders past as they came together around a cause. 120 Years of the Rhode Island State House tells the story of the design, construction, and past and present uses of the State House.

REGISTER IN ADVANCE OR SHOW UP THE NIGHT OF!

Half of the spots on the tour will always be available (first-come, first-served), completely free, to anyone who shows up on Gallery Night! The other half of the spots are available to reserve in advance via Eventbrite. We ask that you donate $1 when you check out, for the convenience of guaranteeing your spot on the tour of your choice ahead of time.

Accessibility notes:

  • Many of the Gallery Night art spaces are wheelchair accessible. However, the trolleys we hire for Gallery Night cannot accommodate wheelchairs.

  • All tours involve some walking and some stops may include stairs.

  • We invite wheelchair users to enjoy self-guided tours on Gallery Night, and have created some suggestions (Make Your Own Tour tab page) where we note which galleries are wheelchair accessible.

Some notes to help you out the night of the event!

  • We recommend arriving to the Graduate 5 to 10 minutes before your tour time. One of our volunteers will be at a podium with a Gallery Night banner, near the main entrance, and will check you in and answer any questions!

  • If your plans change, please remember to cancel your Eventbrite reservation so that someone else can enjoy the tour.

  • Tours occasionally run late. We recommend allowing buffer time if you're planning on attending another event after ours.

And…enjoy a sneak peek of some of the artwork you can see at these spaces on gallery night!

August 15 Gallery Night - 5:30 pm tour details announced!

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We will leave at 5:30 pm from the WaterFire Arts Center at 475 Valley Street, and return to the WaterFire Arts Center around 7:30 pm.

This tour will be via trolley or mini coach. It will be led by Gallery Night Guide Danielle Wolfrum with Guest Guide Kristen Adamo, president and CEO of the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau (PWCVB). We will visit the following locations and exhibits:

  • Chazan Family Gallery at Rhode Island College presents Corporeal Reflections featuring the work of sculptor Elvis Rodriguez and painter/ceramicist Sam Lowder, who explore themes relating to the human body, religion, visual perception, sexuality, and decay.

  • “Germination” Mural at Rhode Island College. “Germination” is a new mural by Lena Mac commissioned by RISCA and Rhode Island College. Inspired by the natural world, Mac’s work combines figurative symbols with abstracted forms to create metaphorical spaces that contemplate mysterious aspects of the world around us.

  • New Harvest Coffee & Spirits. New Harvest presents photographs by Robert W. Easton in the exhibit Baubles, Bangles, and Beads: The Treasures of Wolf E. Myrow. Myrow is a jewelry supplier that provides vintage and new jewelry making supplies in a fascinating visual environment.

  • WaterFire Arts Center. WaterFire Arts Center welcomes the work of over 100 artists in its new exhibit, NetWorks Rhode Island and the Chazan Collection: A Half-Century of RI Artistic Patronage. Celebrating the artistic community of RI & their champion, Dr. Joseph A. Chazan, this exhibit brings together a previous portrait project by Dr Chazan, works from his collection, & new submissions by RI Artists. Also enjoy sips, snacks, and live music as part of the weekly Thursday Night TroopTop celebration!

REGISTER IN ADVANCE OR SHOW UP THE NIGHT OF!

Half of the seats on the trolley or mini coach will always be available (first-come, first-served), completely free, to anyone who shows up on Gallery Night! The other half of the seats are available to reserve in advance via Eventbrite. We ask that you donate $1 when you check out, for the convenience of guaranteeing your spot on the tour of your choice ahead of time.

Accessibility notes:

  • Many of the Gallery Night art spaces are wheelchair accessible. However, the trolleys we hire for Gallery Night cannot accommodate wheelchairs.

  • All tours involve some walking and some stops may include stairs.

  • We invite wheelchair users to enjoy self-guided tours on Gallery Night, and have created some suggestions (Make Your Own Tour tab page) where we note which galleries are wheelchair accessible.

Some notes to help you out the night of the event!

  • We recommend arriving to the Graduate 5 to 10 minutes before your tour time. One of our volunteers will be at a podium with a Gallery Night banner, near the main entrance, and will check you in and answer any questions!

