BUY ART Providence Exhibit Fills The Gallery At City Hall

Meet the Artists Behind the Buttons at the January 11 Reception, 4-7 p.m.

City of Providence Mayor Angel Taveras and the Department of Art, Culture + Tourism invite you to visit the Gallery at City Hall for an exhibition of works by artists featured in the BUY ART campaign. The exhibit will be on view in the Gallery at City Hall through February 16 with an Artists' Reception on January 11 from 4-7 p.m.

Now in its fourth year, BUY ART Providence is a city-wide advocacy initiative that encourages people to actively support the city's cultural vitality. Participating venues distribute the campaign's "I BUY ART" buttons as a thank you to their customers who buy original works of art. Each year a jury selects the artists who will be featured on the signature BUY ART buttons from Providence-based artists who submit images. In addition, any artist, gallery, retailer, or cultural organization that sells original works of art or art experiences can participate in the program at no cost. Interested parties should visit www.BuyArtProvidence.com to sign up. Local shoppers who purchase art simply must look for these buttons at the register.

Like the BUY ART campaign itself, the group show involves artists who span a remarkable range of style, media and process, showcasing the depth and breadth of our local creative community.

The exhibit features the following artists:
Stephanie Alvarez Ewens is a freelance documentary photographer based in Providence. Originally from California, Ewens completed a B.A. in Economics from Santa Clara University before going on to study Photojournalism at San Francisco State University and Documentary Photography at The Salt Institute for Documentary Studies. Ewens fulfills the needs of editorial, commercial, corporate and non-profit clients with an eye for detail, and a style rooted in documentary photography. She specializes in telling in-depth multimedia stories through still photography and recorded audio. Much of her personal work focuses on stories of Rhode Islanders.

Andrew Moon Bain became very active in Providence's tightly knit art scene following his graduation from RISD with a BFA in Sculpture. He and other young printmakers contributed to the creative energy gathering in our city's Olneyville neighborhood. At the same time Bain pursued his musical talent leading to the formation of a music label and contributions to Providence's Sound Session. Bain's artwork has shown locally at Gallery Agniel, Stairwell Gallery, The Newport Art Museum and the RISD Museum's "Chazans' Choice" exhibition in 2005. He has also participated in community based art projects and is co-founder and head designer of Urban Social Empowerment.

Paul Clancy is a self taught artist and photographer who has enjoyed commercial success for over 20 years. Clancy's client list has included such high profile companies as Audi USA, Fidelity, Rockport, Saucony; Blue Cross, and Hewlett Packard. In 2004, Clancy was chosen as one of 10 artists to participate in an artist-in-residence program in Balatonfured, Hungary. He is currently an artist-in-residence at AS220 and a co-teacher at Broad Street Studio's Photographic Memory Program. Clancy's work has been published in Graphis, Archive, and Photo District News, and is part of several local and national private collections.

Angel Dean received her BFA from the University of Georgia and her MFA from Cornell University. Following school she went on to pursue a singing career in New York City, fronting several alt-country band recordings under the Rounder Records and Diesel Only labels. After 14 years in Manhattan, Dean moved to Providence and has been channeling her creative energy into the more visual domains of printmaking, collage, encaustics and photography. Locals also know Dean as an avid gardener, dog lover, beekeeper, an epiphyllum fancier (flowering orchids), the keeper of five backyard chickens, and a long-time staff member of the Providence Art Club.

Jungil Hong moved to New Jersey from Korea at the age of 10. In providing context for her art, she notes how her family spent their early years fishing in that state's post-industrial streams which are much like the one that Hong's studio looks down on today in her present home of Providence, Rhode Island. Primarily working in silkscreen and collage, her work tends toward dense images of turbulent nature. The critic Greg Cook says Hong's art, "Seems a mysterious allegory, a dream of scratching out an existence in the shadow of looming environmental collapse." In 2007 Hong was one of ten artists selected for the DeCordova Museum's Annual Exhibition.

Delia Kovac is a multi-disciplinary artist committed to an open process with interests that span social justice, formalism, the fantastic, the bestial and rock 'n' roll. She has strong beliefs in collaboration and art's role in the greater good. Kovac was born in Milwaukee, WI and received a BFA in Printmaking from the Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University. Her work various collections across the world including The RISD Museum of Art, the Zimmerli Art Museum, Art Gallery of New South Wales and The Rhode Island Historical Society. Kovac also serves as a Board Member of Girls Rock! Rhode Island.

Mara O'Day is an American artist and educator who grew up surrounded by powerful art in Papua New Guinea, the United Kingdom and Turkey. The local and international community of students, educators, and artists she has met in Providence, RI inspires her, particularly the work of David Craig, Julia Gualtieri, Jennifer Eli French, Jose Monteiro and Sheldon Allen. Further influences include Hannelore Baron, the Prinzhorn Collection, Shaun Tan, Rembrandt van Rijn and many more. O'Day is currently a visiting artist at the Jacqueline M. Walsh School for the Performing and Visual Arts. She is proud to have worked as a lead instructor, curriculum designer, college advisor, studio coordinator and mentor at RISD Project Open Door from 2004-August 2011.

Casey Spencer is an award-winning graphic designer and illustrator born and raised in Alaska. Spencer received her formal training at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. Following a decade of corporate branding and package design, Spencer followed her dream to work for herself. She now runs her own graphic design and illustration business from her studio on the West Side of Providence. Her local clients include Leadership Rhode Island, West Broadway Neighborhood Association (WBNA) and The Hudson Street Deli. Spencer frequents dog parks, loves to travel and makes a mean polenta.

Susan Starkweather works primarily in pastel and oil with an emphasis on portraiture. Her work is characterized by a open, colorful style that focuses on the unique personality each individual subject. A graduate of the University of Maryland, Starkweather has studied at the Corcoran School of Art, Washington Portraits and the Rhode Island School of Design. Her commissioned portraits are found in private collections and she has exhibited her work in many Rhode Island shows. Starkweather has taught painting through a grant with the RI State Council on the Arts and coordinates the Master Portrait Class at the Providence Art Club, where she also is an exhibiting member. She also volunteers as a portrait artist for patients at Hasbro Children's Hospital.

Arley-Rose Torsone is an artist + designer + musician in Providence, RI. After graduating with a BFA from Parsons the New School of Design in New York City in 2004, she moved to Providence to work as the in-house graphic designer for AS220. She learned printmaking as a member of the Dirt Palace and met her future wife over a Vandercook 4 letter press. Torsone has always had a fascination with typography and as a trained illustrator and designer, she likes to explore type as an object while playing with the messages that type inherently relays.

About the Gallery at City Hall
The Gallery at City Hall was created to showcase the work of local artists. It is open to the public during City Hall business hours: Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and is located on the second floor. Offering space to artists and organizations that might not have a permanent gallery, the Gallery at City Hall exhibits an eclectic array of work that highlights the artistic and cultural diversity found in the Providence community. For more information about the Gallery, visit www.providenceri.com/ArtCultureTourism.