Prentiss ’ wax sculpture pictured in his Pawtucket studio prior to casting .

Gage Prentiss has his wife to thank for his latest project . The Pawtucket sculptor was working on a design for the North Burial Ground bus shelter when his wife , Rhode Island Historical Society Executive Director C . Morgan Grefe , suggested incorporating an image of Providence artist Edward Mitchell Bannister . “ You ever just kind of meet somebody and you ’ re immediately drawn to them , their charisma , their presence , and the more you find out about them and their life , the more enamored you become ? That ’ s what happened to me with Edward Bannister ,” Prentiss says . The discovery sparked a years-long fascination with the artist who , much like Prentiss , was supported throughout his career by a respected wife named Christiana ( Grefe prefers her middle name ). In 2021 , a group spearheaded by the Providence Art Club commissioned Prentiss to create a statue of Bannister sketching on a bench at Market Square , a route he would have walked daily . After a year of painstaking work , the completed wax sculpture was cast in bronze and will be dedicated during the PVDFest festivities on Sept . 10 . “ I want people to find his art by finding him . If I could bring just a fraction of Bannister ’ s presence to people in the city , then I ’ ll feel totally successful ,” Prentiss says . The following month , Stages of Freedom will dedicate a plaque to Christiana Carteaux Bannister outside the organization ’ s headquarters just across the river , uniting the devoted couple in their commemorations . The statue dedication on Sept . 10 begins with a parade from the Providence Pedestrian Bridge at 11:45 a . m . The Christiana Carteaux Bannister plaque dedication takes place Oct . 8 at 10 a . m . at Stages of Freedom , 10 Westminster St ., Providence . providenceartclub . org / bannister-project — LAUREN CLEM

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF GAGE PRENTISS .

RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l SEPTEMBER 2023 17