  • If your plans change, please remember to cancel your Eventbrite reservation so that someone else can enjoy the tour.

  • Tours occasionally run late. We recommend allowing buffer time if you're planning on attending another event after ours.

And…enjoy a sneak peek of some of the artwork you can see at these spaces on gallery night!

August 15 Gallery Night - 5:00 pm tour details announced!

in

We will leave at 5:00 pm from the Graduate Hotel at 11 Dorrance Street, and return to the Graduate around 7:00 pm.

This tour will be led by Gallery Night Guide Jenn Wilson and will be via trolley or mini coach. We will visit the following locations and exhibits:

  • Galerie le Domaine at Domain Properties presents a solo exhibition of the works of Neal Walsh. Walsh’s work is primarily abstract, playing with the subtleties of light & variations of forms, evoking the urban mill he began his painting career in & the rural community where he now lives and paints.

  • Anahid Ypres Art Studio. At Anahid Ypres’s studio you can get an inside look at the artist’s studio and appreciate seeing both in progress & finished paintings! Her work touches on subjects ranging from landscapes & the figure, to abstract still lifes. On Gallery Night, with work by guest artist Fior De La Cruz as well.

  • Providence Art Club presents two exhibitions this month: Homage to the Square: An Exhibition of 16” x 16” Artworks featuring 40+ Exhibiting Artist Members of the Art Club, their third time hosting a show with this square theme. In Dodge House Gallery the Club will have artWORKS: landscapes, featuring young artists affiliated with Riverzedge Arts of Woonsocket.

REGISTER IN ADVANCE OR SHOW UP THE NIGHT OF!

Half of the seats on the trolley or mini coach will always be available (first-come, first-served), completely free, to anyone who shows up on Gallery Night! The other half of the seats are available to reserve in advance via Eventbrite. We ask that you donate $1 when you check out, for the convenience of guaranteeing your spot on the tour of your choice ahead of time.

Accessibility notes:

  • Many of the Gallery Night art spaces are wheelchair accessible. However, the trolleys we hire for Gallery Night cannot accommodate wheelchairs.

  • All tours involve some walking and some stops may include stairs. Anahid Ypres Art Studio is on the 3rd floor of a building with no elevator.

  • We invite wheelchair users to enjoy self-guided tours on Gallery Night, and have created some suggestions (Make Your Own Tour tab page) where we note which galleries are wheelchair accessible.

Some notes to help you out the night of the event!

  • We recommend arriving to the Graduate 5 to 10 minutes before your tour time. One of our volunteers will be at a podium with a Gallery Night banner, near the main entrance, and will check you in and answer any questions!

  • If your plans change, please remember to cancel your Eventbrite reservation so that someone else can enjoy the tour.

  • Tours occasionally run late. We recommend allowing buffer time if you're planning on attending another event after ours.

And…enjoy a sneak peek of some of the artwork you can see at these spaces on gallery night!

Spotlight on...Emily Gray!

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Emily Gray is a Gallery Night Guide as well as a talented local artist and curator. Check out our interview with her below!

Q: You are an artist and also work at the WaterFire Arts Center gallery.  Can you tell us a little about your art and how it impacts what you bring to your perspective as a guide?

A: It is a wonderful thing, to be on both sides of the artist/curator relationship. Having both experiences makes both roles better. My artistic practice is deeply rooted in spirituality and family history and feminine identity, concepts which I explore through painting and sculpture mostly. Being an artist is to look at the world and see beauty and pause to be inspired and receive. This aids me as a curator to connect with artists and take joy in collaborative vision and spatial design. As a Guide, both identities are beneficial - I can speak to both the meaning and curatorial designs of an exhibition and also honor the artists who are showcased. 

Q: Art can be experienced many ways.  What do you see as the difference in the experience of seeing art with others on a Gallery Night tour and viewing art on one's own?

