All That You See Is(n't) Yours: New Work by Lynsea Montenari and Anna Snyder

All That You See Is(n’t) Yours: New Work by Lynsea Montenari and Anna Snyder

Exhibition Statement:
View the 1648 Town Charter on permanent display alongside provocative artwork by Lynsea Montanari and Anna Snyder, ACT Public Artists -in-Residence at Providence City Archives.

Providence has been a unique place since its founding in 1636. The first colony in the New World with a secular government, it was founded with the ideals of civil equality and religious liberty. In this exhibit you can explore the life of Providence’s radical founder, and get an up-close look at some of the documents that laid the city’s foundation.

Curator/Artist Statement:
Lynsea Montanari, artist-in-residence at City Archives
How does the Ideological clash of Narragansett spirituality and colonial religion play a role in our histories? What does it mean to “Purchase land with love” from a community that does not have the concept of land ownership? Where do values lie? What happens when these two different communities intersect?

Anna Snyder, artist-in-residence at City Archives
This exhibition attempts to remind the viewer that the founding and development of this state and nation, though in some ways radical and inspiring, was facilitated by an unrelenting campaign of deceit, theft and violence, a violence which is to this day apparent in American policy, both foreign and domestic. Today, as we celebrate colonial Providence, we must also acknowledge this history and our complicity in its invisibilization.