PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF THE AVENUE CONCEPT. “MISTY BLUE” MURAL PHOTOGRAPH BY DAMIAN MENEGHINI.
The Avenue Concept
Fostering love for public art through safe, self-guided outdoor tours.
WHEN MUSEUMS CLOSED DUE TO THE CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK, the Avenue Concept created a plan to promote its outdoor
self-guided public art tours in downtown Providence and the South Side/West End. The tours are a perfect social-distancing activity for
people to observe and learn about art from mastermind muralists and sculptors. Online maps pinpoint dozens of murals and sculptures
in the area, and each location has a QR code that participants can scan for more info about the works while they’re at the site.
Here are a few must-see murals on the public tour, but you can check out all of the art at theavenueconcept.org/programs/wayfinding.
“Misty Blue”
by Andrew Hem
Hem is the son of refugees
who escaped from Cambodia’s
Khmer Rouge regime. The
artist reflected on the local
Cambodian community to
create this mural while
working from a photo of a girl
he met in Cambodia and
placing her against a dreamy
background. 118 Orange St.,
Providence
“Dear Urban Females” by
Angela Gonzalez/Agonza
Agonza’s art “is based on
feminism, socialism and
issues within urban communities.”
She painted four
individual panels on the
downtown façade with the
image of the same powerful
woman donning an earring,
each one representing the
flag of a different country.
The center panel combines
the female symbol with a
raised fist to demonstrate
the impact of the “strong
urban female” in a state with
a predominantly female
population. 35 Weybosset St.,
Providence
“Still Here” by Gaia
Gaia’s mural was created
in collaboration with the
Tomaquag Museum in Exeter
and features a contemporary
Indigenous woman holding
the portrait of Princess
Redwing, a Narragansett and
Wampanoag elder, historian,
folklorist and curator,
surrounded by native flora.
It’s a powerful statement
on Rhode Island’s Native
American community.
32 Custom House,
Providence
“Like a Buoy, Like a Barrel”
by Steven Siegel
This piece by the worldrenowned
American sculptor
confronts our need for
consumption and our wide
use of single-use plastics. The
artist commonly uses a mass
of everyday objects — in this
case plastic containers
collected by schoolchildren
— to create a statement on
the world at large. Wexford
Science and Technology
Center, 225 Dyer St.,
Providence —Jamie Coelho