A: Experiencing art with others on a Gallery Night tour offers a chance to have a conversation about the artwork with tourgoers, artists, and curators. The format is a collective journey that can give way to really fun connections, allowing folks on the tour to exchange interpretations that can deepen everyone's appreciation. As a guide, I’m able to provide context and stories that might not be immediately apparent, enriching the experience further. Viewing art alone is also very important. It allows for a more personal, introspective engagement. Both ways are valuable. I see Gallery Night as a great way to get to different art spaces, to then come back to, on your own time.

Q: Besides the WaterFire Arts Center, of course, what are some of your favorite galleries and/or public art spaces in Providence?

A: I am always impressed by the intentionality and research that goes into shows at Brown’s Bell Gallery. It’s nice to have longer exhibitions to have the chance to experience them several times at different stages of the year.  I am also entranced by our peers, AS220, who are on a similar monthly schedule to our exhibitions at the WaterFire Arts Center. In addition to other Gallery Night partner spaces, I love the new pop-up apartment gallery spaces like Apartment 13 and East Manning St Projects. These spaces embody the spirit of Providence and are confirmation to me of our artistic Renaissance. 

Thank you to all who attended July 18 Gallery Night!

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Thank you to everyone who attended or participated in July 18 Gallery Night!

Between the 5 free guided tours and people visiting the gallery shows on their own, we had at least 1,358 people participate this Gallery Night. What a turnout!

People came from all over Rhode Island. We had some out-of-state visitors as well, from Massachusetts, Virginia, Ohio, and Florida. We even had 6 visitors from outside the USA!

Enjoy some photos and tidbits in the recap below!

“[I enjoyed] connecting with other people who enjoy art as well.”
— Attendee on the 5 pm tour

On the 5 pm tour we had RI Center for Photographic Arts, with an exhibit of work by curators who are also artists themselves.

On the same tour, participants got to see the paintings and ceramics for sale at Studio Hop on Hope Street.

They also visited The Map Center and James Polisky Silkscreen Art, both located in The Mills, an older industrial building that’s been repurposed to be home to many different businesses.

“I loved everything. The photo exhibition was wonderful and the map center was amazing. I also loved the air conditioning in the bus.”
— Elizabeth, 5 pm tour

The 5:30 pm tour visited the Artists Loop at Wanskuck Library and got to see the work of multiple artists in one destination! They also visited the AS220 Main and Aborn Galleries and the Gallery at City Hall.

“I loved going to spaces I otherwise wouldn’t visit.”
— 5:30 pm tour attendee
“[I loved] seeing the work of local artists and visiting smaller galleries I wouldn’t otherwise know about! Going to gallery night always makes me feel like a part of the community.”
— 5:30 pm tour attendee
“[I enjoyed] meeting the artists, hearing them talk about their work…It was great! Good pace.”
— Julia on the 5:30 pm tour

The 5:45 pm walking tour saw the works of Paul Everett at The Gallery at 134 Collaborative / Mathewson Street Church.

“I loved the tour guide’s explanation of notable buildings and murals as we walked from place to place! I learned more about Providence.”
— Francheska Dominique, 5:45 pm walking tour

The 6 pm tour visited Galerie le Domaine at Domain Properties, BankRI Turks Head Gallery, Stewart House, and Anahid Ypres Art Studio.

“[I enjoyed] the casual and fun atmosphere. The very knowledgeable guide - Rosemary. The studios we visited & the artist we met!”
— 6 pm tour attendee

The 6:30 pm tour visited the WaterFire Arts Center, BIG NAZO LAB’s “Space Transformation Station” Mill-Rocket Studio, and the Gallery at Sprout CoWorking.

“Our guide Rex was great, behind the scenes of Big Nazo is always a good time, Sprout is always a great stop! Keep up the good work, thanks for all you do.”
— Attendee on the 6:30 pm tour
“[I appreciated] 1. How well everything was organized; 2. The art collection and the event organization at the WaterFire Center; 3. All volunteers and amazing artists; 4. The musicians”
— Attendee on the 6:30 pm tour

Spotlight on...New friends!

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You never know who you’re going to meet on the Trolley Bus!  Last year two people sat next to each other and immediately struck up a friendship. Sarah Jane Lapp, well-known multimedia artist, and Grace Carcich, motivational speaker, life coach, and author, got chatting about projects.

