Art in the Executive Suite with Bob Dilworth

For anyone lucky enough to visit the Mayor’s office in the City of Providence, they will be greeted by a rotating exhibit of a local artist, curated by ACT in coordination with Mayor Smiley and his team. Showing roughly on 6-month cycles, the exhibits range from photography to painting to printmaking and highlight the strong commitment to local artists, from the most public spaces to the semi-private.

Our current show is called Between Land and Water, Works on Resistance by Bob Dilworth. Bob is a nationally and internationally recognized artist who has won numerous awards and been exhibited across the country. After a long career in academia, including a tenure at URI, Bob is a full-time visual artist living in Providence. Bob says Between Land and Water, “asks, ‘What is resistance?’ and answers, ‘The ultimate resistance is not allowing yourself to be made into a slave – political, social, economic.’ To choose death over enslavement, to refuse control and possession of your body, soul, being, thoughts, beliefs, identity. The ultimate goal of resistance is to accept yourself as whole and complete, to reject fragmentation.”

Past shows in the Mayor’s office have featured artists Malcolm Plett, Rafael Medina, Umberto Crenca and Sydney Sousa.