City of Providence - Mayor David N. Cicilline

STYROFOAM
03/14 - 07/20/2008
Organization: Rhode Island School of Design
Description: STYROFOAM
on view Friday, March 14 to Sunday, July 20

In recent years, artists have used styrofoam in new and ingenious ways, and in the process have expanded our definitions of what painting and sculpture can be. Taking advantage of the material's lightness, cheapness, and facility for shaping, they carve into it, mold it, and assemble it into entirely new forms and images.

Opening Artist Panel
Wednesday, March 19
5:30pm, View the exhibition
6:45pm, Panel Discussion with artists

Gallery Night
Thursday, April 17 5-9pm
6pm, Gallery Talk with Judith Tannenbaum
7pm, Artists Speak presentation

224 Benefit Street
Providence, RI 02903
401-454-6500
www.risdmuseum.org

Painter Gordon Peers: Transformation During the War Years
04/01 - 06/30/2008
Organization: Bert Gallery
Description: Painter Gordon Peers: Transformation During the War Years

April-June

WWII touched all facets of American life and challenged the careers of many Rhode Island artists. The structured and precise painting style of Gordon Peers pre-war evolved to meet the ne realities of a postewar art world. Geometric Abstraction, Surrealism and an emerging American vangaurd were on the forefront. This exhibit looks at the evolution of painter Gordon Peers, nurtured in a war free art world transformed by the altered American culture of the 1950s.

Bert Gallery
540 South Water St., Providence RI
Gallery Hours:
TU-F 11-5, Sat 12-4
401.751.2628

Arts in Corrections
04/10 - 05/31/2008
Organization: Atrium Gallery
Description: The artistic expressions of current inmates at the ACI are on display during April and May at the Atrium Gallery at One Capitol Hill, a gallery space located across from the State House in the State's Main Administration Building managed by the State Arts Council.

This is the tenth annual exhibit of "Arts in Corrections", a show featuring works of art, poetry and prose by adults incarcerated at the ACI.

Marietta Cleasby, an art instructor at the RI Department of Corrections for almost 20 years, is the curator of the exhibition and is responsible for choosing the 135 pieces to be displayed. All works are reviewed by the Department's Special Investigations Unit prior to being displayed. The theme of this year's show, selected by the inmate artists, is justice. The works deal with this topic on a personal, state or national, or global basis.

“Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World” Exhibition and programs
04/13 - 05/23/2008
Organization: Providence Public Library
Description: “Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World,” a traveling exhibition that will officially open at the Providence Public Library (PPL), Central Library, 150 Empire Street, (Lippitt Hall) on April 13, 2008, tells the remarkable story of the man who began his life as a poor printer’s apprentice and ended it as a revered elder statesmen known throughout the world for his wisdom, wit, and resourcefulness. Benjamin Franklin’s achievements in diplomacy, science, philanthropy and other fields profoundly influenced the path of a new nation and continue to inspire us more than three hundred years after his birth.

Ben Franklin Exhibit PROGRAMS & EVENTS

LECTURES AND PRESENTATIONS

Martha Elena Rojas – “American Imprints: Franklin’s Emblems for the New United States” Monday, May 12, 6:30 pm

Book Discussion/Signing – The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin, by Gordon Wood Monday, May 19, 6:00 pm

Family Kite Making Day Sunday, May 18, 1:30 and 3:00 pm – Central Library, 150 Empire Street, Barnard Room

Local kite-maker Tom Casselman will lead two kite-making programs for families. Workshops are free; registration required. Call 455-8025 to register. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

"WONDERS OF THE WURLITZER" Organ Concerts at PPAC
04/21 - 06/04/2008
Organization: Providence Performing Arts Center
Description: THE PROVIDENCE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER ANNOUNCES THE SPRING 2008 BLUE CROSS & BLUE SHIELD OF RHODE ISLAND "WONDERS OF THE WURLITZER" ORGAN CONCERTS
A PPAC Annual Fund Program

The Providence Performing Arts Center is pleased to announce the Spring 2008 schedule for the Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island Wonders of the Wurlitzer organ concerts this April, May, and June. The concerts run from Noon - 1P and are free and open to the public. Patrons are welcome to bring a bag lunch; complimentary beverages will be provided. Wonders of the Wurlitzer is a time-honored tradition in the City of Providence; people of all ages are welcome to attend and enjoy local organists demonstrating the impressive and rich sounds of this rare and mighty instrument. The concerts are scheduled throughout the spring and fall and are supported by Providence Performing Arts Center's Annual Fund donors and our sponsors.The Spring 2008 Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island Wonders of the Wurlitzer Organ Concerts schedule, with organists, is as follows:

·Monday, April 21, with Patrick Aiken
·Monday, April 28, with Jack Cook
·Monday, May 12, with Len Beyersdorfer

·Monday, May 19, with Jim and Linda Duncan
·Wednesday, May 28, with Alden Mitchell
·Wednesday, June 4, with Robert Legon and Silent Film

For additional information, call (401) 421-ARTS or visit ppacri.org for details and updates.