An artist and a writer talked quite a lot that night, but didn’t yet know the other was also a writer and the other loved to paint! A mutual sense of humor and a love of making people laugh was also something they had in common.

Grace is the author of Buddha Rebel The Bridge. She invites readers to take on the soul challenge to look at life through a different lens to make discoveries, shed limiting belief systems, and to venture with eyes wide open.

Sarah Jane Lapp started Puzlkind Jigsaw Puzzles and is the originator of Puzzical Chairs & Pie with Live Music, a wonderful public event of building puzzles in the park with friendly rotating partners. The event is similar to musical chairs but with puzzles and pie. It's a great way to connect with new friends!

Please check out the next Puzzical Chairs Event on Thursday, July 11th, outside the Drawing Room, in New Bedford MA.

And at the check-in table on each Gallery Night, you can purchase 3 different puzzles by Sarah Jane that benefit Gallery Night.

Image borrowed from the Puzlkind website!

Save the Date!

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August 15 is not only Gallery Night, but on that date Gallery Night Providence will be the highlighted at the TroopTop Thursday event at WaterFire Arts Center. 

These summer Thursday evenings on the roof at WaterFire Arts Center showcase art experiences and live music as well as cocktails in support of local non-profit organizations highlighted each week.

Stay tuned - more details coming soon!

July 18 Gallery Night - 6:30 pm tour details announced!

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We will leave at 6:30 pm from the WaterFire Arts Center at 475 Valley Street, and return to the WaterFire Arts Center around 8:30 pm.

This tour will be led by Gallery Night Guide special guest guide Rex M. Blumenthal and will be via trolley or mini coach. We will visit the following locations and exhibits:

  • The Gallery at Sprout CoWorking presents Growth!, a showcase of young Providence artists & their interpretation of growth & change within themselves & their community.

  • WaterFire Arts Center. WaterFire Arts Center welcomes the work of over 100 artists in its new exhibit, NetWorks Rhode Island and the Chazan Collection: A Half-Century of RI Artistic Patronage. Celebrating the artistic community of RI & their champion, Dr. Joseph A. Chazan, this exhibit brings together a previous portrait project by Dr Chazan, works from his collection, & new submissions by RI Artists. Also enjoy sips, snacks, and live music as part of the weekly Thursday Night TroopTop celebration!

REGISTER IN ADVANCE OR SHOW UP THE NIGHT OF!

Half of the seats on the trolley or mini coach will always be available (first-come, first-served), completely free, to anyone who shows up on Gallery Night! The other half of the seats are available to reserve in advance via Eventbrite. We ask that you donate $1 when you check out, for the convenience of guaranteeing your spot on the tour of your choice ahead of time.

Accessibility notes:

  • Many of the Gallery Night art spaces are wheelchair accessible. However, the trolleys we hire for Gallery Night cannot accommodate wheelchairs.

  • All tours involve some walking and some stops may include stairs.

  • We invite wheelchair users to enjoy self-guided tours on Gallery Night, and have created some suggestions (Make Your Own Tour tab page) where we note which galleries are wheelchair accessible.

Some notes to help you out the night of the event!

  • We recommend arriving to the Graduate 5 to 10 minutes before your tour time. One of our volunteers will be at a podium with a Gallery Night banner, near the main entrance, and will check you in and answer any questions!

  • If your plans change, please remember to cancel your Eventbrite reservation so that someone else can enjoy the tour.

  • Tours occasionally run late. We recommend allowing buffer time if you're planning on attending another event after ours.

And…enjoy a sneak peek of some of the artwork you can see at these spaces on gallery night!

July 18 Gallery Night - 6:00 pm tour details announced!

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We will leave at 6:00 pm from the Graduate Hotel at 11 Dorrance Street, and return to the Graduate around 8:00 pm.

