GALLERY

Past Shows

Like Father, Like Mother, Like Son

Opening Reception Thursday July 13th  |  5-7pm 

Exhibit runs July 13th - 21st
Free and open to the public. 

A collaborative gallery exhibit brings together a family from opposite sides of the world. Like Father, Like Mother, Like Son showcases the artwork of three passionate and talented individuals, Zhanat Baidaralin, Vera Kurmasheva and Daniyar Baidaralin.

Zhanat Baidaralin and Vera Kurmasheva are internationally recognized ballet teachers and choreographers from Almaty, Kazakhstan. They came to the US as the Aliens with Extraordinary Abilities in 2001, and shortly after opened their own ballet studio in Barrington, Rhode Island. They have taught in many places in America including Dance Theater of Harlem NY, Walnut Hill in MA, and RI Festival Ballet to name a few. They run a comprehensive ballet program featuring pointe, partnering, variations, turn techniques, ballet heritage; along with elements of historical dances and character, modern and workout with a discipline in classical ballet.

Zhanat is a natural-born artist, whose talent takes roots from the nature of the beautiful Almaty Mountains in Kazakhstan, where he was born into a family of a village teacher. Zhanat was always a very talented drafter. Even though he became a professional ballet dancer and spent over 50 years in ballet, he always kept his childhood dream of becoming a fine artist. And when he reached his 60’s, he finally started painting, just like he always wanted to. He paints mostly nature landscapes using acrylic paint over canvas, and very often his artworks are devoted to his childhood village and its scenic surroundings, and also the views of wonderful Rhode Island.

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Vera is a multi-talented artist, who, besides co-directing the Ballet Prestige Studio as a ballet teacher, also makes all of the stage costumes for shows with her own hands including traditional Kazakh costumes for dolls. She has created over 70 pieces, each of them designed and sewn by Vera herself. The studio’s students wear these costumes during the two major performances per year: the Nutcracker on Christmas, and the Spring Performance, which concludes the school year before the summer program. Her small handmade doll dresses reflect the same attitude and passion towards the costumes as in her real costumes.

Daniyar Baidaralin is a son of Zhanat and Vera. He is an artist, writer, and a specialist on Kazakh traditional archery. Daniyar spent almost two decades working in interior design, architecture, and construction field. In 2003, he came to the US, and spent a number of years working for Morris Nathanson Design firm in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. In 2011, he moved back to Kazakhstan, where he continued working for architecture and construction companies. He was also involved with the Ballet Prestige Studio since the beginning, helping his parents to find the location, design the studio, and renovate it for the opening. Since 2016, he and his wife Asylgul Baidaralina co-own the creative shop Baidaraly Studio in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Daniyar has an educational background in fine arts: sculpture, illustration, and painting. A big part of his creative activity revolves around Kazakh traditional warriors and Sadaqshiliq – the art of Kazakh mounted horseback archery. Daniyar loves the Kazakh horse bows: he builds and shoots them, includes them in his artwork, and writes books about them. He is a published author of the book called Sadaqshiliq: the Art of Making and Shooting the Kazakh Horsebow. The main theme of his paintings and illustrations are Kazakh horseback archers and archeresses, the true historical Amazons.

Cranston High School East Senior Art Studio Exhibition

Opening Reception Wednesday May 24  |  6-8pm 

Exhibit runs May 24-28
Free and open to the public. Refreshments provided.

ART PLAY

Opening Reception Thursday October 27th  |  6-8pm 

Exhibit runs October 20-November 21 | Wednesdays & Thursdays 5-8pm; Sundays 1-5pm
Free and open to the public. 

“Art Play” is an interdisciplinary multi-media experience that showcases unconventional artwork created by our diverse community of artists in the ‘Basic Art’ classes held daily at Artists’ Exchange. This exhibit combines a mishmash of sight and sound that embodies the unique personalities of our artists and the dynamic energy that is the pulse of our creative explorations.

Axis Art: A Community Drawing Survey

Opening Reception Thursday June 9th  |  6-8pm 

Exhibit runs June 9-July 7 | Wednesdays & Thursdays 5-8pm; Sundays 1-5pm
Free and open to the public. 

The group exhibition ‘Axis Art’ features a selection of drawings by Artists’ Exchange community artists and educators who adopt an intimate drawing format to explore, create, and express personal themes and ideas. The exhibition emphasizes the importance of art as a shared space in which the artist enters, where the act of making becomes the axis of universal potential through creativity, community, and engagement. Please join us in this visual experience of color, line, mark making, and value expressed in a wide variety of drawing styles.

Cranston High School East Senior Art Studio Exhibition

Opening Reception Wednesday May 12  |  5-7pm 

Exhibit runs May 12-26 | Wednesdays & Thursdays 5-8pm; Sundays 1-5pm
Free and open to the public. Refreshments provided.

Pop Icons: A Dedication to Joanna Gudmundsson

Opening Reception Thursday January 28  |  6-8pm 

Exhibit runs January 28-February 28 | Wednesdays & Thursdays 5-8pm; Sundays 1-5pm
Free and open to the public.

A series of paintings of pop culture icons by Local Artist Alexus Cruz.  Cruz has dedicated this showcase to her grandmother Joanna Gudmundsson. 50% of the proceeds will be donated to the Rhode Island Hospitals Cancer Center.

