Still Here by Gaia (2018)
Building name: 32 Custom House. Lot was home to the Daniels BuildingArchitect: William R WalkerDate built: 1873Perhaps considered the most iconic mural in the current Downtown portfolio, Gaia’s Still Here is a portrait of a contemporary Narragansett woman named Lynsea Montanari holding a portrait of her tribal elder, Wampanoag and Narangansett leader Princess Red Wing. Lynsea wears contemporary clothing in lieu of traditional regalia, an inference to the community of Indigenous people currently living, working, and holding tradition in modern-day Providence.The location of the 32 Custom House building (and the parking lot that was the former Daniels building) provides a sweeping view of the wall from the Weybosset bridge and river. According to the City Department of Art, Culture & Tourism, “Weybosset Street was a site where three important Indian trails met, one coming down from the north, the second up from the southeast Mount Hope region called the Wampanoag Trail, and the third up from Connecticut in the southwest called the Pequot Trail.” Gaia’s opening idea for the mural was to consider erasure, considering the landscape that existed before colonial settlement, asking the question of whose history gets recorded and whose doesn’t. As he captures in his artist interview (viewable above), through partnership and permission seeking with the Tomaquag Museum, the work evolved into a narrative that captures a living person holding legacy and tradition, advocating for human rights and environmental justice, a people still here across time that continues today. About the Artwork:Princess Redwing was a Narragansett and Wampanoag elder, activist, historian, folklorist and curator. While the portraits take center stage in the piece, the native flora that surrounds the figures holds deep symbolism for the community:Sunflowers carry a long history in the Western Hemisphere and are an important local symbol as a crop grown by the Narragansett Tribe.Strawberries are of particular importance to Lynsea and invoke the Montanari family crest and heritage. The strawberry is endemic to the region, but additionally it is a symbol of love and friendship. Lynsea’s earrings are also strawberry shapes.Pink Lady’s Slipper flower pays homage to Lorén Spears, educator, activist, author, and artist as well as executive director of theTomaquag Museum. Her Narragansett name is Lady Slipper. The large wildflower grows in RI.The little deer is the only element not to scale. Endemic to the region, deer represent a valuable resource for Indigenous communities.Red-winged Blackbirds, the bird for which Princess Red Wing was named, represent companions of ancestral history, keeping company with the next generation into the 21st century to inspire stewardship and leadership.
Misty Blue by Andrew Hem (2017)
Driving North on 95 and as you look out onto Downtown Providence, you can see a square of brilliant blue, a solemn face, a shaft of green, a purple striped shirt. At 45’ square, Andrew Hem’s Misty Blue is backed by Johan Bjurman’s Trompe l’oeil façade at Hanley Building (the oldest large-scale mural in Providence and not produced by The Avenue Concept). Together these pieces create a color-saturated entry point into the Downtown Corridor.Andrew Hem carried the idea of Misty Blue from the hills of Cambodia to the streets of Providence over many years. The young woman in the portrait was a child tagging along on a hike up a hill who Hem met while visiting his native Cambodia. It was a picture he said he held onto until he found the right wall.Hem’s inspiration came from his mother’s stories about her experience in the jungle during the Cambodian genocide. Having heard about Providence’s significant Cambodian population, he wanted the mural’s subject to be Cambodian as well. Not only is Misty Blue a gateway to the city, but also a gateway to learning. Many schools have used the mural’s ethereal beauty as a way into discussing identity, diversity, culture and belonging. The mural becomes a visual reminder of how recently-resettled refugees and newcomers weave new threads in the fabric of centuries-old communities.About the Artwork:Misty Blue by Andrew Hem (2017)The son of refugees from Cambodia’s brutal Khmer Rouge regime, Hem was inspired by our city’s robust Cambodian community to create the image you see here. Working from a photo of a young girl he encountered in Cambodia, he set her against a dream-like forest full of trees and fireflies. Hem’s build of colors in the piece create an ethereal composition that shift according to the light. His range of colors and how he creates them is remarkable. Be sure to watch Andrew Hem’s interview to hear more about his work. Material: C2 PaintArtist IG: @andrewhemSponsors: Adler's Design Center & Hardware, City of Providence, INOPERAbLE, Marc Greenfield
Weybosset Facade: various artists