This tour will be led by Gallery Night Guide Rosemary Rocchio and will be via trolley or mini coach. We will visit the following locations and exhibits:

  • BankRI Turks Head Gallery showcases the work of Rachel Hulin in Photographic works from Unreliable Narrator & Equine Film Stills. Hulin uses AI to create equine-focused images, building the image through her specific directives & her unique editing process to create surprising outcomes.

  • Galerie le Domaine at Domain Properties presents a solo exhibition of the works of Neal Walsh. Walsh’s work is primarily abstract, playing with the subtleties of light & variations of forms, evoking the urban mill he began his painting career in & the rural community where he now lives and paints.

  • Stewart House welcomes Matthew Soule to discuss his process for creating & producing his wooden lamps, as well as his experience running a small business. Stewart House carries his lamps among their curated selection of home decor.

  • Anahid Ypres Art Studio. At Anahid Ypres’s studio you can get an inside look at the artist’s studio, and have the pleasure of seeing both in progress and finished paintings! Her work touches on subjects ranging from landscapes and the figure to abstracted still lifes.

REGISTER IN ADVANCE OR SHOW UP THE NIGHT OF!

Half of the seats on the trolley or mini coach will always be available (first-come, first-served), completely free, to anyone who shows up on Gallery Night! The other half of the seats are available to reserve in advance via Eventbrite. We ask that you donate $1 when you check out, for the convenience of guaranteeing your spot on the tour of your choice ahead of time.

Accessibility notes:

  • Many of the Gallery Night art spaces are wheelchair accessible. However, the trolleys we hire for Gallery Night cannot accommodate wheelchairs.

  • All tours involve some walking and some stops may include stairs.

  • We invite wheelchair users to enjoy self-guided tours on Gallery Night, and have created some suggestions (Make Your Own Tour tab page) where we note which galleries are wheelchair accessible.

Some notes to help you out the night of the event!

  • We recommend arriving to the Graduate 5 to 10 minutes before your tour time. One of our volunteers will be at a podium with a Gallery Night banner, near the main entrance, and will check you in and answer any questions!

  • If your plans change, please remember to cancel your Eventbrite reservation so that someone else can enjoy the tour.

  • Tours occasionally run late. We recommend allowing buffer time if you're planning on attending another event after ours.

And…enjoy a sneak peek of some of the artwork you can see at these spaces on gallery night!

July 18 Gallery Night - 5:45 pm tour details announced!

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We will leave at 5:45 pm from the Graduate Hotel at 11 Dorrance Street, and return to the Graduate around 7:45 pm.

This tour will be led by Gallery Night Guide Barbara Zdravesky.

This is a walking tour - make sure you wear comfortable shoes and dress for the weather! We will visit the following locations and exhibits:

  • AS220 Project Space’s exhibit explores Bridges, a new book by artist Lara Henderson. Combining rainbow paper, overprinting, & images of cascading waterfalls, Henderson conveys the transmuting power of water.

  • The Gallery at 134 Collaborative / Mathewson Street Church presents an exhibit on the work of Paul Everett. Everett’s work uses real and imagined landscapes that frequently skew perspective to take the viewer on a journey and experiment with sight. In this show, he will have a mix of works in painting and marker drawing.

  • RISD Museum. The RISD Museum has a variety of different exhibits on view. On the Gallery Night tour, you can get a taste of the many amazing exhibits that the museum has to offer!

REGISTER IN ADVANCE OR SHOW UP THE NIGHT OF!

Half of the spots on the tour will always be available (first-come, first-served), completely free, to anyone who shows up on Gallery Night! The other half of the spots are available to reserve in advance via Eventbrite. We ask that you donate $1 when you check out, for the convenience of guaranteeing your spot on the tour of your choice ahead of time.

Accessibility notes:

  • Many of the Gallery Night art spaces are wheelchair accessible. However, the trolleys we hire for Gallery Night cannot accommodate wheelchairs.

  • All tours involve some walking and some stops may include stairs.

  • We invite wheelchair users to enjoy self-guided tours on Gallery Night, and have created some suggestions (Make Your Own Tour tab page) where we note which galleries are wheelchair accessible.

Some notes to help you out the night of the event!

