2000

With great dedication and commitment, a group of approximately forty artists band together and organize a non-profit visual arts organization. The organization would provide exhibitions for member artists in all media, maintain the highest standards of artistic excellence, and serve a broad Rhode Island public.

2001

Spring: The 1st Annual ALRI Members’ Exhibition is held at the Bristol Art Museum. A wide variety of media are “handled masterfully” by artists with “years of experience, all willing to put their best work forward” in an “exceptionally fine exhibition,” as reported by Elizabeth E. Neville in Art New England, 3/28/01.

Fall: The Art League is introduced to a wider public at a reception held at artist Elizabeth Goddard’s home in Providence. Over 50 friends and colleagues of the Goddards attend the event, which featured an image slide show of the member artists’ works

With a commitment to education the artists get off to a great start when RISD Faculty member and Art League Honorary Member, Robin Wiseman, teaches a figure drawing workshop in studios at the Pontiac Mills in Warwick.

2002

The 2nd Annual ALRI Members’ Exhibition is held at one of Rhode Island’s premier galleries of contemporary art, the Virginia Lynch Gallery of Tiverton. This exhibition features artwork in all media of the 40 founding artist members of the League and introduces the work of the eight new artist members juried into the Art League in the spring of 2001.

RISD Faculty member and Art League Honorary member, Thomas Sgouros, teaches a “Master Series” painting workshop with a tour of his studio in the Fleur de Lis building of the Providence Art Club.

2003

The three-year-old organization receives its first grant from the Rhode Island Foundation for the Hall of Masters project at the Hasbro Children’s Hospital; a grant from the Rhode Island State Council of the Arts would follow to support the second phase of the project, spearheaded by Nancy Gaucher Thomas and Margaret Leeson. “I only wish that the Art League was in a position to extend the project to all of the rooms in our clinical area. The good that your project has achieved would be increased by exposing all of our patients to the wonderful art,” said Neal S. LeLeiko MD, Ph.D., Professor of Pediatrics, Brown Medical School.

March: The Art League continues its series of workshops and education programs held at the Pontiac Mills studio in Warwick. The workshop, titled “Artists in the Round,” features three artists of varying media: Tom Deininger, Oil; Jeanne Tangney, pastel; and Nancy Gaucher Thomas, watercolor.

May: The Art League holds the 3rd Annual ALRI Members’ Exhibition at the Feinstein Building at the University of Rhode Island. The Art League publishes its first catalog in conjunction with this exhibition, which is offered to elevate the status of art in our culture and share the work of its members. Slide presentations are given by ALRI Honorary Members Gretchen Dow Simpson, designer for Sixty New Yorker Covers, and Faculty member of RISD’s illustration department, as well as ALRI Honorary member David Macaulay, author of How Things Work.

The Art League partners with Priscilla Angelo from Business Volunteers for the Arts in further defining and assessing its mission and short term goals and objectives.

2004

The 4th Annual ALRI Members’ Exhibition at the new A&C Gallery in East Greenwich draws crowds from all over, with attendance at the opening reception reaching over four hundred. Bunny Harvey, a professor of Arts at Wellesley College, gives a sellout lecture.

To construct the Art League’s first strategic plan, a partnership is embarked on with consultants, Bunny Fain and Mike Chengrian, from the Executive Service Corps.

2005

“The Journey: Generations of Rhode Island Masters 1908 – 2005” is held at Imagine Fine Art Gallery in Smithfield. It features the work of ALRI artists alongside antique and historic works of early Rhode Island artists.

In the fall the 5th ALRI Annual Members’ Exhibition is held at the Attleboro Art Museum and boasts more artists on the roster than any other previous member’s show.

2006

The Art League holds its first fundraising event: A Benefit Auction, entitled “Art, Adventures, and Award Winning Jewelers of New England.” Spearheaded by Iona Dobbins, the event brings in a record net profit of $30,000.

The 6thAnnual ALRI Members’ Exhibition is held at the Newport Art Museum and is accompanied by the League’s second published catalog.

ALRI collaborates with a special exhibit, “Selections,” at Hera Gallery in Wakefield.
The Art League teams up with the Rhode Island Foundation and is awarded a grant to establish and coordinate a rotating exhibit in the RIF Gallery and throughout the RIF building at One Union Station in Providence.

In light of the successful project at Hasbro Children’s Hospital, ALRI strikes up collaboration with South County Hospital in Wakefield.