Building name: Providence National Bank FacadeArchitect: Howe & ChurchDate built: 1929, added 1950’sPreservation aficionados will know the story of the Providence National Bank Facade and how this architectural feature came to remain a visual stronghold on Weybosset Street. Today, The Facade offers a space for artists to stretch, challenge themselves, imagine and create work in an unusual and non-traditional mural configuration.The Avenue Concept’s Weybosset Residency is an annual call for local artists to submit for a chance to paint on the front or back of The Facade. Our first installation on the front side of The Facade was in 2016 with Phillipe Lejeune whose depiction of trees on plywood (using his signature coffee style) created a conversation between material and imagery depicted on it.Since then, The Facade has been home to emerging muralists to work at a challenging scale, experienced painters to wrestle with a new format, storytellers to bring us to new dreamy landscapes, and voices to emerge that are in concert with happenings in the world. The Weybosset Facade at one moment honors and enlivens a historic structure and creates a space in which the community gathers, be it to observe art and artistic process or to listen to live music during the city’s festivals. The Facade lives on as an elemental asset in the Downtown Corridor.About the Artworks Currently On View:Ode to Artist in Spraypaintby Kendel Joseph (2021)Kendel Joseph honors artists and activists in this multi-portrait series. Joseph fills the space with rich color and depth, working entirely freehand and wiith spray paint.Material: C2 Paint, Montana Gold Spray PaintArtist IG: @lucidtraveler_artSponsors: Paolino Properties, Adler's Design Center & HardwareRuins by Heather Annis (2021)Heather Annis asks us to consider the monumenalizing of decay in her series of ruins famous to RI."We are proud of our ruins; many have become treasured landmarks. Somehow in that space between creation and decay a strange transformation occurs. In a country that many believe stands in ruins – devastated by systemic racism, government corruption, a climate in crisis, and an ongoing pandemic – it is our obligation to acknowledge and address the brokenness before we can honor it, before we can envision new opportunities to rebuild, renew, and celebrate." -Heather AnnisMaterial: C2 Paint, WoodArtist IG: @hannisartsSponsors: Paolino Properties, Adler's Design Center & HardwarePast Installations:Untitled, Phillipe LeJune (2016)Takes All Types, Umberto Crenca (2017)Party Shark, Sam O. White (2018)Dear Urban Females, AGonza (2019) (back)Somnium, Mike DeAngelo (2019)(front)We Are One Flock, Amy Bartlett Wright (2020)(front)Young, Gifted, & Black, Sagie Vangelina (2020)(back)
Adventure Time by Natalia Rak (2015) + She Never Came by BEZT (2015)
Building name: Arnold Building/Mathewson Street Methodist ChurchArnold Building: William R. Walker & Son Architects Date built: 1923 Mathewson St. Church: Cutting, Carleton & Cutting Architects Date built: 1896Cityscapes morph and change over time, providing contemporary viewers a chance to dig into old photographs to find remnants of what was. In researching historical photographs for this tour, our team was delighted to find sign painters setting up shop on the location of the Weybosset Facade, and, here, the Mathewson Street Methodist Church co-located with the Spaghetti Place, complete with a matchbook. When the building behind the Arnold building was torn down, the Arnold building was in peril of being destroyed as well. In 2015, the space that remained between the Arnold building and Mathewson St. Methodist Church became transformed into a beloved touchstone for our community through the installation of two significant murals: She Never Came by BEZT and Adventure Time by Natalia Rak.These murals converted a parking lot into a gathering place, anchoring Mathewson street as a destination for art lovers, and creating a nighttime feature on weekends with newly-installed permanent lighting. Located just off of Westminster street and in the heart of Downcity shopping and restaurant life, these works help to activate a safe and vibrant Downtown corridor.About the artwork:Adventure Time by Natalia Rak (2015)Adventure Time exemplifies Polish artist Natalia Rak’s fascination with technicolor, playful, exaggerated scale, and framing a story within her art. She says she felt “the magic of a large surface,” which is visible in the surreal psychedelia of the world the girl is poised to enter.Material: C2 Paint, Montana Gold SpraypaintArtist IG: @nataliarakartSponsors: City of Providence,The Dean Hotel, INOPERAbLE, Adler's Design Center & Hardware, Blake’s TavernShe Never Came by BEZT (2015)She Never Came distills a story of unrequited love into a single moment. Its photorealistic quality evokes BEZT’s admiration for Norman Rockwell, while the surrealism of the rat pays homage to the street art tradition of Basquiat. This calm, quiet moment is a stark juxtaposition to the busy streetscape around it, inviting passersby to pause and reflect on its beauty.Material: C2 Paint, Montana Gold Spray PaintArtist IG: @bezt_etamSponsors: City of Providence, The Dean Hotel, INOPERAbLE, Adler's Design Center & Hardware, Blake’s Tavern
LaSalle Square: various artists
Sculpture has a unique way of captivating attention and anchoring environments. From the form and shape, the way it lives in the space it occupies, the clues about its creation story, sculpture can ground us in a neighborhood, become a signpost, tell us a story, or take us to different places or ways of thinking and seeing.The Avenue Concept has installed sculpture at five specific sites in the Downtown Corridor, three at LaSalle Square, featured here. These artworks create an entry point at Empire Street and lead the viewer to explore the area which includes Trinity Brewhouse, Trinity Rep, and Providence Public Library.The artworks at these sites (called “pads”) rotate every 1-2 years, allowing new works to come on to view. The Avenue Concept uses a jury process to discuss and decide on which artworks will go on display and artworks are suggested through an open call process with