Photo: Karen Rizzo
I am a self-taught artist working in many different media. I began exhibiting in 1975 as part of the American Painters in Paris exhibition at the Palais de Congres, Paris, France. In the same year, I created my first performance/installation entitled ”Branch Prop” (see Archives) in Strasbourg, France. Returning to Rhode Island in 1976, I began creating and exhibiting temporary site-specific work in numerous local and regional festivals. Collaborating with other local artists and musicians, I helped create many city celebrations and festivals for the City of Providence.
During the mid 1970's - 80's I participated in numerous “Correspondence Art” exhibitions internationally. In that same period most of my works were temporary site-specific installations. Very little documentation exists from that period as I was only interested in the work being experienced/viewed for a very specific time period, and only for that time period. Throughout the 80`s and 90's I made a series of performance pieces around the New England region. In recognition of this work, I received many individual grants and two fellowships in New Genres category (1983 & 1992) from the RI State Council on the Arts. I have been guest critic at RI School of Design and worked as adjunct faculty in Performance Art at both Rhode Island School of Design and The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
In my role as an Arts Administrator, (1978-2003) I was founder/curator of the internationally recognized Convergence International Arts Festival which ran from 1988-2003, I developed a reputation for curating interesting, and sometimes provactive, contemporary work. I presented work in a manner that was highly accessible to the general public, as demonstrated by the unparalleled success of the festival. In my many years within city government I effectively filled Providence's public spaces with high quality public arts programming, unrivaled by cities of similar size.
In 1998 I was the recipient of the Business Volunteers for the Arts/RI Arts Advocate Award for my dedication to arts advocacy and work in creating opportunities for individual artists. Recognized as a leader in cultural tourism, I received the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, Division of Tourism's highest honor "The Rhode Island Tourism Achievement Award" on behalf of my work to grow the Convergence 2000 International Arts Festival into a statewide arts celebration. In 2003, I was selected as a Rhode Island Foundation Fellow for my work as the Executive Director of CapitolArts Providence, a not-for-profit arts organization. In that role I produced numerous festivals and special events in Providence. CapitolArts also provided funding and technical support for a growing group of regional and international artists. Among the many events I created and/or produced was the Convergence Street Painting Festival, the Providence Jazz & Blues Festival, and the Providence Waterfront Festival.
My work has been exhibited regionally, nationally and internationally. At present my interest in tribal art, spiritual worship and it’s many rituals influence my sculptural work.