At the 2006 Annual Meeting at Blithewood Len DeAngelis becomes the second president of the Art League. He succeeds Nancy Gaucher-Thomas, founder, after her six years of presidency.

2007

ALRI holds its 1st Associate Members’ Juried Exhibition at Gallery 297 in Bristol, developed by the curator of that gallery, Carol FitzSimonds. With Carol’s commitment to artists, the Associates’ Exhibition becomes an annual tradition. (After three years of dynamic shows and workshops, the Great Recession of ‘08-‘09 forces Gallery 297 to close its doors. The 2010 Associate Show is held at the Imago Gallery of Warren, Rhode Island).

Community Outreach: A two-year Boot Project is initiated by Johanna McKenzie. The first year, Timberland Company provides the boots and art supplies to establish the Art League community-based arts project at Central Falls High School. Fourteen ALRI artists and 80 Central Falls High School, CFRI, students participate over the course of two years in creating marvelous designs on the boots.

By the end of its second year, with support from the private sector, Timberland Project yields $6000 for scholarships in support of under-served students who intend to enroll in a college program with a focus on the arts. The award ceremony takes place at the Providence Art Club. The event is closed with a performance by Honorary Board member, Dan Butterworth, and his Marionettes, and a pizza party for the students.

At the Annual ALRI Meeting in 2007, Jim Kubiatowicz takes over the presidency and leads the League into the 21st century. He positions the League into publishing an e-newsletter. Co-chair of Communications, Paulette Miller, fully embraces this innovative step and continues to create and publish this monthly periodical.

In the fall of 2007, the Art League partners with the historic Providence Art Club to host its 7th Annual Members’ Exhibition. Two lectures by Joan Backes, Adjunct Professor, Art Department, Brown University, and David Henry, Program Director, Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, are held throughout the month of September.

2008

At the annual meeting in June, Iona Dobbins is elected to succeed James Kubiatowicz as the fourth president of the Art League. In her acceptance speech she’s unsure of what she can do for the organization, but she vows to get the League “out of the kitchen.”

The Board institutes The Holiday Spirit I at the Providence Art Club. The Deacon Taylor studios are opened for the holiday celebration, Egg Nog and Fruitcake (and other sweets of the season) are served; toys are collected for Children’s Friend, and the Food Drive collects pounds of food items for the Rhode Island Food Bank.

2009

At the May 2009 board meeting, David Morganelli, treasurer proposes a board resolution granting League President, Iona Dobbins Board approval authorizing the securement of a permanent office for the Art League, at a cost in the price range of $350-$500. The move to One Meeting Street, Providence, takes place on July 1st, 2009.

At the May annual meeting, held at Blithewold Mansion & Gardens, the Art League Food Drive again collects pounds of food items for the Rhode Island Food Bank. (In early December Holiday Spirit II continues its Food Drive and Toy Collection for Children’s Friend at the Art League’s first Open House at One Meeting Street.)

Royal Gallery on Federal Hill hosts the Art League’s first Small Works exhibit. The opening reception on Gallery Night Providence is attended by over 200 people.

2010

The Art League begins to celebrate its 10th anniversary with a variety of notable events and activities: a 10th anniversary catalog funded in part with support from the business community; a Meet & Greet social event for the 40 founding members and the 12 new 2010 artist inductees is hosted by Deborah Baronas and pup Nutmeg at her studio in Warren. ALRI’s 10th annual meeting is to be held at the magnificent Orchre Court in Newport. Thank you Salve Regina University for making this possible.

In association with the five-week exhibit at the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Museum, the following events are scheduled: a donor reception at RISD’s lovely Porcelain Room; a talk, Dessert in the Desert, given by Gayle Mandle (artist and wife of the former president of RISD, Roger Mandle); Live performances by Rhode Island Children’s Chorus, Christine Noel, Artistic Director; Gallery talk by Honorary artist member, Tom Sgouros, along with several other exhibiting artists; and closing event with Honorary artist member Dan Butterworth.

It is the 10th ALRI Annual Members’ Exhibition being held at the prestigious RISD Museum that is most gratifying and exhilarating for the membership of the Art League of Rhode Island. We thank you RISD for making this possible. The Art League is most appreciative and grateful for this opportunity.

The Future:

Looking to its next decade, the board considers establishing a fund: ALRI Founders’ Scholarship for the Visual Arts; maintaining its partnerships with community exhibition venues; and broadening business collaborations such as have been established with AS220, A. T. Cross, Women and Infants Hospital, and Providence College.