Still Here

Today is Tuesday, June 23rd

Rag & Bone Bindery is open for business

(read our post from Wednesday, March 25th for more information about how we're able to remain open for business)

Hello everyone! Today we’re looking at a local mural created by world renowned urban street artist, Gaia, with support from The Avenue Project’s public art program. The mural, titled “Still Here,” is located in downtown Providence, RI, just a few miles south from Rag & Bone Bindery, and has become one of my favorite things to show people visiting the city. Andrew Pisacane, who paints under the name Gaia, believes that public art “asks and renders communities connected, must provide bridges, must speak truth to power,” and with this piece he wanted to consider the concept of erasure, asking whose history is preserved, and whose isn’t? The mural is located near Weybosset Street, “which is named for an indigenous footpath, and a trading location that later became one of the first custom houses in America”. “Still Here,” is meant to “is meant to inspire as well as celebrate the resilience of Indigenous people”.

Working in partnership with the Tomaquag Museum in Exeter, RI, Gaia and The Avenue Concept connected with artist and educator at the museum, Lynsea Montanari, who is a member of the Narragansett tribe. Together Lynsea and Gaia developed the composition of the piece, depicting Lynsea herself as its subject, holding a picture of “Princess Red Wing, a Narragansett elder who founded the Tomaquag Museum 60 years ago”. “You have a living person, an active individual holding legacy and tradition,” says Gaia of the decision to have Lynsea holding “a piece of legacy, a document”. 

Learn more about The Avenue Concepthere and more about Gaia’s painting processhere.