Nilton Cardenas, of Inca heritage, grew up in Lima, Peru where he studied journalism and painting at the University of San Martin de Porres and the Institute Superior José Sabogal, respectively. At the age of twenty, Cardenas arrived in Miami and after six years followed his brother to Providence where he has established himself in

Janet Prip, the daughter of Danish master metalsmith John Prip, was born in 1950 in New York. By the time her father was concluding his teaching career at the Rhode Island School of Design, she enrolled as a student, lucky enough to study with her father for four years. Prip began her career as a

Ilse Buchert Nesbitt was born in Germany and spent her childhood in Japan, absorbing the influence of sumi brush painting practiced by her mother. In the 1950s she studied at the Art Academies of Hamburg and Berlin, concentrating on typography and book design. As a personal art form, the woodcut seemed a natural progression from typography; both processes involve the

Mark Taber’s artistic world is one of other people’s “junk” assembled to create fantastical chariots. These assemblages of everyday objects that the Rhode Island native, born in 1943, has been making for over twenty years are often whimsical but also a trip into “a parallel reality,” as Taber says. Music informs Taber’s visions as well, sometimes

My current work consists of geometric shapes that are built by the systematic application of repeated marks to a visual lined structure. It is derived from my previous work where the marks were hung on a linear structure to create an allover painting or drawing. I set up a defined format within which to work

I am a painter who has lived and worked in Providence, Rhode Island for the past forty-one years. I received my BFA in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1971 and my MFA in 1973. My paintings have been in the form of two series: one of self-portraits and the other of

Eugene Lee is a Tony Award-winning set designer who has been resident designer at Trinity Rep since 1967. Born in 1939 in Wisconsin, he received BFA degrees from Carnegie Mellon and the Art Institute of Chicago and an MFA from Yale School of Drama. Set designs for New York theater have included Sweeney Todd, Candide,

Best known as the creator and, since 1994, the artistic and executive director of WaterFire, Barnaby Evans received his BS in biology and environmental science from Brown University in 1975. He had an early career as a photographer, exhibiting his work nationally and internationally. Today WaterFire epitomizes Evans’ mission to create innovative art works that

“Painting for me is neither a magical channeling of creative forces, nor a juggling act of conceptual ideas. It is, instead, a highly personal experimentation involving elements of color, space, and line balanced with emotional experience. To that end, I have been a student of painting for over forty years.” A native Rhode Islander and

Mary Beth Meehan is a photographer whose work explores issues of culture, community, and visibility. She undertakes long-term, in-depth projects, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, RISCA, RICH, and others. “City of Champions,” her first public installation, in her hometown of Brockton, Massachusetts, was featured on the New York Times LENS blog,

Born in New York City in 1961, Steven Easton came to Providence in 1978 to attend the Rhode Island School of Design, specifically to study in the glass department. He works from his studio in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Source: NetWorks 2009-2010 Catalogue Credits: Video: Richard Goulis Music: “2001,” performed by Kid Dakota, The West is the

Peter Marcus’ recent focus is on “The New American Family,” the title of his recent exhibition at the Newport Art Museum. Marcus creates large-scale composite prints using a unique collagraph printmaking process. He says that his work crosses boundaries between painting, printmaking and drawing. As a professor of art at Washington University in St. Louis,

Originally inspired by the redwood forests in her native California, Allison Newsome sculpts on site, in response to the land. She writes, “I tote my clay, wax, aluminum, plaster, into the elements and then return to my studio with the memories embedded in my fingertips, like a naturalist returning from the field with specimens.” Her

A musician and visual artist, William Schaff is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art, and works from his studio in Warren, Rhode Island. Source: NetWorks 2009-2010 Catalogue   Credits: Video: Richard Goulis Music: “Spooky Will” performed by William Schaff, I Love You & I Miss You Accordian Tune, “Lioness” Songs: Ohia, The Lioness ©

With camera in hand, Reenie Barrow is equally happy photographing flowers from her back yard as well as packing her bags and traveling from Havana to Hanoi, through the Mid-East, Europe, Mexico, Asia, Easter Island and several movie sets. She says, “The thread that binds my work is a straightforward presentation with the ultimate goal

Irene Lawrence is a painter, printmaker, and maker of books as well as a musician who studies the cello and the viola da gamba. Born in California, she grew up on Long Island and came to Providence, where she lives, to attend the Rhode Island School of Design. Lawrence’s work is characterized by an integration of rhythmic strokes using monochromatic