  • We recommend arriving to the Graduate 5 to 10 minutes before your tour time. One of our volunteers will be at a podium with a Gallery Night banner, near the main entrance, and will check you in and answer any questions!

  • If your plans change, please remember to cancel your Eventbrite reservation so that someone else can enjoy the tour.

  • Tours occasionally run late. We recommend allowing buffer time if you're planning on attending another event after ours.

And…enjoy a sneak peek of some of the artwork you can see at these spaces on gallery night!

July 18 Gallery Night - 5:30 pm tour details announced!

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We will leave at 5:30 pm from the Graduate Hotel at 11 Dorrance Street, and return to the Graduate around 7:30 pm.

This tour will be led by Gallery Night Guide Jenn Wilson and will be via trolley or mini coach. We will visit the following locations and exhibits:

  • The Gallery at City Hall. In and Out of Focus; Reality and Memories at City Hall’s Gallery explores the powerful space between appreciating the immediate moment & respecting the intangibility of our memories. The artists, Olive the Giant (Quinn Bryan) & Jaclyn Tomasso, use a range of color, scale, & subject in their painting technique & palette, to delve into the notion of being in the here & now.

  • AS220 Main Gallery presents two exhibits, Tall Tales by Raphael Serrano Disla & Gravity by Benjamin Messore. Tall Tales centers the immigrant experience, enculturation, familial bonds, & memory through a series of paintings. In Gravity, Messore uses candid photography to capture the essence of gut feelings & intuition.

  • AS220 Aborn Gallery. In Dancing Round the Normals, John Buron embraces the mildly absurd and challenges social mores in this series of paintings and installation works. The exhibit encourages viewers to resist conventional perceptions.

  • The Artists Loop at Wanskuck Community Library features textile artist Dawn Oliveira, Founder of the RI based fabric design studio, Oliveira Textiles. Oliveira will share her design process creating sea-inspired printed organic natural fabrics for Interior Designers. In addition, view an exhibit of work by four artists, Alix Fuerst, Dawn Oliveira, Pnina Pressburger, & Robin Halpren-Ruder. In the Children's area of the library, local artist Cathren Housley will unveil Imagination Takes Flight, a community collaborative art project combining paintings by the library’s youth with her own crafting skills.


REGISTER IN ADVANCE OR SHOW UP THE NIGHT OF!

Half of the seats on the trolley or mini coach will always be available (first-come, first-served), completely free, to anyone who shows up on Gallery Night! The other half of the seats are available to reserve in advance via Eventbrite. We ask that you donate $1 when you check out, for the convenience of guaranteeing your spot on the tour of your choice ahead of time.

Accessibility notes:

  • Many of the Gallery Night art spaces are wheelchair accessible. However, the trolleys we hire for Gallery Night cannot accommodate wheelchairs.

  • All tours involve some walking and some stops may include stairs.

  • We invite wheelchair users to enjoy self-guided tours on Gallery Night, and have created some suggestions (Make Your Own Tour tab page) where we note which galleries are wheelchair accessible.

Some notes to help you out the night of the event!

  • We recommend arriving to the Graduate 5 to 10 minutes before your tour time. One of our volunteers will be at a podium with a Gallery Night banner, near the main entrance, and will check you in and answer any questions!

  • If your plans change, please remember to cancel your Eventbrite reservation so that someone else can enjoy the tour.

  • Tours occasionally run late. We recommend allowing buffer time if you're planning on attending another event after ours.

And…enjoy a sneak peek of some of the artwork you can see at these spaces on gallery night!

July 18 Gallery Night - 5:00 pm tour details announced!

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We will leave at 5:00 pm from the Graduate Hotel at 11 Dorrance Street, and return to the Graduate around 7:00 pm.

This tour will be led by Gallery Night Guide Irene Yibirin (fluent in English, Spanish, & French) and will be via trolley or mini coach. We will visit the following locations and exhibits:

  • RI Center for Photographic Arts. cu.rat.or: (noun) an artist, partially hidden, is an exhibit of several local curators from the area’s leading exhibition spaces. As they come together to show their own photography, this show explores the work of those who primarily promote the work of others.

