1. 191 Westminster Street

EARLY BIRD FARMS; FUTURE IN DOUBT, by Randall R. Nelson

sculpture- mixed media (milk cartons, plastic delivery
cases, Homosote and wood display walls, paper ephemera), 12'x8'x2', 2008.

In the 1970's and early 80's there were several "Missing Children" programs involving milk carton advertising and later, shopping bags. The longest running program was sponsored by Advo Systems of Hartford, CT, which featured information and a picture of the missing child and the heading "Have You Seen Me?" Six years ago Randall started doing Graduate Research on two subjects, Bird Species Depletion and Missing and Exploited Children. He found many disturbing parallels in the stories he was reading while doing the research on these disparate subjects. This piece is an attempt to resolve these issues.

About the Artist
Randall Nelson is originally from Jackson, Mississippi. He attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY from 1970-74 and graduated with a BFA in Sculpture, then served a five year apprenticeship with Toshio Odate, noted sculptor and woodworker from 1974-1978. He has a masters of fine art from Vermont College, Montpeliar, VT and presently lives in Willington, CT. He teaches woodworking and carving at Manchester Community College, Manchester, CT. He has a major retrospective exhibition, "Connecticut Wilderness," coming in March of 2009 at the Homer Babbidge Library at the University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT.

9. Trinity Rep, 201 Washington Street

Rhode Island Illuminated, by Alice Benvie Gebhart

Overlook/Rhode Island Illuminated
"As an artist I specialize in fusing glass to create images of color and light. As with any artistic process one must start with an idea. My ideas and inspirations come from nature. I mentally record, take photographs and sketch the scenery around me emphasizing color and light in my compositions. Working off these sketches, I cut and layer colored glass in a kind of collage. These are fired in a glass kiln, often 4-5 times to obtain the desired effect. I often include specialty glasses such as dichroic glass and iridescent glass to give my work a luminescent quality. Iron oxide, mica, copper and 24 karat gold are added to the glass to create detail and special effects within each piece."

About the Process
Glass fusing is the process of using a kiln to join together pieces of glass. If you apply heat to glass, it will soften, become fluid and flow together. At appoximately1500º, two or more pieces of glass will stick (or "fuse") to each other. When the right kind of glass is heated and then cooled properly, the resulting fused glass piece will be solid and unbroken.

About the Artist
"It has been a lifelong ambition to merge the making of art and the teaching of art. My goal as an artist is to bring about a visual appreciation of our surroundings in my work. Finding beauty in the ordinary is my inspiration. My goal as an artist and a teacher is to foster an appreciation for the visual arts and incorporate the arts in our lives."

Born, bred and educated in Rhode Island, Alice has worked as an art educator at Cranston High School East and Rhode Island College and as a fused glass artist in her East Greenwich studio for many years. Recent travel throughout Japan, Italy and Ireland has been inspiring. Her professional memberships include Providence Art Club, Art League of RI, South County Art Association, National Association for Art Education and the American Craft Council. Recent accolades include Best of Show win at Art League of R.I and participation in Open Exhibit, 2007, and Invitational Members’ Exhibition at South County Art Association. Alice has a two person show at the Providence Art Club in April 2009 with painter Marjorie Ball.

10. Johnson & Wales, Snowden Hall, 220 Weybosset Street

Dear Andy (Montauk)Series, Mel Smothers

"Last year I read in the New York Times that Andy Warhol’s oceanside estate at Montauk, Long Island was sold, so I made a point of driving out to get a feel for the place. Andy was a very busy guy in New York City; he was famous, he was mass producing contemporary art with images he found in the NY Times. Montauk wasn’t on Andy’s calendar much. His famous friends liked it out there. I’ve taken a look around and like it too. I’ve painted Andy a few postcards.

He would have liked that."


About the Artist
"This series is about a resolution of my West Coast art education with Wayne Thiebaud’s Pop Art, that had a zen-like naturalist feel to me, and the relocation of my studio to NYCand immersion into Warholian East Coast Pop Art. Andy Warhol’s model was indigenous to materialism and mass commercial culture. As a painter, I’m interested in aspects of both; that is, the painterly formalism of California and, the conceptualism of East Coast. My current approach to a synthesis is influenced by van Gogh’s letters to Bernard and Charlie Russell’s barroom communications from Montana."

Selected recent exhibitions include Higgenbotham Museum, Virginia; Brooklyn Museum, New York City; Museum of Community University of New York (CUNY);Whipple Art Museum;
Mid-America All Indian Center and the University of California at Davis. Mel will have a solo exhibition at the Judaica Museum, New York City, 2009, with Warhol’s from museum collection, Emily O’Leary, Curator.

Coming Soon!

Welcome to the new site for Providence Art Windows. Stay tuned as this site is updated with the next round of artists by September 1, 2008.

Here is the map of the current round of artists: