Metamorphosis: An ART inc. and Artscape Exhibition

Metamorphosis: An ART inc. and Artscape exhibition brings the vibrant storytelling of Rhode Island PBS’ ART inc. and The Public’s Radio’s Artscape from the screen and airwaves to the gallery at the WaterFire Arts Center. This month-long exhibition highlights the artists and creative communities featured in ART inc., a digital-first and broadcast series that pulls back the curtain on the people and processes behind art in all its forms—both traditional and unexpected. Alongside it, Artscape, a weekly audio series, delves into Rhode Island’s rich cultural landscape, exploring art, music, theatre, dance, and performance.

Through video, audio, and visual works, Metamorphosis offers a deeper look into the stories and artists that shape our world. Visitors are invited to sit and experience episodes of ART inc. and Artscape playing within the gallery space—whether watching on screen or listening—immersing themselves in the stories of the featured artists. The exhibition highlights creators whose practices embody transformation, evolution, and reinvention.

Featured artists include Allison Bianco; Gif-o-Graf: Sam Shorr and Willy DeConto; Andrew Grover; Lois Harada; Savaree “Sav” Hazard-Chaney; Jessica Hill Kidd; Shelby Meyerhoff; Renée Elizabeth Neely-TANNER; Nicholas Shapin (represented by Out of the Box Studio & Gallery); Bob Stengel (represented by Out of the Box Studio & Gallery); Savonnara Alex Sok; and Bao Vu.

The exhibition is on view in the WaterFire Arts Center gallery from Thursday, March 27 through Sunday, April 27, 2025, with an opening reception on Thursday, March 27 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. During the reception, visitors will have the opportunity to create their own stop-motion animations using a Gif-o-Graf machine, the world’s first 2D stop-motion animation machine, designed and built in Pawtucket, RI. The third Thursday of the month, April 17, is Gallery Night Providence, when the WFAC gallery, along with other art spaces in the city, will be open late with trolley tours available.

A related event is Uncorking the Future, a culinary and wine fundraising event benefiting the newly merged Rhode Island PBS and The Public’s Radio on Friday, March 28, 2025, in the Main Hall of the WaterFire Arts Center. The event celebrates the theme of transformation, aligning with the exhibition’s exploration of metamorphosis.

The WaterFire Arts Center store + gallery hours are Wednesday through Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Thursday, 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.* The exhibition is free and open to all, donations encouraged.

Special thanks to Rhode Island PBS for their support in making this exhibition possible.

*The exhibition will be closed at 5:00 p.m. for a private event on Thursday, April 10.

Art is central to the human experience. It can be a calming presence or a powerful tool for social change. It connects us and challenges us. It stokes our curiosity, invites us in, and shows us what’s possible. It’s everywhere we look, and sometimes invisible. “ART inc.” pulls back the curtain on the people and the process.

A Rhode Island PBS Original, “ART inc.” is a digital-first series plus a half-hour magazine-style broadcast exploring the art around us, from the traditional and iconic — music, performance, visual arts — to unexpected discoveries: the art of crafting reef to table sea salt, of the Chinese tea ceremony, of creating a prosthetic eye.

“With the merger of Rhode Island PBS and The Public’s Radio, we have talented new colleagues who’ve been bringing arts stories to life through The Public’s Radio series Artscape. What better way to celebrate our merged organization than through a merged exhibition? Here’s to the future of public media, to community engagement and impact, and to continued collaborations with WaterFire,” says Tracy MacDonald, Executive Producer, Arts and Culture at Rhode Island PBS.

Artscape is our weekly feature on art, music, theatre, dance, performance and more. Listen every Thursday during Morning Edition and All Things Considered. You can also subscribe to Artscape on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, or use this RSS feed in your podcatcher of choice. Reach out to about an artist or event, please email arts@thepublicsradio.org.

“The arts communities in Rhode Island are part of what makes our region such a fascinating place to live. Our goal with Artscape is to reflect the broad diversity in our arts and cultural world, highlighting the big events and institutions as well as the creators you might not know yet. We’re excited about all of the possibilities that the merger of The Public’s Radio with Rhode Island PBS will make possible and we can’t wait to showcase that at the WaterFire Arts Center,” says James Baumgartner, Production Director and Artscape Producer at the Public’s Radio.