Sweet Disaster
04/25 - 05/11/2008
Organization: Perishable Theatre
Description: Perishable Theatre, Rhode Island’s Research and Development Theatre, announces the world premiere of Sweet Disaster. This new play by two-time Alpert Award nominee Charlotte Meehan, hits the stage April 25 - May 11, 2008. This new multimedia play combines theatre and animated film in a full production directed by Perishable resident artist Ken Prestininzi, Artistic Director of Brown University’s Apprentice Company.

This stage work is a paean to the catastrophic and the ridiculous. Taking place in a variety of ostensibly curative settings (a group therapy session, an insurance office lobby, the beach, a car dealership, a confessional, among others,) Sweet Disaster distils those moments of before, between, and after a disastrous event into one conversation between the love that remains and the one who has departed.

TICKETS: Ticket prices are $10 for previews, $20 general admission/$15 students, seniors, military/$10 for Perishable members. Discount rates available for groups of 6 or more. Students, Seniors and Military personnel must present a valid form of identification at the box office to claim their tickets. Tickets are available through ArtTix online at www.arttixri.com or at (401) 621-6123

Performance Times:
Thu, Fri, and Sat, May 1,2,3,8,9,10 @ 8pm
Sun. May 4,11 @ 3pm

Recent Paintings by Paula Martiesian
04/26 - 05/23/2008
Organization: Gail Cahalan Gallery
Description: Please Join Us for the Opening Reception of an Exhibit of Recent Paintings by Paula Martiesian
Saturday April 26, 4 to 7PM

Music by Mark Armstrong and Ken Carpenter

Gail Cahalan Gallery
200 Allens Avenue
Providence, RI
www.gcgallery.net
401 527-9199

The exhibit runs April 26 through May 23
Hours: Wednesday through Friday, 1- 5PM
Saturday 12-5PM

New Exhibitions at PAC
04/27 - 05/16/2008
Organization: Providence Art Club
Description: Exhibitions
April 27-May 16, 2008
Reception Sunday, April 27, 2-4pm

Maxwell Mays Gallery

Merlin Szasz and Dean Richardson
Artist Merlin Szasz brings his intricate, classic works in bronze and gold together with Dean Richardson’s realistic images of America’s past in an engaging, multi-media exhibition. Szasz draws inspiration for his original works from his studies of history, mythology and symbology, to create pieces that are truly unique. Every part of each work is original, including molding, frames and finishes. Richardson’s artistic inspiration also draws from history, particularly the American past. In capturing this timeframe, Richardson strives to identify and recreate images that express what we are as a society, what we have become and what we may become.

Dodge House Gallery
Melissa Brown
Emerging Edges: Paintings, Drawings, Prints

Showing concurrently in the Dodge House Gallery, 'Emerging Edges: Paintings, Drawings, Prints' a solo exhibition featuring the work of artist Melissa Brown, recipient of this year's Eleanor Parker Anderson Scholarship Award. This award, granted by the Providence Art Club, provides one young artist with the opportunity to have their first solo exhibition with all expenses paid at the Club. The scholarship was open to all artists under thirty, living, working and/or studying in Rhode Island. In this exhibition, Brown, a student at Rhode Island College, showcases a series of fresh, mixed media works. In describing the exhibition she says, “In the effort to resolve an image, I see paralleled the ways in which we wrestle with the chaos of life, looking for a reason.”

Providence Trolley Tours
05/01 - 09/30/2008
Organization: Providence Trolley Tours
Description: Come spend a jolly hour aboard the Providence Trolley. Relax in climate controlled comfort and enjoy a historic and entertaining narrated tour of Rhode Island’s capitol city.

$18 Adult

Lap children under 3 are free

Schedule
*April 15-Memorial Day

Every day except Tuesday
Tours leave promptly at 11 am and 1 pm

*Memorial Day-4th of July
Every day except Tuesday
Tours leave promptly at 11 am, 1 pm and 3 pm

*4th of July-Labor Day
Open every day
Tours leave promptly at 11 am, 1 pm and 3 pm

*Labor Day-Fall
Call our Trolley Line for tour times at 401.421.3825

Photographs by Michael Guertin
05/01 - 06/04/2008
Organization: BankRI Galleries
Description: The BankRI Galleries present:
BankRI Pitman Street Gallery: "Photographs by Michael Guertin," May 1 through June 4, 2008.

