We’re Celebrating Our 20th Year!

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Did you know Art in the Atrium began in 2006? 

This year we're celebrating our 20 year milestone.

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To learn more about Our History click HERE

 

To view images of exhibitions since 2009, click HERE

 

We're excited to celebrate our 20th Year in 2026 with these events:

 

February - Launch of 20th Year Logo

Margaret Rizzuto and Mike Camera worked with the Leadership Team to create a logo celebrating our 20th Year.

 

September - Call and Response Collective Art Making - Memory, History, Science and Social Change with Holly Ewald.

An exhibition featuring Holly Ewald's 45-year evolution as a studio and community engaged artist.  Her practice grows from co-facilitating collaborative art making and storytelling about under-recognized places,  to multidisciplinary projects that raise awareness and understanding about natural systems that support all life.

On View September 10 - October 9, 2026

Opening Reception: September 17, 5:30 – 7:30 pm In Partnership with Gallery Night Providence

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Special Event: October 1, 2026 (6 – 8 PM)

6 – 7 PM

Blessing and Land Acknowledgement by Loren Spears

Gather at the Intersection of Planet Street and South Water Street, Providence

 

Recognizing and learning from the First People of the land on which we live has been a significant part of Holly Ewald’s community engaged projects. Following the Land Acknowledgement and Blessing, participants will proceed to the Atrium, serenaded by musician Phil Edmonds, echoing a tradition of the Urban Pond Procession. Walk ends at First U’s Atrium.  The event is led by Lorén Spears (Narragansett Niantic, Executive Director, Tomaquag Museum) and Holly Ewald (Founder and Executive Director, UPP Arts).

 

7 – 8 PM

Stories Behind the Artwork - Conversation with Holly Ewald

Following the procession, in First U’s Atrium, Holly Ewald will share stories that lie behind the community engaged projects on exhibit. The audience will be encouraged to ask questions and engage in conversation as to what resonates for them in the approach and content of the artwork.

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October - ​​​​​Creative Spirit Member Show: 20 Years of Art in the Atrium

On View October 15 – December 4, 2026

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Over the past 20 years, hundreds of visual artists have exhibited their work in the Atrium. The continuous thread connecting this vibrant community is our creative spirit—a magical, mystical, divine, or undefinable force that inspires us to make art. It is this spark that drives our divergent, complex, and deeply personal responses to the world we live in. 

 

To celebrate our membership's creativity over the last 20 years, member artists display artwork in the Atrium and a virtual gallery that visually expresses their personal "creative spirit." Whether your piece is defined by realism, abstraction, fantasy, personal experience/feelings, function or something else, see how our member artists interpret this undefinable force. 

 

Opening Reception in Partnership with Gallery Night Providence

Thursday, October 15, 2026, 5:30 - 7:30 PM

Open to the public and GNP visitors. You’re welcome to come, but we hope all exhibiting artists to attend the 20th Year Party on October 23.

 

20th Year Party for Members, Exhibiting Artists, and Supporters

Friday, October 23, 2026, 7 - 9 PM in the Atrium and Parlor.

It’s a party! Bring your significant other. Get dressed up! Special cocktails, sweets, and live music with Cathy Clasper-Torch (violin/fiddle, piano, erhu, cello) and Mary King (harpist).  CLICK HERE for details.

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Yearlong Strategic Planning for our Future 

Art in the Atrium First U leaders are strategic planning for the future - first, to understand our core purpose and beliefs, our aspiration, and our capacity, and then to develop action plans to achieve our vision.