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

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

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.

Saberah Malik, of Warwick, has combined the traditional and the innovative in both her art and her life. The daughter of an Indian civil engineer, Malik was a first generation Pakistani who grew up traveling throughout Pakistan, absorbing the region’s art and culture. She received her BFA and MFA in graphic design and was awarded

When I was a student I attended a lecture by Naum Gabo the painter and sculptor whose philosophy of Constructive Realism had a profound effect on all modern art. He began his remarks by saying, “ It has always been my principle to let my work speak for itself, following the maxim that a work

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

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

Judyth vanAmringe’s art is based on years of design work as well as the intricacies of artistic process. She is a graduate of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and has attended the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. For many years vanAmringe worked in New York City as a designer, running a business that made accessories

Wendy Edwards’ gravitation from a childhood on a farm in Virginia to undergraduate study in Philadelphia at the University of the Arts, to several years spent in the Southwest earning her MA at the University of New Mexico, has informed her tenure as Professor of Art at Brown University. She came to Providence and Brown

Collage is at the heart of John DeMelim’s art; to him it is the most cohesive way to represent the myriad of differing realities we experience each day. His images derive from extensive travel and study of ancient cultures in the Amazon, New Guinea, and Mexico, as well as visits to Mali, Japan, and Greece, with his late wife.

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,

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:

Nicholas Benson, at the age of 15, began an apprenticeship at The John Stevens Shop with his father, John Benson. This shop in Newport, RI, founded in 1705, specializes in the design and execution of one-of-a-kind inscriptions in stone. Architectural and memorial lettering is generated by hand with a broad-edged brush in the manner of

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,

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

A native Californian born in 1980, Corey Grayhorse came to Rhode Island in 2002. She brought with her a California flair for fantasy that emerges in her photographs of costumed participants wearing tutus, dayglo outfits or animal masks, evoking her own Alice in Wonderland scenario and often drawing on popular culture. Grayhorse, who studied photography

Dennis Congdon holds a BFA in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design and an MFA from Yale University. In 1983 he won the Prix de Rome and became a Fellow at the American Academy in Rome. He has been on the faculty at RISD since 1984 and has also taught at the School

Jessica Deane Rosner was raised in Manhattan and received her BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art, where she majored in enameling. Back in New York, Rosner worked in enamel and then jewelry before relocating to Cranston, Rhode Island, almost thirty years ago. She began to work in pen and ink, eventually finding satisfaction in

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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

Photographer Annu Palakunnathu Matthew was born in England in 1964, grew up in India and lives in Providence; she is a professor of art at the University of Rhode Island. Source: NetWorks 2009-2010 Catalogue Credits: Video: Richard Goulis Additional footage: David H. Wells Music: “Kirvani” (Veena Improvisation) performed by L. Ramakrishan, Recorded at Lars Nesbakken’s house, Portland,

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,

Born in Rhode Island in 1963, Stephen Brownell has a degree in botany from the University of Rhode Island, but pursues a painting career at his Providence studio. Source: NetWorks 2009-2010 Catalogue Credits: Video: Richard Goulis Still Photography: Scott Lapham, Erik Gould Music: DB Leonard Executive Producer: Joseph A. Chazan M.D

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

In 1978 David Frazer began teaching at the Rhode Island School of Design, and he is still there in 2016, as head of the painting department. Frazer received his BFA from RISD in 1970, and as a participant in the European Honors Program, he traveled in Italy and The Netherlands, becoming influenced by the painting

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

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

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

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

Looking back throughout my 40 years of photographing what do I see through that clear singular reflective lens of time? From my first photograph, a self-portrait with dark glasses and a beret, to my most recent photograph, a self-portrait in a rat temple in Bikaner, India, the one word that jumps out at me is

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

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

Xander Marro is a fake scientist/olde style tinker residing at the dirt palace; a feminist cupcake encrusted netherworld located along the dioxin filled banks of the Woonasquatucket River (which is to say in Providence, RI, USA). From this post she makes movies, puppet shows, prints and phone calls. Her adventures underground have included curating the

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

Peter Prip, the son of Danish master metalsmith John Prip, was born in Denmark, shortly before his father came to teach at the Rhode Island School of Design. Prip attended the Rochester Institute of Technology, School for American Craftsmen, and after an apprenticeship with Ronald Pearson, launched a career as a studio metalsmith and jeweler.

After graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1984, with two degrees in Industrial Design, Peter Diepenbrock launched his sculptural career. He simultaneously supported his studio, producing limited edition furnishings and tabletop functional objects. While designing for his private label TROY, as well as Dansk and Umbra, Diepenbrock’s sculpture continued to develop. His

Making art is a marinade of questions. The questions concern everything from major concepts to small details. Solutions arrive from constant immersion in the marinade. Source: NetWorks 2008 Catalogue Credits: Produced & Edited by Jeff Rand for Luminosity™ Camera/Sound: Chris Sweitzer Production Assistant: Angus McFeldstein Artwork images: Jonathan Bonner © 2008 Executive Producer: Joseph A.

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

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

Alan Metnick was born in Chicago and came of age in the 1960s. Shaken by the political turmoil of the era, he earned a BA in history at the University of Wisconsin. Determined to forge a meaningful life as an artist, Metnick first embraced photography, creating sensitive and strong work under the guidance of photographer Harry Callahan at the

Lucas Foglia’s recent photography exhibition at Brown University’s David Winton Bell Gallery, “A Natural Order,” portrayed people who left cities and suburbs to move off-grid in the southeastern United States. A graduate of Brown, Foglia, born in 1983, received his MFA in photography from Yale University in 2010. His impressive curriculum vitae belies the fact

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.