Armed with theory, philosophy and a good camera, Michael Guertin set out to make the pictures he saw in his head. He is always on the lookout for interesting patterns in water and ice. He juggles time pictorially, figuratively cutting an image apart into many versions of itself and weaving them back together. He stretches and manipulates images as he sees fit to create very stylized and personal viewpoints of the world. Guertin exhibits and sells his work in four different locations around the country and has received a Best in Show award at a juried exhibit on Cape Cod. His photographs can be viewed at www.i3images.com.

The branch is located at 137 Pitman Street in Providence. Hours are Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sunday noon to 4 p.m. For more information, contact www.bankri.com or call 456-5015, ext 1330.

Disney's "High School Musical" at Columbus Theatre
05/02 - 05/10/2008
Organization: RISE On Broadway
Description: Disney's Award winning and triple-platinum selling musical is coming to the historic Columbus Theatre, 270 Broadway in Providence, Rhode Island and is being performed by RISE On Broadway, one of Providence's best loved community theatre groups.

This pop-culture phenomenon showcases all the hit-songs that made the movie such a big hit. If you are a High School Musical fan, you are destined to have a great time!

This production is way beyond the "status-quo." So "Getcha Head in the Game" and get your tickets while you still can! "We're All In This Together" and the whole family will have a ball at this production.

For more information on special events taking place for the shows visit www.riseonbroadway.org

Performances will be May. 2, 3, 9 and 10 at 7:30 p.m. and Dec. 4 and 11 at 2 p.m. at the historic Columbus Theatre, 270 Broadway, Providence. Tickets are available at www.arttixri.com or by calling (401) 621-6123.

For more information please visit our homepage at www.riseonbroadway.org

Israel: One Land, Three Religions
05/02 - 05/30/2008
Organization: Mathewson Street United Methodist Church
Description: During the month of May, 2008, Fred DeGregorio's informative and thought-provoking photographs, titled "Israel: One Land, Three Religions," will be exhibited in the Chapel Gallery of Mathewson Street United Methodist Church, at 134 Mathewson Street in downtown Providence. The exhibit will open on May 2 and will close on May 30, 2008. Having photographed extensively in New England, in the American Southwest, and in the Canadian Rockies, Mr. DeGregorio in April of 2007 was commissioned for a photography assignment, resulting in a tour of Israel. Numerous photos of the faces and places of Israel are on permanent display at The Miriam Hospital in Providence.

On Gallery Night -May 15th, from 5 to 9 p.m.- in addition to meeting Mr. DeGregorio and viewing his exhibit, visitors to Mathewson Street Church can also walk the meditative labyrinth on the fourth floor, and can hear an organ concert by David Clyle Morse (at 7 and 7:45 p.m.) on the second floor.

For additional information, please contact the Church office at 401-331-8900.

Public School Art and the Gift of Art to the State of RI
05/05 - 05/30/2008
Organization: URI Feinstein Providence Campus
Description: URI Feinstein Providence Campus presents:

The 2nd Annual Richard W. & Ronald S. Buteau Memorial Exhibit

Rhode Island Alliance For Art Education “PS 2008”:
Public School Art and the Gift of Art to the State of RI May 5 – 30

Gift Of Art Reception Awards Ceremony and Performance:
May 8 at 7:00 pm
Gallery Night Reception and Musical Performance:
May 15 from 5:00 - 9:00pm

The Exhibit will feature more than 300 works of art created by K-12 students from the Public Schools throughout the State in a non-juried exhibit. The works will include oil, acrylic and water color paintings, drawings, printmaking, photography, mixed media, pottery and ceramics, sculpture, collage and construction. Many of the works are by multitalented students who are also accomplished scholars and athletes. The exhibit also clearly illustrates the integration of the arts into the curriculum and the dynamic educational impact of the arts on learning other subject areas.

There will be a Rhode Island Alliance for Arts Education Awards Ceremony & Reception featuring the West Warwick School System 2008 Gift of Art to the State of Rhode Island which will be permanently displayed at URI Providence Campus. The event will also include live music by the West Warwick choral ensemble, a dance performance by SleeQue FeeT, and a multimedia presentation on May 8 at 7:00 pm.

The Gallery Night Reception and Performances will take place on May 15 from 5:00 – 9:00 pm with performances by two musical ensembles from West Warwick High School.

URI Feinstein Providence Campus Gallery 1st and 2nd floor lobby
Hours M-TH 9-9, F&S 9-4,closed Sunday and holidays

For information call Steven Pennell 277-5206 or visit www.uri.edu/prov

YOU BE THE JUDGE
05/08 - 08/14/2008
Organization: Rhode Island International Film Festival
Description: 2nd Thursday of the month, 7:00 p.m.
The Brooklyn Coffee & Teahouse
209 Douglas Ave, Providence

Last year, over 2,400 films were submitted to the Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF). The reputation of our festival continues to grow as filmmakers and audiences from around the world spread the word about RIIFF. It is the largest film festival in New England and one of only a handful worldwide that is a qualifying event for the Academy Awards (“Oscars”). You Be The Judge is a unique opportunity for you to help us select the best films for RIIFF 2008. Throughout the year, RIIFF will be organizing special screenings and inviting you to be a festival judge for the night. Your comments will be recorded and used in helping us to determine which films make the cut. No experience necessary, just be prepared to watch an eclectic mix of shorts, documentaries, animations, local, and foreign films. For more information, please visit our web site, www.rifilmfest.org, or call our office at (401) 861-4445. Your top pick may be the next Oscar winner!

Annual Student Exhibition
05/08 - 05/17/2008
Organization: Bannister Gallery
Description: Annual Student Exhibition
May 8 - 17

This annual juried exhibition features the work of graduating seniors of the Rhode Island College Department of Art.

Representative works from all disciplines within this vibrant and innovative department will be on display, including ceramics, drawing, graphic design, jewelry design, painting, photography, printmaking, and sculpture.

Opening: Thursday, May 8
Reception: Thursday, May 8, 5:00 to 8:00 pm

Closing: Saturday, May 17, 9:00 am to 1:00 pm

IT IS UP TO US IF WE GO ON AS IS: Ruth Laxson's Persistent Muse
05/09 - 07/03/2008
Organization: Fleet Library at RISD
Description: 9 May through 3 July, 2008
Fleet Library at RISD
IT IS UP TO US IF WE GO ON AS IS: Ruth Laxson's Persistent Muse

"IT IS UP TO US IF WE GO ON AS IS: Ruth Laxson's Persistent Muse" is an exhibition of Ruth Laxson's artist's books and bookmaking process archives at the Fleet Library at RISD, with an opening reception Friday, May 9th from 5 * 7 pm. Research notes, preliminary sketches, mock-ups and camera-ready work will be featured along with many of her books. Ruth Laxson, an Atlanta, Georgia based artist, started making artist's books in the early 1980's, at the age of 63 and is known for her quirky visual poetry, playful use of text and image, and her highly relevant social and political commentaries.

Fleet Library at RISD
15 Westminster Street

Providence, RI
401-709-5923

Tenth Annual Philbrick Poetry Award
05/09 - 05/09/2008
Organization: Providence Athenaeum
Description: Tenth Annual Philbrick Poetry Award

Join us on May 9th at 7pm in the Reading Room at the Providence Athenaeum as we honor the recipient of the Tenth Annual Philbrick Poetry Award! Judge poet Forrest Gander has selected John Brush as the winner for his manuscript Chrysalis, to be published as a chapbook by the Athenaeum this spring. Gander and Brush will both read from their work at the celebration.

Free and open to the public! The event is sponsored by Antiques & Interiors.

About the Award: The Philbrick Poetry Award was established to honor Charles and Deborah Philbrick by promoting the art of poetry in New England. Professor Philbrick taught at Brown University and published several books of poetry; Deborah Philbrick contributed her talents throughout her lifetime to help charitable organizations and mentor many of Providence's aspiring young poets.

About the Recipient: Providence resident John Brush graduated from Providence College with a BA in English in 2004,earning his MFA in English and Writing from the Southampton Graduate Campus of Long Island University in 2006. His poetry has appeared in such publications as Genie, Wavelength: Poems in Prose and Verse, and VOX.

Providence Athenaeum
251 Benefit Street
Providence, RI 02903
401-421-6970, fax 401-421-2860

Music Friday
05/09 - 05/09/2008
Organization: RISD Museum
Description: Enjoy jazz standards by the Mike Miller Trio. Music Fridays are the second Friday of the month, mixing cocktails, socializing, and live music against the backdrop of great art. Attendees must be 21 years or older. Members: $5, nonmembers: $8. Music Fridays are supported by the Providence Tourism Council.

City Hall Contact Information & Hours
Providence City Hall
Phone: (401) 421-7740 · TDD (401) 751-0203
25 Dorrance Street, Providence, RI 02903

Hours *
Monday thru Friday 8:30am to 4:30pm
Summer Hours: Monday thru Friday 8:30am to 4:00pm

* Special early closing times to service the last customer apply to certain Departments. To ensure that you're not disappointed, please call ahead or arrive before 4:00pm.