The Art Buyer’s Guide to Rhode Island
Read on to discover your new favorite artist, gallery or curator, as well as expert tips on framing, etiquette and collecting.
Courtesy of ProviudenceGallery Night/Dryden Galleries
Gallery Night Guide
Whether you go by foot or by bus, these free regional gallery events make art accessible. Download maps for self-guided tours on the respective websites.
Providence Gallery Night
When: Third Thursday of the month, 5–9 p.m., March–October
Don’t miss: Free admission to RISD Museum; Chazan Gallery at the Wheeler School; David Winton Bell Gallery at Brown University
Insider’s tip: Art buses — read: big yellow school buses — depart from the Regency Plaza for themed tours led by celebrity guides in twenty-minute intervals.
More info: gallerynight.org
Newport Gallery Night
When: Second Thursday of the month, 5–8 p.m., February–December
Don’t miss: Newport Art Museum’s Art After Dark; Atelier Newport; DeBlois Gallery
Insider’s tip: Guided walking tours depart on the hour for neighborhood tours. Check the website for Gallery Night dining deals.
More info: newportgallerynight.com
Art Night Bristol/Warren
When: Last Thursday of the month, 5:30–9 p.m., May–September
Don’t miss: Top Drawer at the Brass; 30 Cutler Street mill studios; Bristol Art Museum
Insider’s tip: A red trolley shuttles art lovers to galleries in both towns. Space is limited, so reserve your seat on the website.
More info: artnightbristolwarren.org –C.N.
Tales from the Trade
Courtesy of the artist.
Barbara Pagh, printmaker
First buy:The first work of art I purchased was an original print that I gave to my father for his fiftieth birthday. I had just graduated from college and I purchased the print from my college printmaking teacher/mentor, JoEllen Knight. It is a black and white etching, titled “Bloom Bloom,” from 1970 and it is based on James Joyce’s book Ulysses. Another fragment of text on the print says, “Welcome O Life” and there is the image of a man on a large tricycle.
I don’t remember how much I paid for it, but it was a major purchase for me at the time. The print has been wrapped in paper since my father passed away and my mother moved to Rhode Island. I just unwrapped it to look at it and decided to hang it on the wall.
First sell: I’m not exactly sure about the first art of my own that I sold. It may have been a work of handmade paper that I submitted to a “Small Works” juried exhibition at the Grey Gallery at NYU. The work had to be twelve by twelve inches, so I made a piece of white paper with a raised yellow cast paper triangle. I never knew who purchased it.