Gail Whitsitt-Lynch’s art reflects her curiosity and fascination with animate structures, examining how and why they appear over and over again in nature. With her work she hopes to draw viewers into a dialogue, intending to widen the definition of artists’ community. She explores a variety of materials, both two- and three-dimensional. Wood is the

Malcolm Grear was born in Kentucky in 1931, trained as a welder in the Navy and studied at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. He is Professor Emeritus in Graphic Design at the Rhode Island School of Design, where he taught for thirty-eight years, and is known for his “visual identity” work through his firm, Malcolm

Originally from East Providence, Rhode Island, Tony Ramos was born in 1944, obtained a BA in art from Southern Illinois University and MA from California Institute of the Arts, Valencia. He lives and paints in France. Source: NetWorks 2009-2010 Catalogue Credits: Video: Richard Goulis Video excerpts: “Hydroscapes,” Electron Movers © 1976, Laurie McDonald, Alan Powell, Philip Palombo,

Scott Lapham was born in Massachusetts in 1968 and came to Providence to attend the Rhode Island School of Design. His photographic series have explored neighborhoods, people and cultural trends that are often perceived to have little social worth. Within these communities, he looks to find emotional value, historic relevance and an appreciation for lives

Deborah Baronas grew up on a New England farm and came of age as a designer in the textile industry. These working cultures have influenced her artistic investigations into the history of the American worker. Textiles are Baronas’ primary medium. In site-specific installations she creates interactive environments with scrims, paintings, drawings, video, music and photography.

Brian Shure is a painter and printmaker working with representations of people in public spaces. He received a BA from Antioch College. He worked as a professional lithographer for 15 years, has published and printed editions under the Smalltree Press imprint, and was a Master Printer and Coordinator of the China Woodblock Program at Crown

Meg Little successfully combines function with fine art in her handtufted rugs with designs inspired by ancient petroglyphs as well as modern art. Little received her BFA from Tyler School of Art and an MAE from the Rhode Island School of Design. She taught at Plymouth College of Art and Design in England for several

Bob Dilworth, born in 1951, received his BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; he is currently professor and chair of the art department at the University of Rhode Island. He resides in Providence. Source: NetWorks 2009-2010 Catalogue Credits: Video: Richard Goulis Additional

Jillian Barber, originally from England, grew up in Westerly, Rhode Island. She graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design where she studied ceramics with Norm Schulman and glass with Dale Chihuly. Barber has had a career in ceramic sculpture, mask making and costume design. She brings a passion for portraiture to her mythical and

I was born in New York City and moved upstate with my family when I was five. I have always loved painting and drawing. I love the minutiae of everyday urban /postindustrial life. I like brief bios and statements, believing that the artwork is where the communication takes place. That’s my statement and i’m sticking

Dean Snyder’s sculpture has been characterized as “uncanny ‘graphical’ organicism experienced through seamless assemblies of highly considered forming, molding, and lamination.” Drawing plays a large role in Snyder’s studio. A native of Philadelphia, Snyder received a BFA in photography and sculpture at the Kansas City Art Institute in 1974; a British Arts Council Fellowship for

Nicole Chesney, born in 1971, moved to Providence seven years ago, after undergraduate studies at the California College of Art and the Massachusetts College of Art, as well as an MA from the Canberra School of Art, Australian National University. Source: NetWorks 2009-2010 Catalogue Credits: Video: Richard Goulis Music: Written and Performed by Michael Delia “Piece

Rosanne Somerson is the president at the Rhode Island School of Design, she came to the institution as a freshman photography major but quickly discovered the joys and challenges of woodworking and furniture design. Studying with Tage Frid, she received a BFA in Industrial Design in 1976, eventually teaching in the program and helping to

Anthony Russo graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 1971 with a BFA but was undecided about a career as an artist until he sold an illustration to a Boston weekly, The Real Paper, and never looked back. Today he is a freelance illustrator whose many clients include The New York Times, Washington Post,

Andrew Raftery’s roots were in East Providence, from where his first generation Irish father came. He grew up in Washington, D.C., made his first print at the age of eleven, and attained a BFA from Boston University and an MFA from the Yale School of Art. Raftery, a professor of printmaking at the Rhode Island

Neal Walsh, born in Rhode Island in 1969, graduated from the University of Rhode Island and received important artistic training as the studio assistant for Pawtucket-based Polish artist Wlodzimierz Ksiazek. He serves as Gallery Director for AS220. Source in: NetWorks 2009-2010 Catalogue Credits: Video: Richard Goulis Edited by: Saulius Sruogis, Richard Goulis Additional footage: Jill