artists. The current work on view comes from artists who use form, materials, and theme to tell stories. We hope you find a story of your own in their mastery.About the Artwork Currently on View:Cotyledon by David BoyajianFountain X EmpireDavid Boyajian's work finds form in the moments when nature deconstructs itself. A seed caught in the wind. The green shoots of a wildflower pushing through the soil. The thrashing of a river after heavy rains. A surge of energy spurs a separation – a great unfolding. These naturally sculptural moments inspire Boyajian’s work. This piece, for example, speaks to the transformation, energy and time that takes place within a seed, focusing on the process of germination of a seed embryo that will activate photosynthesis.Material: SteelArtist IG: @davidboyajin_sculptureCollusion by Mike HanselEmpire X Sabin“I think of my sculptures as reconstructions from my visual memory. Each design is the result of personal observations of my surroundings that have been processed and re-invented in my mind. My ideas go through many evaluations and revisions throughout the design process and construction of each sculpture. I generate and develop most of my ideas through the use of preliminary drawings and clay models. At times, I have explored the idea of “stability” both in terms of structure as well as how it affects perception. I am particularly interested in the relationship between numerous elements when they are working together to establish a unified whole. Collusion takes four rigid forms that have the appearance of being flexible and lively. The elements work together to maintain an uncertain level of stability. A fifth visual element appears to bind the others together to suggest that they are unified. Experiments with these ideas have yielded some compositions that appear to be simultaneously cohesive and yet somehow, unstable.” -Mike HanselMaterial: Stainless Steel Artist IG: @mikehansel3dCondemned II by Richard GoulisBroadway X Empire“I grew these two trees in my backyard in Providence, RI over the last 12 years. They were planted about 6 feet apart initially and when they grew to about 4 feet each, I began bending their branches together, tying them with bits of velcro and string. Each spring and summer for twelve years I did this until they grew to over 12 feet with their branches entwined in graceful embraces. When I felt it was time, I bound their leaves with wire, and coated the entire surface, leaves and all with a thick coat of polymer resin. When the coating had cured, I finally cut the two trees at ground level and built stands which serve to make the two trees transportable and able to remain in their original configuration. For me, this piece is about our relationship with our environment and how we treat it every day. I nurtured these trees for more than a decade and then cut them down and turned them into art. It was a difficult thing to do because I loved the process of training them into position each year and seeing them grow. I felt a little sad at first but I realized that the power did not diminish when I cut them. They transformed, helping me to create a powerful statement about how we control our environment sometimes at the detriment to ourselves.” -Richard GoulisMaterial: Steel, Trees, Resin, WireArtist IG: @richard_goulisPast Installations Include:2015:Red Pencil Elbow Grease by Gordon MossPentagon Helix by Kurt SnellHerky Jerky by Peter Diepenbrock2016:Colossal Fragment by Lionel SmitInsert Finger by Jerry EhrlichMetahedra by Meredith Younger & Kris Brown2017:Free Fall III by Rado KirovGrey Area by George SherwoodCity Garden by Isabel Mattia, Amber Dauphinee
Razzle Dazzle by Dan O’Neill (2015)
Building name: Classical High SchoolArchitect: Harkness & GeddesDate built: 1970An artist’s inspiration for mural work takes into account the surface upon which the work is created, the context in which the work is sited, and the view of the artwork from the human-scale perspective. In special environments, the artist also considers the way in which the community engages with the work itself, planning spaces for delight and engagement where possible.Dan O’Neill’s mural Razzle Dazzle hits all of those considerations. Installed in a thruway between the buildings on the Classical and Central Highschool campus, O’Neill enlivened an otherwise nondescript corner and made it a physical space. Color, form, spaces to move and engage all collide to create an anchoring spot and gathering place for students, faculty and visitors to campus.About the Artwork:Razzle Dazzle by Dan O’Neill (2015)The lines, shapes, and shadows of Razzle Dazzle follow the rhythm of the school day. Similarly, the mural's color palette reflects a conscious choice to portray how sunlight and shadow affect color throughout the day. Inspired by the geometric "razzle dazzle" technique used to camouflage WWI battleships, O'Neill also used bright colors, light, and shadow to seemingly alter the shape of the building and ultimately impact the students' perspective of the space. O'Neill explains, "It's not a figurative mural with a specific political or social message, but a feeling that the space is here for you. To show students how this kind of brutalist, monochromatic concrete courtyard is really a canvas that's waiting for all this artwork to happen on it... That's what i wanted to get across with the act of painting it."Material: C2 Paint, Montana Gold Spray PaintArtist website: www.dan-oneill.comSpecial thanks to: Classical High School, Central High School
