“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

James Reynolds, born in 1962, graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design, and studied metalsmithing in San Miguel de Allende in central Mexico. He works from his studio in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Source: NetWorks 2009-2010 Credits: Video: Richard Goulis Executive Producer: Joseph A. Chazan M.D. Additional resources: Artist’s website: jamesreynoldsmetalwork.com

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

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

“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

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

Artist Meredith Stern obtained a BFA in Ceramics at Tulane University in New Orleans. She is a member of the international printmaking group called The Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative and has a multi-faceted practice that includes printmaking, ‘zine publishing, gardening, and utilitarian ceramic ware. Stern has received project grants from RISCA, the Barbara Deming Memorial Fund,

McDonald Wright transferred from the Pennsylvania College of Technology to the Rhode Island School of Design, where he graduated with a BFA in photography. He lives in Providence, and continues to use a manual camera and film photography over digital technology. Source in: NetWorks 2009-2010 Catalogue   Credits: Video: Richard Goulis Music: Debra Mann Additional

Barbara Owen received a dual degree in sculpture and poetry at Bennington College. She wrote a creative thesis under the direction of the poet Ben Belitt, studied sculpture with Brower Hatcher and painting with artist Sidney Tillim. Her work has been featured in numerous venues nationally and in 2016 she was asked to exhibit with

Allison Paschke explores dimensionality and geometry in her abstract sculptures and installations. She uses reflective and translucent materials such as mirrors, porcelain, and resin. Her work is interactive, affected by space and light, and is intended to stimulate one’s inner psyche as well as one’s aesthetic appreciation. Paschke received a BFA in ceramics from the

Born in 1946, Bunny Harvey came to the Rhode Island School of Design where she obtained a BFA, MFA and MAT. In 1974, she won the Rome Prize in Painting from the American Academy in Rome. She soon launched herself on a series of career successes, including many solo exhibitions, thirty years of exclusive gallery

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:

  “‘Written in Stone,’ as the saying goes. This is my work. Tap, tap, tap, announces the dance between mallet, chisel, and stone. The idea of a sculpted surface or dimensional plane with letters carved upon it adds a literal and physical element to the understanding of the words. For fourteen years, I’ve been a

A native New Englander who graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design, Gretchen Dow Simpson spent many years living in New York City, where she completed over 65 covers for The New Yorker magazine. In 1985, an exhibition at the Newport Art Museum brought her back to the area, and she moved to Providence’s

Born in 1957 in Massachusetts, Daniel Clayman trained as a theater and modern dance lighting designer. He received a BFA in glass from the Rhode Island School of Design and has a studio in East Providence, Rhode Island. Source: NetWorks 2009-2010 Catalogue     Credits: Video: Richard Goulis Music: Myles Producer: Joseph A. Chazan M.D. Additional

Installation artist, filmmaker, and author Ann Fessler has spent four decades using her platform as an artist to bring hidden histories and stories to light. She turned to the subject of adoption in 1989 and has produced three documentary films, numerous audio and video installations, and written an award-winning book, The Girls Who Went Away,

Hank Gilpin enrolled at the Rhode Island School of Design to do graduate work in photojournalism after serving as a photojournalist in Vietnam. He instead discovered the joy of woodworking under the influence of instructor Tage Frid, who convinced Gilpin to enter the world of studio furniture. After apprenticing with Frid, Gilpin established his shop

As the founder and president of Morris Nathanson Design, with offices in New York, Boston and Providence, Morris Nathanson has led projects all over the world. He has won many awards for his hospitality venues and restaurants. In 1986, after decades of business travel, Nathanson settled down in his native city, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and

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

The son of Greek immigrants, Philip Jamoulis Jameson was born in 1930, in Fall River, Massachusetts, and his parents stressed the importance of education early on. Jameson’s first passion was medicine. He became a radiologist, pioneering in radiotherapy in Fall River. His second passion was photography: he sees a relation between the interpretation of minute

A Pittsburgh native, Boris Bally received a BFA in metals from Carnegie Mellon University. Not afraid to take on the “form versus function” dilemma, Bally is a master of blending fine craft and popular culture. His work is both witty and innovative, employing the use of jeweler’s skills on non-precious materials. His current body of work transforms recycled street signs,