ART inc. graphic opening by Matt Zodrow

Artist Bios

Allison Bianco received her MFA in Printmaking from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa, Honolulu, HI and her BA in Studio Art from Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA. Bianco completed her first public art commission, Curious Tide 2022, for New York City’s PS958 in Brooklyn. Her most recent commission for Rhode Island College’s Horace Mann Hall features three permanent large-scale artworks on aluminum: Long Foretold, Partly Sunny, and Streaming Along. Stand to Sea, a solo exhibition of  Bianco’s work was shown at the 30th Annual IFPDA Fine Art Print Fair at the Javits Center in New York (2023) and Providence Public Library (2024). Bianco is the recipient of a finalist award (2024) and a solo exhibition (2014) at The Print Center in Philadelphia. Her work is in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA; Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA; The New York Public Library, NY; RISD Museum, RI; Yale University Art Gallery, CT; University of San Diego, CA; and the Hawai’i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, HI; among others. Bianco is represented by Cade Tompkins Projects, Providence, Rhode Island.
allisonbianco.com

Gif-o-Graf Sam Shorr and Willy DeConto are the creators behind the world’s first 2D stop motion animation machine. It is highly engaging and has quickly gained popularity with learners of all ages and abilities. This machine transforms any room into a professional animation studio.
gifograf.com

Andrew Grover is a Providence creator who uses LEGO to depict Rhode Island cultural landmarks.
groverlicious.me

Lois Harada is an artist and printmaker working in North Providence, Rhode Island. She studied printmaking at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and remained in Providence after graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2010. She returned to RISD in 2022 to teach in the Printmaking and Graphic Design Departments. She works at DWRI Letterpress, a commercial letterpress printshop where she also prints her own work. Harada utilizes text and the medium of the poster to tell her family’s story of incarceration — her paternal grandmother was interned in Poston, Arizona from 1942 to 1945. She takes inspiration from propaganda printed and distributed by the United States government and prints with type and equipment similar to that which would have created the original works. Harada has exhibited her work across the United States and internationally.
loisharada.com

Savaree “Sav” Hazard-Chaney is a 401-based self taught artist. She explores culture, community and design through a series of mixed medium art and activations. Through her exploration and passion for “rug tufting”, she proudly founded and owns Rhode Island’s first Black,Queer and Woman-owned rug tufting studio, TuftxPVD. Her artist-led workshops fuse innovation and tradition, transforming fibers into unique expressions of culture and artistry. With a strong commitment to community Sav hopes her experience and knowledge will help inspire not only the fiber arts community but also other young black entrepreneurs.
tuftxpvd.com

Jessica Hill Kidd is the Director of Production at The Gamm Theatre. This is her 16th season at The Gamm, where she was scenic designer for Girls and Boys, Amadeus, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Hangmen, The Children, Sweat, Ironbound, Escaped Alone & Come and Go, Gloria, As You Like It, Incognito, Arcadia, A Streetcar Named Desire, and others. She was co-scenic designer for Commonwealth Shakespeare Co.’s Cymbeline. Jessica is also The Gamm’s prop designer and scenic painter. She has a B.I.A. and a B.F.A. in Interior Architecture from RISD and has worked as a senior project manager for several award-winning architectural firms. She is owner of Studio Hill, specializing in interior and set designs.

Shelby Meyerhoff is a multidisciplinary artist based in the Boston area. Her recent exhibits include solo shows at the Griffin Museum of Photography (MA), Bridgewater State University (MA), Cape Cod Community College (MA), and the Concord Free Public Library (MA), and a two-person show at the Hopkins Center for the Arts (MN). Photographs from her Zoomorphics series have also been exhibited at the Mattatuck Museum (CT), the Danforth Art Museum (MA), the Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts (RI), and the LH Horton Jr. Gallery at San Joaquin Delta College (CA). Her work has been featured by Rhode Island PBS, Harvard Magazine, The Provincetown Independent, Fraction Magazine, A Photo Editor, What Will You Remember?, and UU World. Meyerhoff’s photographs are held in private collections and in the permanent collection of Bridgewater State University.
shelbymeyerhoff.com

Renée Elizabeth Neely-TANNER ‘I believe that color is a language. I respect its materiality and follow its voice. I use color to create vivid landscapes grounded in personal and historical narratives. I am an advocate for artistic freedom. Abstraction is a terrain of infinite possibility. It allows me to explore how freedom feels spiritually, metaphorically and spatially. I invite everyone to journey with me.’

