Why be OPEN?
September, 2025
Providence is home to a number of world class galleries, libraries, archives, and museums offering daily opportunities for discovery and joy. Our city’s motto, The Creative Capital, is born from the countless artists, craftspeople, and organizers call greater Providence home. Why then, does it sometimes feel like something is missing? The one thing I’ve (hi, this is Ben) heard working with teams from RISD Museum, AS220, Rhode Island Historical Society, Providence Public Library, Art, Culture + Tourism, and others: Providence lacks third spaces.
What is a “third space”? It is a loosely defined place, a social environment beyond home and work where people build community. Cafés, pubs, and libraries fill this niche to a degree—but they either require financial transactions to attend, or only host a narrow band of happenings. DIY venues and warehouses are great third spaces except that they tend to operate in the shadows, often out of necessity, prioritizing the safety of at-risk communities. Providence’s colleges, as interesting and impactful as they can be, are insular—faculty is often underpaid, overworked, and not incentivized to do work beyond campus boundaries. We need third spaces where people can gather and participate, or not, in whatever’s going on. Third spaces offer comfort and community with no expectations.
Some years ago I worked in hospitality at Ace Hotel in New York, famous for it’s bustling lobby. While the lobby offered food and beverages, nobody was expected to buy a thing. This is really important. The lobby hosted DJs, gallery exhibitions, and a variety of programs tied into citywide moments like Fashion Week or art fairs. Anyone could come and enjoy those things, or just camp out with a laptop. Another nonprofit I worked for had the motto A Place to Be, which sums the idea up well.
What if this model was applied at city-wide scale? What if we built more mixed-use, genre-expansive exhibition and hangout spaces that foster social health, economic development; that provide both learning opportunities and lazy time? We can have spaces like this in every neighborhood, each with it’s own aesthetic and energy.
OPEN explores all this by curating exhibitions, collecting objects, and doing the work of connecting people, places, and things. We’re cousins with museums, libraries, and overstuffed garages. Art, for us, is a lot like cartography in that it both anchors us during times of uncertainty, and bring us to the bleeding edge. It is always relational; neither here nor there. While it’s hard to pin down exactly what art is and in turn, what we do, the general idea is to remain curious and interested. To be OPEN.
Inspiration
Pre-History
These are some earlier projects, which together, feel like a lead-up.
Gallery at Ace Hotel New York
Permanent Collection
Et Cetera
PACS Gallery
Web Safe 2k16
Images: (1) lexi welch and Ben Sisto preparing for an exhibition, (2-3) Wreck Room by Rafay Rashid, (4) For the Time Beings by Tori Hong