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,

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

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

Duane Slick identifies himself as a first generation urban Indian, born of a father from the Meskwaki Nation in Iowa— where Slick was born in 1961—and a mother from the Ho-Chunk Nation in Nebraska. He received a BFA from the University of Northern Iowa and an MFA from the University of California at Davis. Slick

Julie Gearan enjoys exploring a narrative in her painting; she describes herself as “a painter of themes that connect human relationships of past and present, linking ancient myths with our current everyday lives.” She also is interested in the portrait as a genre, and has recently been selected to paint the official portrait of Governor Lincoln D. Chafee. Gearan received

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

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

Richard Whitten’s paintings are meticulously crafted images on shaped wood panels. They are definitely painting but teeter at the edge of becoming sculpture. Whitten says, “My paintings imply the existence of places and objects of desire that, like the garden and flowers in Alice in Wonderland, can be glimpsed but  neither reached nor acquired. They

John Udvardy retired from a thirty-four year career teaching at the Rhode Island School of Design where he chaired the Foundation Studies program and taught three-dimensional design. A sculptor who seeks to make connections between natural and manmade forms, Udvardy collects and categorizes his objects in his studio in a way that indicates what an

Kate Blacklock’s early love of ceramics came from her viewing of the Pre-Columbian pottery at New York’s Museum of Natural History where her mother worked. Blacklock received her BA from the University of California at Santa Cruz and an MFA in ceramics from the Rhode Island School of Design. In her studio art, Blacklock has

Richard Fishman grew up in Roxbury, Massachusetts and attended Boston University before transferring to the Rhode Island School of Design for his BFA. In New Orleans, at Tulane University, he earned an MFA. In 1965, Fishman began teaching at Brown University where he has contributed to the remarkable growth in the institution’s arts departments. His

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

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

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

Shawn Kenney, born in Connecticut, grew up in Washington state and the Mid-Atlantic states before returning to New England to attend the Rhode Island School of Design. He has remained in the area, earning a living as an art director, designer and illustrator. Today he paints food and farms, producing luscious looking still lifes that

Kenn Speiser, born in 1946, grew up in New York, and graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design with a degree in sculpture. He has remained in Providence, where he actively combines his talents as a sculptor and printmaker with various business and non-profit endeavors. Source: NetWorks 2009-2010 Catalogue Credits: Video: Richard Goulis “Scrod”

Leslie Bostrom, born in 1951, received a BA from the University of Maine and an MFA in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design. She is an associate professor of art at Brown University. Source: NetWorks 2009-2010 Catalogue     Credits: Video: Richard Goulis Producer: Joseph A. Chazan M.D. Additional Information: Artist’s Website: lesliebostrom.com

Born in 1973, Brian Chippendale grew up around the Philadelphia area. His entry into the Providence art and music scene came after graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design in printmaking in the early 1990s. He began to make posters and comics and was one of four founders of Fort Thunder, a warehouse space

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

Her love of Celtic culture inspires the creative life of artist Laura Travis. She is a sculptor, carving primarily in limestone, soapstone and slate, and has more than 20 years experience teaching Visual Art at all levels. Travis came to Rhode Island College from New York to study art education. For many years she had a studio at AS220,

The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary defines proportion as ‘the relation of one part to another.’ Pleasing proportions render the whole harmonious, symmetrical and agreeable. I feel that this is central to good furniture design. With considered, but rough, mathematical proportions arrived at visually, I strive to create furniture which is graceful, balanced and sensuous. I

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

Born in 1954 in Wisconsin, Donna Bruton received a BFA from Michigan State University, an MFA from Yale University and a certificate in painting from the Art Institute of Chicago. She resided in Portsmouth, Rhode Island and was a professor of painting at the Rhode Island School of Design. Source: NetWorks 2009-2010 Catalogue Credits: Video:

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.

A native of California, Wendy Wahl was born in 1961 and received a BA from California State University, Northridge, before leaving for the Rhode Island School of Design, where she obtained an MAE. Known for her sculptural work with paper and site-specific installations, she lives in West Kingston, Rhode Island. Source: NetWorks 2009-2010 Catalogue  

I have been painting and drawing forever, and from the moment my little fingers picked up a bulky crayon my love for all things art began. I always wanted to be an artist, and throughout my life I have been blessed with people that have pushed me in the right directions. My artwork is driven

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