Boston globe
Breathing life into an old burial ground cemetery sets the stage for reflective show
Boston Globe
By Cate McQuaid
August 14, 2008
The historic North Burial Ground in Providence, Rhode Island will host a summer long art and performance project by Provincetown artist Jay Critchley, entitled Cryptic Providence. Fifteen projects from visual artists and performers from Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oregon, Ontario, Canada and New York City were invited by Critchley to create original, site-specific installations and performances throughout the cemetery.
Visual artists creating summer long, site-specific installations include: Critchley’s Final Passage – a vintage Chevy “mummified” and installed in the abandoned mausoleum; from Brooklyn, Joseph Burwell’s archeological mausoleum installation, The Purity of the Vikings; Justin Pollmann’s disintegrating text installation, We Live, Brooklyn; artists and designers from Michigan and Ontario, Canada: Rochelle Martin, Valentine Mancini & Jay McGuire who construct a place of repose, Message Board; filmmakers Sandrine Silverman & Alfred Schoeninger, Quincy, MA, Our Stones Last Beyond Our Years.
Rhode Island artists include: installation artist Rebecca Siemering, Pawtucket, The Bells Ring for Thee, activates Potter’s Field with handmade bells; Erik Carlson & Erik Gould, new media artists from Pawtucket and Providence with the web-based, geo-tagged, Strange Loop: An Ethereal Walking Tour of the North Burial Ground; visual artist Jae Willard, Barrington, constructs an eight-foot, mixed media Tree of Life; installation artist Jen Raimondi, East Greenwich, creates a flock of turkey vultures with Big Hair; and from Providence; historian and project consultant Robert O. Jones creates an historic guide; Nancy Austin, Newport, & Caroline Woolard, NYC, Footnotes- a tribute to Albert J. Jones (1821-1887), The forgotten founder of RI’s first “Art Museum”.
Performances include: dancer/choreographer Wanda Gala, Brooklyn, & sound artist Bob Bellerue, Oregon, collaborate on a durational movement/sound piece in the mausoleum, The Blue Storm; Hannah Verlin, Boston, Nest Eggs, an installation of burning ceramic eggs; JUMP! Dance with Mary Paula Hunter, A Grave Dance; musicians Arvid Tomayko-Peters & Christie Lee Gibson from Brown perform a voice and electroacoustic Requiem Mass; Constance Crawford directing the Coalition of Perishable Goods from Perishable Theatre, presenting a multi-site narrative, Otherworldly Voices.
Cryptic Providence is funded by a New Works grant from the Rhode Island Foundation and sponsored by the City of Providence Parks Department and the Department of Art, Culture & Tourism, with support from AS220. The Rhode Island Foundation’s New Works program was established to support artists in the creation of original art and exploration of new artistic directions. The program awarded grants from 2000 to 2005 to artists partnering with nonprofit arts and community-based organizations to expand the state’s cultural richness, develop new audiences and strengthen community connections to the arts.
Selected artists will examine and interpret the history of North Burial Ground, established in 1700, and burial practices in relation to the rich history of Rhode Island. The project also hopes to create new ideas, perspectives and images about our relationship to death, dying and burial customs, and bring increased visitation and use of the cemetery by highlighting the historical and cultural resources of North Burial Ground.
Boston Globe
By Cate McQuaid
August 14, 2008
The historic North Burial Ground in Providence, Rhode Island will host a summer long art and performance project by Provincetown artist Jay Critchley, entitled Cryptic Providence. Fifteen projects from visual artists and performers from Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oregon, Ontario, Canada and New York City were invited by Critchley to create original, site-specific installations and performances throughout the cemetery.
Visual artists creating summer long, site-specific installations include: Critchley’s Final Passage – a vintage Chevy “mummified” and installed in the abandoned mausoleum; from Brooklyn, Joseph Burwell’s archeological mausoleum installation, The Purity of the Vikings; Justin Pollmann’s disintegrating text installation, We Live, Brooklyn; artists and designers from Michigan and Ontario, Canada: Rochelle Martin, Valentine Mancini & Jay McGuire who construct a place of repose, Message Board; filmmakers Sandrine Silverman & Alfred Schoeninger, Quincy, MA, Our Stones Last Beyond Our Years.
Rhode Island artists include: installation artist Rebecca Siemering, Pawtucket, The Bells Ring for Thee, activates Potter’s Field with handmade bells; Erik Carlson & Erik Gould, new media artists from Pawtucket and Providence with the web-based, geo-tagged, Strange Loop: An Ethereal Walking Tour of the North Burial Ground; visual artist Jae Willard, Barrington, constructs an eight-foot, mixed media Tree of Life; installation artist Jen Raimondi, East Greenwich, creates a flock of turkey vultures with Big Hair; and from Providence; historian and project consultant Robert O. Jones creates an historic guide; Nancy Austin, Newport, & Caroline Woolard, NYC, Footnotes- a tribute to Albert J. Jones (1821-1887), The forgotten founder of RI’s first “Art Museum”.
Performances include: dancer/choreographer Wanda Gala, Brooklyn, & sound artist Bob Bellerue, Oregon, collaborate on a durational movement/sound piece in the mausoleum, The Blue Storm; Hannah Verlin, Boston, Nest Eggs, an installation of burning ceramic eggs; JUMP! Dance with Mary Paula Hunter, A Grave Dance; musicians Arvid Tomayko-Peters & Christie Lee Gibson from Brown perform a voice and electroacoustic Requiem Mass; Constance Crawford directing the Coalition of Perishable Goods from Perishable Theatre, presenting a multi-site narrative, Otherworldly Voices.
Cryptic Providence is funded by a New Works grant from the Rhode Island Foundation and sponsored by the City of Providence Parks Department and the Department of Art, Culture & Tourism, with support from AS220. The Rhode Island Foundation’s New Works program was established to support artists in the creation of original art and exploration of new artistic directions. The program awarded grants from 2000 to 2005 to artists partnering with nonprofit arts and community-based organizations to expand the state’s cultural richness, develop new audiences and strengthen community connections to the arts.
Selected artists will examine and interpret the history of North Burial Ground, established in 1700, and burial practices in relation to the rich history of Rhode Island. The project also hopes to create new ideas, perspectives and images about our relationship to death, dying and burial customs, and bring increased visitation and use of the cemetery by highlighting the historical and cultural resources of North Burial Ground.