Join us for the opening of the WaterFire Art Center’s newest exhibition, Planet Earth, the Environment and our Future on Saturday, March 19 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

At 4 pm on the evening of the opening, Barnaby Evans, the Artistic Director of WaterFire and curator of the exhibition, will be joined by a selection of the artists in the exhibition who will each talk about the context and details of their art pieces in the show and how they position their work with respect to the large conversation about the environment. Participating artists include Richard Friedberg, Joan Hall, Dennis Hlynsky, Sarah Jane Lapp, Janice Lardey, Haley MacKeil, and Faith Wilding.

The panel discussion will be followed by an opening reception where visitors can experience the full scope of the exhibition and see Gaia as the sun sets at the WaterFire Arts Center. Refreshments and light bites at the opening reception will be provided by Plant City, Anchor & Hope , Narragansett Beer, and Granny Squibb’s Iced Tea.

About the Exhibition

The Exhibition runs from March 19 to May 1, 2022 at the WaterFire Arts Center. 475 Valley Street, Providence, RI.

Exhibition Hours:

Wednesday-Sunday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Open late until 9 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays

Participating artists include: William Bradford, David Burdeny, Judy Chicago, Richard Friedberg, Joan Hall, Martin Johnson Heade, Katsushika Hokusai, Dennis Hlynsky, Duane Isaac, Luke Jerram, Young Joon Kwak, Janice Lardey, Qing Liu, Haley MacKeil, and Faith Wilding.

Suspended in the cathedral-like Main Hall will be a 23-feet diameter artwork by Luke Jerram, Gaia, gently spinning overhead. Visitors will be able to experience seeing the Earth as it appears from space. Large works by Richard Friedberg and Joan Hall will fill the large hall. Three new editions of early environmental works by Judy Chicago created for her landmark show that just closed in San Francisco will be on display.

The Earth in its beauty and majesty has long fascinated artists and scientists of all cultures, inspiring their work. Both use vision to understand the empirical facts of the real world – and use imagery again to convey their ideas and conclusions. This exhibition of art and science presents over thirty spectacular artworks by contemporary artists that expand upon the interconnected nature of the world – the exhibition also includes historical art, photographs, and objects from several cultures stretching across the continents and spanning two centuries; tracing some of the Rhode Island connections to this larger story of discovery and exploration.

This exhibition is made possible through the generous support of Kathleen and Barry Hittner and the NASA Rhode Island Space Grant Consortium with support from the University of Rhode Island, Graduate School of Oceanography, and Brown University.