outdoor arts

The Jamestown Arts Center announces a request for artwork proposals for the Outdoor Arts Experience Biennial: Passages 2022, an island-wide exhibition in Jamestown, RI. Emerging and established artists have until November 30, 2021 to submit proposals to display their artwork in twelve varying locations throughout Jamestown during the summer of 2022. The Outdoor Arts Experience Biennial responds to the overwhelmingly positive community feedback after the JAC's inaugural island-wide outdoor exhibition in 2020 and a smaller scale exhibition Spacing Out(side), on view through October 31.

The concept for Passages was inspired by the Town of Jamestown on Conanicut Island, itself literally and physically defined by Narragansett Bay: the East Passage featuring the Newport Bridge leading to Aquidneck Island, and the West Passage with the Jamestown Bridge spanning towards Plum Point and the Rhode Island mainland. Metaphorically, Jamestown’s passages refer to its evolving communities: first by native Americans, next by European settlers and colonial farmers, followed by immigrants from diverse backgrounds, families with vacation homes, and now, year-round residents.

The exhibition asks submitting artists to mark the recent passing of time and losses during the pandemic and our passage through this period to a new future. What might we memorialize, commemorate, and remember? What are our hopes and dreams as we re-emerge and re-connect?