Nineteen year old artist Alexus Cruz of Cranston, Rhode Island has a lot to say about her new Pop Icon collection of work. It began when Cruz’s Mother took her Grandmother into their home and cared of her as she continued to battle lung cancer. “As one of my biggest supporters, I asked what her favorite movie stars and icons were of the 50s-90s, in hopes of creating a collection dedicated to her.” Cruz’s artwork has always been inspired by abstract and pop art as this collection also contains many of her favorite pop cons as well, but this time her grandmother was the leading inspiration. 

Unfortunately, her grandmother had passed away before the collection was able to be showcased, but she did get the chance to be with her as she painted every piece. In honor of her loving memory, Cruz has dedicated this showcase to Joanna Gudmundsson. Her goal is to sell every portrait and donate 50 percent of the proceeds to Rhode Island Hospitals Cancer Center. “On behalf of my family and I, we are truly grateful and thankful for the extra time we were granted to have with her because of the treatments and care they provided. I have no doubt that this donation will be of great use for future treatments and care they provide for current and future patients.”

Cranston High School East Senior Art Studio Exhibition

Opening Reception Wednesday May 13  |  5-7pm 

Exhibit runs May 13-26 | Wednesdays & Thursdays 5-8pm; Sundays 1-5pm
Free and open to the public. Refreshments provided.

DERP.

Opening Reception Thursday March 26 |  6:30-8pm 

Exhibit runs March 26-April 14 | Wednesdays & Thursdays 5-8pm; Sundays 1-5pm
Free and open to the public.

We are all different. We are all artists.

An exploration of ceramic works from the hands of artists, instructors, and the students that grow with a sense of acceptance and community within Artists' Exchange. 

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We are all artists, informed by curiosity, pushing boundaries by embracing limitations. Self-expression, faith in process, faith in people. 

The show is running in conjunction with the annual conference hosted by the National Council for Education of the Ceramic Arts (NCECA), to be held March 24th-28th throughout Providence.

Integrated Exhibitions series part 3: Convergence

Opening Reception August 28 | 5-8pm 

Exhibit runs August 14-September13 | Wednesdays & Thursdays 5-8pm; Sundays 1-5pm
Free and open to the public.

Featuring artists from Resources for Human Development-RI, Flying Shuttles Studios, Artists' Exchange, and visiting artists from Gallerie Ellipsis in Newport.

Painting, Mixed Media, Fiber Art.

Abandoned Spaces: Solo photography exhibition by Karen A. Bibbo-Lord

Opening Reception June 5 | 5-7pm 

Exhibit runs June 5-July 17 | Wednesdays & Thursdays 5-8pm; Sundays 1-5pm
Free and open to the public.

"As a photographer, I capture an image to suspend time. Otherwise, it's the one thing we cannot do: suspend time.

"I see what draws not only my eye but also my breath—all that which comprises me: all my senses. And I'm fascinated by how, in that one moment, something that has been (past) and is (present) is now immortalized in a single photographic frame. Because, someday, those architectural structures (in this particular case, by name, 'Abandoned Spaces') will cease the existence they'd known. They'll be razed or maybe rehabbed; but what I captured in that instant, becomes suspended in time." 

—Karen A. Bibbo-Lord

Owl Habitat Installation

Cranston High School East Senior Art Studio Exhibition

Opening Reception June 5  |  5-7pm 
Free and open to the public.

Artists' Exchange artists have been working on and learning about the Common Barn Owl and their way of life for several weeks to put together this installation for you to see!

Opening Reception May 8 | 6-8pm 

Exhibit runs May 3-15 | Wednesdays & Thursdays 5-8pm; Sundays 1-5pm
Free and open to the public. Refreshments provided.

Continuity

Opening Reception April 3 | 5:30-8pm

Exhibit runs March 29-April 25 | Wednesdays & Thursdays 5-8pm; Sundays 1-5pm
Free and open to the public.

In Continuity, part two of the Integrated Exhibitions series, the viewer is encouraged to discover analogous themes of layering, correlative colors, and shared patterns between Emerging Artists Howard Bander and Orlando Vasquez, and visiting artist Matt McLaren. Balance of color and form, vertical elevation, and the mirror-like alignment of the the works of these three artists create a harmonious viewing experience in the gallery.

Circles & Squares

Exhibit runs January 16-February 28 | Wednesdays & Thursdays 5-8pm; Sundays 1-5pm
Free and open to the public.

An exhibition breaking boundaries between disciplines from visual artist and multi-instrumentalist Antonio Forte. The shapes commonly referred to as circles and squares are used prominently as jumping-off points for composition, as well as metaphors for life and death, everything and nothing, the universe and the bodies contained therein. Live music composed in both traditional (notes) and graphic notation (coffee stains/splattered paint) will be used to power kinetic sculpture.
 

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AS220 Printshop Keymembers and Artists' Exchange Emerging Artists joint show.

Opening Reception November 14 | 5:30-8pm 

Exhibit runs November 14-January 19 | Wednesdays & Thursdays 5-8pm; Sundays 1-5pm
Free and open to the public.

An exhibit pairing dynamic works from both the AS220 Printshop Keymembers, a group of printmaking artists actively involved and responsible for the continued development of the AS220 Industries community, and the Emerging Artists of Artists' Exchange.