Update from the Director October 2021

Update from the Director…

October 2021… as summer fades, fall has been late to arrive here in Providence.  We are still working on the schedule of upcoming exhibitions and have a number of new programs in development for the new year… As 2021 comes to a close we are still in the process of rescheduling and rethinking some of the planned exhibitions while we are busy adding some new ones to the mix.

We are very excited to be opening All Together Now a look at ideas surrounding community juried by Jan Howard. The exhibition opens Thursday, October 21st with an Awards Presentation with the juror on Thursday October 28th, both events will run 5:00 – 8:00pm and masks are required.

By special request Mary Beth Meehan’s exhibition, “ANNYE RAYE PITTS: WITNESS” will be extended one day and will be available for viewing on Saturday October 16 from Noon – 6:00pm. The exhibition is a collaboration between Mary Beth Meehan and Jonathan Pitts-Wiley and explores the life of one of Mary Beth’s portrait subjects from “Unseen Providence”.  I hope you will be able to join us in person for this first installment of “ANNYE RAYE PITTS: WITNESS”

Announcements will be going out shortly for our annual Open Members’ Exhibition opening in mid November and running through the end of the year.  This year we are looking to feature Futures and Favorites in this un-juried presentation. Members can feature their favorite photographs or feature new work that may represent a future direction in your work.  Opportunities for individual portfolio/project reviews will be offered.  Details to follow…

The gallery is open Thursdays – Saturdays Noon – 6:00pm and our schedule continues as a mix of both live and online exhibitions.  For the fully vaccinated our next in person Print Share will be held on November 10th.

 

David DeMelim
Managing Director 

 

Currently in the Gallery:

ANNYE RAYE PITTS: WITNESS,  Mary Beth Meehan & Jonathan Pitts-Wiley

This presentation continues in the galleries through October 16th. This installation based exhibition offers a look at the life behind one of Mary Beth’s large scale portraits from her “Unseen Providence” series exposing the public and personal history of Annye Raye Pitts. This collaborative presentation, created with Annye Raye’s grandson, Jonathan Pitts-Wiley offers both a look into the past and commentary on the present. The exhibition draws from over seven decades of material as a chronicle of American life through the eyes of the late Annye Raye Pitts, a community activist, educator, and singer who, in 1959, left the oppression of her hometown of Montgomery, Alabama, to seek freedom and opportunity for herself and her children in Providence, Rhode Island.

Next in the Gallery:

All Together Now: Jan Howard, Juror

We looked forward to a world renewed as 2021 rolled out in front of us and to build on our general theme of moving forward, the Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts accepted entries to address the theme of community, for an exhibition opening on October 21st. This Call for photography was open to all styles and photographic processes and juried by Jan Howard, Houghton P. Metcalf Jr. Curator of Prints, Drawings and Photographs at the RISD Museum. The resulting exhibition brings together 47 images from across the United States and Canada presenting a peek into a diverse cross section communities in 2021. 

All Together Now includes work from: Ken Allison, Annabel Attridge, Vincent Benavidez, Sharon Bibeault, Beatta Bosworth, Adele Brown, Tod Bryant, Chris Bunney, Rachel Clark, Daniel Cosentino, Laurence Cuelenaere, Linda DeRosa, Jean Duffy, Timothy Durant, Sherman Fleming, George Gonzalez, Lindsey Morrison Grant, Xandra Ibarra, Kimberly Keller, Beth Kerschen, Mark Liebowitz, Randy Matusow, Paul Murray, Jonathan Pitts-Wiley, Robin Radin, Linda-Marlena Ross, Peter Tilgner & Yvonne D. Williams

Coming Soon:

Annual Members Holiday exhibition, Futures and Favorites and an online presentation of work developed in our current visual storytelling workshop with David H. Wells. 

Print Share:

Our next in person Print Share & Peer Review session is scheduled for November 10th – There will be no October session.  This opportunity is open to anyone fully vaccinated, to share and comment on work with fellow members and enthusiasts. Bring your prints to this monthly event which is scheduled for the second Wednesday of each month and starts at 6:30pm. Check the events section on our website for more information and updates. 

Currently Available Online:

All of our exhibitions are available on the RICPA website, past exhibitions can be found here https://www.riphotocenter.org/category/exhibits/past