Dear Friends,

The Library will be closed Saturday, May 25 through Monday, May 27 for the Memorial Day weekend. We wish everyone a safe holiday! 

And we invite you to join us on Tuesday, May 28 for the Third Annual Day of Racial Healing, co-presented by the City of Providence, the Providence Anti-Racism Coalition, the Providence Human Relations Commission, and PPL, with support from the Rhode Island Commission on Prejudice and Bias. Activities will take place on PPL’s third floor, starting with a networking reception with refreshments from 4 - 5 pm in the Auditorium Lobby area, and then at 5 pm we’ll move into the Donald J. Farish Auditorium, where Providence Department of Art, Culture + Tourism Director Joe Wilson, Jr. will introduce the Mayor of Providence, Brett Smiley, who will welcome everyone to the event and give opening remarks. 

We’ll then screen the film Not In Our Town: Light In Darkness, which follows a community in crisis as it tries to heal after the fatal attack of a local immigrant resident. After the film, Joe Wilson (pictured here) will moderate a discussion with community members Victor Capellan, The Perry Group’s Education Practice; Reverend Janet Cooper-Nelson, Chaplain, Brown University; Patricia LaSalle, Pioneer of Providence’s Anti-Racism Committee and Founder, Providence's Day of Racial Healing; Olaia O’Malley Gorbea, Music Therapist LPNT; Anthony L. Sanders, Sr., Customer Service Leader, Insurance Special Investigator, and Founder, Awoken Apparel; and Jen Stevens, Coordinator, RI Commission on Prejudice and Bias. 

The discussion will be followed by a performance by the singers of Music One RI, and then Joe will give final remarks before we end at 7:15 pm.

The events are free and open to the public; registration is suggested and greatly appreciated - read more about the Day of Racial Healing and register here!

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In last week’s Cultural Content we wrote about artists Becci Davis and Kei Soares Cobb and their experiential installation, From Hold to Horizon, on view in the Joan T. Boghossian Gallery through June 24. The exhibition includes imagery, sound, video, and ritual “activations,” all inspired by the artists’ research into the 19th century whaling logs of William A. Martin, one of New England’s most prominent Black whaling ship captains. Documents detailing Captain Martin’s voyages are part of PPL’s Nicholson Whaling Collection, and Becci and Kei’s exhibition is made possible thanks to support from the Papitto Opportunity Connection, which funded digitization of the Martin documents as well as programming to highlight their significance. (Additional funding for From Hold to Horizon came from RI Humanities, and the Langston Hughes Community Poetry Reading.) 

This week Becci and Kei are featured in a wonderful interview on PPL’s new podcast, THIS, THAT, And ANOTHER, where they describe how they approached 19th century whaling history as artists, researchers, parents, and healers, allowing them to discover poignant meaning and relevance within these seemingly archaic documents and objects, and to create a process for shared discovery with all who visit the exhibition. The Gallery is open during regular Library hours, and we hope you’ll stop by soon to experience the installation or participate in any of the invitational activities, including the Activations with the artists. Only two Activations are still on the calendar, be sure to sign up for Saturday, June 1 or Monday, June 3! 

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Finally, last week Teen Creative Fellow Seoyon Kim opened her exhibition Return of the Celestial Visitor, a multimedia arts showcase created in response to her research in Special Collections. In this exhibition, which will be on view through June 30, Seoyon explores immigrant stories inspired by her family history through a mythologized narrative of the Allen family hot air balloonists, a family of aeronauts who performed exhibition balloon ascensions in 1800s Rhode Island. She is interested in reimagining the imagery of hot air ballooning and the nature of spectacle to evoke feelings of isolation and cultural disconnect common in immigrant stories. Learn more about Seoyon and her beautiful, imaginative work here! And learn more about the many resources for Teens at PPL here.

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And while you’re at the Library, be sure to check out Stand to Sea featuring prints by Allison Bianco; Words from the Library!  is a showcase of printed works by Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr. (both on the third floor); and The Whale Guitar 10th Anniversary Exhibition, on view in the Rhode Island Room!

We hope to see you soon!

In gratitude,



Christina Bevilacqua xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxSophia Ellis

Programs & Exhibitions Director xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxCommunity Partnership Facilitator

p.s. - We are grateful for Cultural Content subscribers, and hope that you will join other ardent supporters of arts and culture at the RI State House on Tuesday, May 28 to Advocate for the Arts! Your presence and your voice are so important - and even if you can't attend, learn how you can lend your support here!