Still Here

RISD Auditorium, 17 Canal Walk
Artist Gaia discusses his street art practice, including his Providence mural, Still Here, commissioned by The Avenue Concept, a Providence-based non-profit nurturing and supporting public art ecosystems. Integrating research and Rhode Island community engagement, Gaia's mural evokes questions of social equity, historical erasure, and cultural preservation. A panel composed of leading creative thinkers discusses the human encounter of art as both a post-colonial activation and a pedagogical disruption to consider how artists thoughtfully execute projects that impact beyond local communities for universal connections.
Free. Registration suggested.
Presented + co-sponsored by RISD Global Arts & Cultures (GAC) and the RISD Museum in partnership with The Avenue Concept.
For the mural, permission was requested and granted to include Indigenous imagery from local Indigeous community members, including the portrait of Lynsea Montanari – a youth educator, activist, author, musician, artist who works at the Tomaquag Museum in Exeter, Rhode Island. She holds a portrait of Princess Redwing, Half Narragansett half Wampanoag Elder, who founded the Tomaquag Museum and was an outspoken activist and pioneer for Indigenous rights. The result is a piece exemplifying Providence’s unique evolving landscape and how the arts can be both a unified response and a call for action.
Gaia, a Baltimore-based American street artist, has received critical recognition creating large-scale murals internationally. His deep interest in the evolution of neighborhoods steers his process in urban muralism to engage diverse communities in a dialogue by using historical and sociological references to their neighborhoods. gaiastreetart.com