Providence Celebrates the Fifth Anniversary of Gaia’s “Still Here” with a Free Event
Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), the Tomaquag Museum and the Avenue Concept (TAC) are hosting a free celebration and panel discussion on Fri. Nov. 3.
Gaia’s mural, “Still Here,” has become synonymous with the Providence skyline.
When people think of the Providence skyline, the image that comes to mind is always the iconic Superman building and the vivid Gaia mural, “Still Here,” that has become part of its modern day cityscape. It has already been five years since this noteworthy mural was installed downtown, and it has now become synonymous with the city.
To celebrate the five-year anniversary of Gaia’s “Still Here,” Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), the Tomaquag Museum and the Avenue Concept (TAC) are hosting a free event and panel discussion on Friday, November 3 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the RISD Auditorium (17 Canal Walk, Providence). Anyone can attend, but RSVP is required. The artist who created the mural, Gaia, will also hold a smaller artists workshop on November 4 with the Avenue Concept.
The process of painting the mural.
Many people may not know the story behind the mural. Gaia was commissioned to create the mural at the Custom House Street location in cooperation with the Avenue Concept and the Tomaquag Museum. The image features a young Indigenous woman, Lynsea (pronounced Lynn-see) Montanari, who is a Narragansett artist and educator. In the mural, she is holding a portrait of Princess Red Wing, who is a Narragansett/Pokanoket-Wampanoag elder, historian, folklorist and curator surrounded by native flora. One can speculate that in the mural, Lynsea is thinking about her Indigenous heritage and the people who once occupied the land where the city stands today.
Lynsea Montanari poses in front of “Still Here.”
The strawberry, sunflower and red wing blackbird are also painted on the mural along with a cattail and invasive phragmites to show the impact development has had on our natural world. You see the cityscape surrounding the mural, but the mural depicts the native plants that would have grown in that area. According to the Avenue Concept, Gaia was “inspired by the Indigenous peoples of Rhode Island, and that fact nearby Weybosset Street was named for an Indigenous footpath and a trading location that later became one of the first custom houses in America.”
The panel discussion will allow the public to discuss the mural and learn from the region’s Indigenous community. Panelists will include Lorén Spears and Lynsea Montanari from the Tomaquag Museum, the artist Gaia, and the Avenue Concept’s Nick Platzer (TAC), and the discussion will be moderated by David T. Carreon Bradley from RISD. They will discuss the idea that brought it to light, the concept of creating it, the complex installation process, the area’s Indigenous history and more. Sign up to attend.
The artist Gaia during the painting of “Still Here.”
Editors note: Jamie Coelho, editor-in-chief of Rhode Island Monthly magazine, is also the board chair of the Avenue Concept.