Renée Elizabeth Neely-Tanner is a self-taught visual artist. She is a 2024 Artist Research Resident of the RISD Museum of Art. Neely-Tanner grew up in the 1960-70s Black community of Berkeley, in Norfolk, VA. The culture and kinship of that experience has shaped her worldview as an artist and as a person. She honors her mother Allison Virginia Tanner Neely, an ever present witness to her life and work, by adding ‘Tanner’ to her name. In April 2024 The Leadership Alliance, Brown University honored Neely-Tanner at its Presidential Forum held at The Kennedy Center. Her painting Glory was commissioned to visually celebrate the achievements of over 1000 Doctoral Scholars. Exhibitions: The Project Space Gallery/AS220, The Rhode Island School of Design, Dreamscape Archive, A Virtual Experience, The Granoff Center for Creative Arts, Centro Cultural das Mulheres da Mare Bahia, Brasil, The Ruth J. Simmons Center, Arts Connect International Boston, Providence Public Library and The Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs. Her work is in private collections nationally. Neely-Tanner holds an AB in English Literature and Cultures, Brown University and an MLIS in Library and Information Science/Archives Management, Simmons University.
renee-neely-tanner.com

Nicholas Shapin, represented by Out of the Box Studio & Gallery Nicholas Shapin is a Rhode Island based ceramicist known for his unique take on form and texture. Nick has been working with clay since the spring of 2021, when he first began working at the Jamestown Arts Center.He credits Will Simons, his first ceramics instructor at the Jamestown Arts Center, for much of what he has learned about pottery. Nick hand builds all of his works and is inspired by the process of working with his hands. This is displayed through his use of natural forms, folds, and ridges in his works. Shapin leaves his own bold signature on every piece he creates using stamps and found objects to create bold textures and patterns.Nick’s art has made its way around nationally, with pieces from Washington D.C. to California. Nicholas Shapin has a dream to be able to share his art with people around the world.
instagram.com/shapinpottery

Bob Stengel, represented by Out of the Box Studio & Gallery Bob grew up in Chatham, NJ and traveled by car to Chatham, MA each summer with his family. Thus began Bob’s lifelong obsession with collecting maps and plotting routes. Bob always loved to paint with bright colors. He joined Out of the Box studios where he began experimenting with various art modes of colorful squares. One day he decided to switch to circles and soon brought in his love of maps to his process.​ Today Bob paints his circles on maps of his choosing and also takes commission work. He often listens to the old 1950’s TV series Superman while creating his art. Since 2021, Bob has exhibited in 6 galleries and museums including the Newport Art Museum and the Jamestown Art Center, where one of his large maps was the featured piece in the show “Patterns”. He and his work have been covered in Newport Life Magazine and the Jamestown Press. Bob is cheered by the fact that “everyone says they like my paintings”.
outoftheboxart.net/bobstengel

Savonnara Alex Sok is a dynamic visual artist specializing in murals and serving as the Visuals & Media Arts Coordinator at AS220 Youth in Providence, Rhode Island. A first-generation Cambodian American, Savonnara’s art reflects his diverse upbringing and explores themes of love, loss, and social justice. He believes in the healing powers of storytelling and is passionate about empowering youth through art as a means of expression and community connection.
instagram.com/savonnara401

Bao Vu is an interdisciplinary artist who utilizes the craft of bespoke garment making and photography to explore personal narratives, queerness, and labor. In 2020, they founded K-zao – a bespoke tailoring label based in Providence, RI. K-zao exists as an effort of resistance to the conventional, fast-paced, and seasonal expectations of the fashion industry, by promoting gender-inclusivity, material consciousness and ethical manufacturing. Bao holds a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Baltimore, MD.
​​k-zao.studio