The RISD Grad Show features graduates from the school’s 19 advanced degree programs and it’s one of the largest shows of its kind in New England. Every type of art you can imagine is on display and there’s a surprise around every corner of the Rhode Island Convention Center.
The show doesn’t have a set “theme,” but as you walk through the displays, you’ll see common ideas start to emerge, like the use of branches, leaves and stone. Sculptor Pablo Cazares said, “There’s a lot of nature happening, and it’s not necessarily in an environmentalism way, but it’s more in like, a memory and experience kind of metaphorical way.”
Graphic Designer Deb Khodanovich saw another common theme of reacting to the prevalence of A.I. “I think the response is kind of like absurdity and whimsy and creating something that this tool can’t do. So it’s not like directly speaking to A.I., but I think everything that we’re more interested in now (are) the things that prove that a human was part of that experience.” You can see the work of more than 200 humans in one of my favorite arts events of the year.
Where: Rhode Island Convention Center, Providence
When: May 21 - May 30, noon to 5:00 p.m.
Details: https://publications.risd.edu/grad-show-2026
Also happening in the next week:
Puzzical Chairs and Pie with Sky Jelly
This event reimagines the childhood game of musical chairs where, when the song suddenly stops, everyone competes for a chair, with one person left chairless in each round. But, during the 10+ rounds of Puzzical Chairs, when a Skyjelly song ends, everyone still has a seat at the puzzle table with a side of free, yummy pie…plus live music from local Middle Eastern blues-rock-funk innovators, Rick Lescault, Scott Levesque, and Paul Laurenco.
Where: 195 District Park, Providence
When: Saturday, May 23, 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. (rain date, May 24)
Details: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/puzzical-chairs-pie-with-live-music-by-skyjelly-tickets-1985279013973?aff=ebdsoporgprofile
Trinity Sideshow Banner Art Exhibit
Angell Street Galleries and Trinity Brewhouse are reuniting the iconic Big Nazo sideshow banners — preserved through the brewhouse’s renovation and back on display downstairs — for a free opening night. Come for the complimentary bites and full bar, stay for the weird, wonderful art.
Where: Trinity Brew House, Providence
When: Tuesday, May 26
Details: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/trinity-sideshow-banner-art-exhibit-tickets-1988999118907?aff=ebdssbdestsearch&utm_medium=email&utm_source=ctct