  • The Map Center at the Mills is a shared studio space that features globes, atlases, road maps, nautical charts & more, festooned with geographic depictions from around the world. The evening will feature antique original maps of New England, reproductions of historical maps from the Ottoman Empire & several very special pieces in the collection from the US Air Force.

  • James Polisky Silkscreen Art. James Polisky creates limited edition & one of a kind hand-printed silkscreens of primarily character driven subjects, blending his original drawings & designs with color separation backgrounds. This is a vist to the artist's studio!

  • Studio Hop is a local studio & shop specializing in contemporary fine art, hand crafts, jewelry, ceramics, & clothing. This month, check out new still life paintings by artist John Rufo!

REGISTER IN ADVANCE OR SHOW UP THE NIGHT OF!

Half of the seats on the trolley or mini coach will always be available (first-come, first-served), completely free, to anyone who shows up on Gallery Night! The other half of the seats are available to reserve in advance via Eventbrite. We ask that you donate $1 when you check out, for the convenience of guaranteeing your spot on the tour of your choice ahead of time.

Accessibility notes:

  • Many of the Gallery Night art spaces are wheelchair accessible. However, the trolleys we hire for Gallery Night cannot accommodate wheelchairs.

  • All tours involve some walking and some stops may include stairs. RI Center for Photographic Arts is on the 2nd floor of a building with no elevator.

  • We invite wheelchair users to enjoy self-guided tours on Gallery Night, and have created some suggestions (Make Your Own Tour tab page) where we note which galleries are wheelchair accessible.

Some notes to help you out the night of the event!

  • We recommend arriving to the Graduate 5 to 10 minutes before your tour time. One of our volunteers will be at a podium with a Gallery Night banner, near the main entrance, and will check you in and answer any questions!

  • If your plans change, please remember to cancel your Eventbrite reservation so that someone else can enjoy the tour.

  • Tours occasionally run late. We recommend allowing buffer time if you're planning on attending another event after ours.

And…enjoy a sneak peek of some of the artwork you can see at these spaces on gallery night!

Thank you to all who attended June 20 Gallery Night!

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Gallery Night Guide Irene Yibirin leads the 6:30 pm trolley tour!

Thank you to everyone who attended or participated in June 20 Gallery Night!

It was a fun night, with 5 guided tours traveling to all different neighborhoods in Providence. Outside of the guided tours, galleries had many people who stopped by on their own to enjoy the art and meet new artists.

People came from all over Rhode Island. We had some out-of-state visitors as well, from Connecticut, Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Georgia. We even had one visitor from Korea!

Enjoy some photos and tidbits below from just a few of the different spaces that participated in Gallery Night that evening!

The three photos above are from the 6:30 pm tour. This tour stopped at La Galería del Barrio, a newer gallery in Providence. Located inside the Southside Cultural Center (SCCRI) on Broad Street, this is Providence’s first urban art gallery dedicated sorely to the art of Latinx, Afro-Latino and Indigenous-Latinx art. Pictured in the middle photo is Rene Gomez, whose work was on display that evening - check out our interview with him right here!

The two photos above are from Galerie le Domaine at Domain Properties, which is both a real estate office and and an art gallery! In the second photo, artist Jamie Murphy Hlynsky is pictured discussing her work that’s on display to the folks from the Gallery Night trolley tour. Below, photos from The Gallery at City Hall, part of the 5:45 pm walking tour. Participants enjoy artwork from Olive the Giant (Quinn Bryan) and Jaclyn Tomasso. This show is on view through August 11 - learn more here.

Below, photos from the Gallery at Sprout CoWorking. Curated by Kelly Brown, this was a group show of work by Sam Sparling, Vesna Longton, and Ruth Hauzinger.

And photos below from the WaterFire Arts Center. Folks enjoyed the exhibit When I Get Home, a moving month-long group exhibition by the 2023-2024 WaterFire Accelerate Cohort. Folks from the Gallery Night tours as well as anyone who stopped by on their own also got to enjoy live music, sips and snacks, and bubbles on the roof as part of TroopTop Thursdays.

And a few more photos from the night!