Rhode Island College - Bannister Gallery

Since November 1978, the E. M. Bannister Gallery at Rhode Island College has been in continuous operation in presenting a yearly calendar of eight to ten exhibitions of contemporary art by local, regional, and internationally renowned artists. The gallery was created by the department of Art and was literally the center of the department for two decades until its relocation in September 2000 to the Roberts Hall/Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts complex. The gallery has presented artworks in all the spectrum of traditional media, as well as more contemporary site specific, electronic, and video projects.

The exhibits are selected by department of Art faculty members, who serve as exhibit curators from time to time on a revolving committee and who bring in projects related to their particular area of studio expertise. Other components of the annual schedule are recurring: the annual ‘October Series,’ organized by the dean’s office FAS – a biennial ‘Bannister Series,’ focusing on African American artists – the Director’s Project each year – and the annual Faculty and Senior shows which begin and end each academic year.

Exhibits are generally on display for three weeks and usually include a lecture visit by the artist(s) or other related talks and events.

An adjacent hallway display area was created in 2002, and is used as either an extension of the main exhibit or for separate shows of works on paper, photos, and small paintings.