Grief and Justice: A Sneak Peek of Providence Artist Jordan Seaberry’s New Exhibit

Courtesy of Jordan Seaberry

Born and raised on the South Side of Chicago, Jordan Seaberry embraced the Providence community after attending the Rhode Island School of Design. It was there that Seaberry became involved in legislative efforts centering around criminal justice reform, which reinvigorated his artistry as a painter.

Portrait by Selene Means.

Seaberry’s new exhibit, “We Live Until,” opening April 27 at the Newport Art Museum, incorporates these political and cultural issues through the intimate stories of hospice care patients. The show also gives Seaberry an opportunity to come to grips with his grandmother’s passing.

For Seaberry, the move to Providence wasn’t easy. 

“RISD was my absolute dream school,” he says. “[But] I really struggled in college.” 

He dropped out halfway through his junior year and threw himself into advocating for the disadvantaged in Providence and on criminal justice reform efforts, work he started while still a student. 

Courtesy of Jordan Seaberry

Courtesy of Jordan Seaberry

“I didn’t paint anything for years,” he says.

Still, the call to create never left him. He reapplied to RISD once again, and the school accepted. He’s now an assistant professor at his alma mater.

During his time away from school, Seaberry discovered more about his roots in Mississippi, particularly his grandmother, “Happy,” who passed away in 2021. Because of the pandemic, Seaberry could only watch from afar as she slipped away. It’s her spirit that infuses his new show.

“She and I were really close,” he says. “She taught me about classical music and jazz.”

Creating the sculpture and paintings in “We Live Until” has helped Seaberry comprehend not only his own grieving process, but also those of others and the community at large.

Courtesy of Jordan Seaberry

“I had been wanting to do a project in collaboration with hospice patients for some time … and the canvases started taking shape,” he says. “I knew that I needed to try to make paintings that were requiring that we confront these scary things. Our society is really afraid of that.

“My hope is if we can learn the power of grief and empathy for the dying, then we have no choice but to be more empathetic to people who are in solitary confinement.”

“We Live Until” runs April 27 through Nov. 10 at the Newport Art Museum. 

Courtesy of Jordan Seaberry