Dear Friends,

We hope you’ll join us this Saturday, October 14, from 10 am to noon for “The Wisdom of the African American Spirituals Tradition: From Slave Fields to Concert Halls," a community workshop and book signing with Dr. Arthur C. Jones, learn more about the event and register here. And mark your calendars for Tuesday, October 24, when Brown University Professor of Political Science Juliet Hooker joins us to talk about her new book Black Grief/White Grievance: The Politics of Loss. We are very grateful to our friends at Barrington Books for making book sales and signings possible at both events!

Thank you to everyone who came out to see the recent exhibition New Battambang Market by artists Dana Heng and Moy Chuong, the first of three events in our pop-up series in the Joan T. Boghossian Gallery this fall. The gallery will be in transition for the next couple of weeks while we prepare for the next in the series -- more on that next week!

In the meantime, we invite you to come see a newly installed exhibition in a newly created community exhibition space at PPL. Not on Shelf is currently on view in the Marble Staircase Community Gallery, located on the third floor, next to the Updike Room (which is the room with the giant antique printing press in the middle of the floor!). In our unending quest to re-imagine the way we can make the spaces in our building more flexible, we have redesigned this small but contemplative space to be one of evolving exhibitions, and we’re starting with works created by PPL’s own staff. Sophia, who was one of the producers of the exhibition, describes below, in her own words, how the exhibition came about, and shares some comments from her fellow contributors on their artworks.

Not on Shelf

Come check out the artists of PPL! Not on Shelf showcases the eclectic and diverse creative practices and honors the multitude of experiences that we, as library workers, embody. Its genesis came about through conversations with Jeremy Ferris, Digital Projects Librarian, who has been at PPL for four years. He approached our department with an idea that unfolded into a celebration of both our day-to-day and our creative work. “In my eyes, the most interesting and urgent work happening in the Library is not necessarily evident in our outward-facing jobs,” he explains. “There is so much that we do that may be invisible to patrons, and I think the show illustrates the [care, creativity, attention, vision -- take your pick] of all workers.” He adds, “Doing this offers us a window for patrons to see how those creative practices, skills, and ideas manifest within the Library, and as patrons navigate the Library it allows for a holistic understanding of the labor and our lives.”

This cross-departmental show came about informally, but it beautifully ties together threads of greater contemplation. Audrey Buhain, who is a Reading Room Attendant and on the project staff for the National Digital Newspaper Program, included the poem and cyanotype at the pigment of capture, which she made through her undergraduate thesis. She describes it as being in conversation “with institutional archival collections dealing with US imperialism in the Philippines. The role of water in facilitating colonizing routes into and around the islands, and all the ways that this connective body forever disrupted the formation of collective identities. Putting my poem in the deep blue of this cyanotype invites more food for thought.”

Paris Fernadez, PPL’s Events Coordinator, contributed an untitled mixed media work made in the tumultuous year of 2020, and he explains it as “a perfect snapshot of where I was in the world in a moment in time. ‘Wherever There is Oppression, There is Resistance’ -- this phrase is a feeling, an idea, an attitude, a vibe, and, to some, all that’s been known.” 

We are artists, scholars, hobbyists, activists, creators, and those who make things in order to see and feel more. As we have talked about in earlier iterations of Cultural Content, the process of the work is an essential and inextricable feature of the work itself, and we can learn more deeply about someone’s art when we think about how it came to be. 

The piece Holding Space by Teen Educator Lydia George, “is about desexualizing queer relationships, and looking at the importance of platonic emotional intimacy, safety, and vulnerability.” They talk about their practice as one that is “consistently shifting,” and explain that for their collage style art they “usually like to start by making a sketch or template on newsprint, then I will label the pieces by color of fabric and number them. I cut the shapes out into paper pattern pieces and then use them to cut different fabrics, glue them down onto a canvas, and paint over them.” I invite you to check out more of Lydia’s work on their website.

Jay Ruzicka is a professional sports photographer and also PPL’s Digital Content Creator. “Sometimes I have a vague idea of what I want, and it changes a bit when I actually take the photo. Other times, I see an exact image in my head and capture it exactly as I see it. Like any good photographer, you have to anticipate photo opportunities you didn’t expect. In sports photography, a lot of times you have to anticipate moments that may happen but also be ready to capture the unexpected.”

Lanham Bundy used to work with VSArts as an educator “with the amazing Jeannine Chartier,” and is currently PPL’s Acquisitions and Cataloging Librarian. She explains that her painting Wig, Ham, Peony “was done in response to my work with super amazing artists with disabilities, in hospitals mostly, but also one-on-one. [It was] my favorite lifetime experience, and nothing like my current work.”

I feel so honored to have been in an intimate space with the stories of these pieces which were made by colleagues and friends. So I guess this is a love note to them. Jeremy describes the works in the show as embodying “the kind of care and attention that library workers bring;” and they represent more than what you see on the wall, they are an extension of the lived experience of those you see (and do not see) when you walk into the building at PPL.

Here is the complete list of featured artists: Aaron Peterman, Audrey Buhain, Beatrice Pulliam, Brenda Adames, Jay Ruzicka, Jeremy Ferris, Kate Aubin, Kilian Webster, Lanham Bundy, Laura Motley, Lydia George, Melissa Stanziale, Nancy Hart, Paris Fernandez, and Sophia Ellis.

Please reach out if you want to hear more about any of the pieces!

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PLEASE NOTE: CANCELED EVENT!

The “SILVER SCREENS Presented by Rhode Island Black Film Festival” event originally scheduled for Wednesday, October 18, has been postponed until 2024. We will let you know when we have a new date! 

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Finally, we wanted to let you know about “Rising Waters: A Climate Art Installation,” a free public event taking place on Saturday, October 21, 2 to 5 pm, organized by Susan Israel, Founder of Climate Creatives, who invites you to join her to install a sea level rise art project and discuss what you can do about climate impacts. Takes place at the 195 District Park, Providence, between the Beer Guild Garden and the river. Questions? Susan@ClimateCreatives.com. Free, open to all ages. 

In gratitude,



Christina Bevilacqua xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxSophia Ellis

Programs & Exhibitions Director xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxCommunity Partnerships Facilitator