Jesse Burke is a New England native and currently lives in Rhode Island with his wife and their three girls—Clover, Poppy, and Honey. He received his MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, where he is a faculty member, and his BFA from the University of Arizona. Burke’s work deals with themes related to

Born in Israel in 1964, Yizhak Elyashiv received a BFA from Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem and an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design. He lives in Providence and teaches Foundation studies at RISD and Rhode Island College. Source: NetWorks 2009-2010 Catalogue     Credits: Video: Richard Goulis Music: Kai McMurty

Born in 1927 to Greek immigrant parents in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Thomas Sgouros is a fifty year veteran of the Rhode Island School of Design Department of Illustration, where he became department chair in 1975. Currently he paints “Remembered Landscapes” in his studio at the Fleur de Lys building, part of the Providence Art Club. Source:

Tayo Heuser’s father was in the diplomatic corps; she was born in Washington, D.C. and grew up attending French schools in Europe and Africa. She came to the Rhode Island School of Design, pursued post-graduate study there and obtained her MFA from Vermont College. Originally a painter, but becoming known for sculpture, Heuser today has

I began working with glass in 1970 because it is an extraordinarily versatile material and I believed that there were endless unexplored possibilities. I still believe this . I employ the vessel as my vehicle of expression because of it’s basic three dimensionality; giving me the possibility of working in 2 and 3 dimensions at

Jerold Ehrlich studied sculpture at Connecticut College. He has lived in Austria, Italy, and Japan and now resides in Narragansett, Rhode Island. His material of choice is rebar, which is found around construction sites where Ehrlich has spent much time in one of his other lives. Rebar is the skeletal armature for poured concrete. Surrounded

After completing a BS in metals and painting at the Oregon College of Arts and Crafts, Monica Shinn moved to Providence in 1996. She has worked as a writer, a painter, a carpenter, a metalsmith, a welder, and an electrician. Having a technician’s knowledge and a fine art training informs both her design work and

Performance art was the catalyst for David Allyn’s career as a ceramic artist. His gigs as “Uncle Thirsty” led him to make ceramic cups, which he says led to a “more grounded” approach to his craft. Using photo decals and silkscreen printing on porcelain, Allyn creates one-of-a-kind handmade porcelain objects, filled with color and imagery.

I make art. The art I make is a product of my experiences, for better or worse. The work often represents my cynical, and sometimes humorous, view of humankind. My motive in making art is not to make art that sells. My motives are to create works that assert my individuality and to exercise the freedom

A multi-faceted artist and musician, Andrew Moon Bain was born in 1974 in Texas and grew up in the Pacific Northwest, playing classical music in the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra. Since receiving a BFA in sculpture at the Rhode Island School of Design, Bain has become an active part of the Providence arts community as

Ana Flores is a sculptor and ecological designer. Her work, focusing on cultural and ecological narratives, is shown internationally and is in private, corporate and institutional collections throughout the United States and abroad. For two decades she has been promoting interdisciplinary dialogue and groundbreaking collaborations among the arts, sciences and humanities, working with communities to

A multi-disciplinary artist, Lisa Perez makes abstract sculptural paintings, objects and works on paper that investigate attention, perception and spatial dimension. Fusing the subtle edges between mediums, her practice takes a malleable approach to form. The work invokes minimalism initially, but slowly one encounters an unfolding of playful extremes in color, shadow, form, and a

“Nature is my model, sometimes literally, always conceptually. With clay and glaze I imitate nature. With function and form; color and texture; history and need, I attempt a layering of forces and structures similar to that found in natural things like flowers.” Lawrence Bush is a potter, collaborator, and educator who has taught ceramics at the Rhode Island School of

David Barnes is a Newport artist with a long trajectory of success as a painter and teacher in Rhode Island. He received a BFA from the University of New Hampshire and an MFA from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. His recent paintings have reflected his interests in the art historical past as well as the technological, fast-paced present—particularly the Internet.

David DeMelim pursues parallel explorations in printmaking and photography. He earned a BFA from the University of Rhode Island, studying with Bart Parker and Chris Cordes, and has been involved in advancing computer driven printing technology. With a focus on the built landscape and its human connections, DeMelim considers form, weight and proximity in his

My inspiration comes from absolutely everywhere, and I truly mean everywhere. I probably cannot find a place in the known universe, especially the unknown, in which I don’t find some inkling of interest that might someday or another translate into a piece of artwork, video, or performance. But I don’t dwell on that. Its a