Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Main Street Garage Murals is the relatively uniform style of painting shared throughout the murals—abstract and boldly graphic white, red, and black shapes, large and imposing on the walls—painted by six very different artists. Indeed, the language of abstraction demonstrated in these murals is not necessarily common to every artist who worked on the project, and neither is the medium. Together, however, they do share the distinction of being prominent artists of the Pawtucket arts scene whose work has been recognized for its technical and creative excellence.  One wall has been left open to skilled, but anonymous, graffiti artists.

Mimo Gordon Riley is a painter inspired by such artists as Georgio Morandi, Richard Diebenkorn, and Edward Hopper for a persistence with subject matter, an ability to render reality as abstractions, and a focus on light in defining architecture, respectively.  Having studied printmaking at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and painting at the Portland School of Art, Riley also found time to explore photography, which she pursued for a living until the age of 38. She has exhibited work throughout New England, and in Chicago and New York City. She is represented by Jonathan Frost Gallery in Rockland, Maine, and Candita Clayton Studio, in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.  Her work exists in numerous private and public collections, including the Christian Science Broadcasting Network, the Cornish Associates, the Darmouth Company, Hasbro Children’s Hospital, and the Rhode Island Hospital.

Morris Nathanson has been a fixture of the Pawtucket community all his life, yet as president and founder of Morris Nathanson Design, an interior design firm, he has had his hand shaping aesthetic experiences around the globe—from restaurants in New York City to Caribbean cruise ships to Euro Disney in Paris. Having earned a BFA in fine arts from the University of Miami and completed graduated studies in theater arts at the New School for Social Research in New York City, he is one of the founders of the Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode Island, and helped to establish the Pawtucket Arts Collaborative. He maintains a private studio practice and exhibits regularly with the Providence Arts Club, creating paintings, screen prints, and assemblages that explore composition and often stem from literature.

Regina Partridge is an artist working in pastels and as a printmaker using the monotype technique, which involves making a painting directly on a slab of plexiglass and transferring that painting to paper through a printing press. Working largely as a landscape artist, she explores color and depth with a variety of mark making and subtly. Her work is represented in many private collections, as well as in the publicly available collections of First City Bank in New Britain, Connecticut, Berkshire Partners in Boston, Massachusetts, and Cambridge Savings Bank in both Boston and Watertown, Massachusetts, among others. She has been published in a number of catalogues throughout  New England and internationally. Having received a Bachelors of Education, a Master of Education, and an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from the Rhode Island College, Partridge enjoys a comfortable and respected place in the Pawtucket arts scene as a partner in Studio Goddard Partridge, a printmaking studio located in the Armory Arts District.

Liz Pannell is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. With a background in graphics and painting, she has combined energies with James Watikins, also a graduate of RISD, in their venture called Peàn Doubulyu (P&W). Together, they create highly sought-after blown-glass vessels with a contemporary and colorful feel. Their products are sold in 28 states across the country.

Holding a BFA in sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design, where he studied in the 60’s, Kenneth Speiser claims as early influences such art giants as Robert Rauschenberg, Jim Dine, Claes Oldenburg, Dieter Roth, and Andy Warhol for their willingness to use mundane objects to create extraordinary artworks existing as something greater than the sum of their parts. Speiser has seen his share of personal successes, with work in the collections of the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, DeCordova Museum, Newport Art Museum, Hamilton College Art Museum, Fidelity Investments, the University of Rhode Island School of Oceanography, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Prudential Insurance, Hasbro Children’s Hospital, Rhode Island Hospital, the City of Miami, FL, the City of Providence, RI, the City of Cambridge, MA, and of course the City of Pawtucket, RI. Active in the Rhode Island arts community, Speiser worked as head of the RISD screen-printing department for three years and is a member of the Art League of Rhode Island Exhibition committee, the Art Selection Committee for Home and

Nancy Gaucher-Thomas is a figurative artist specializing in watercolor and drawing. She sees her media as a means to coming to a greater understanding of her subject matter, which varies from the figure to still life and landscape. As part of her artist statement, she writes, “My goal is to say as much as I can about my subject without saying it all so that it leaves the viewer to become an integral part of the painting.” Educated at the New York Phoenix School of Design and later at the Art Students League of New York, Gaucher-Thomas has studied with Paul Wood, Billie Samuelson, and Dorothy Watkeys Barberis, among many other renowned artists and teachers. After working in advertising as an art director, she started her own advertising design studio, Gaucher-Thomas Associates. She has exhibited in numerous national exhibitions up and down the east coast and from them received a number of awards. Gaucher-Thomas maintains an active schedule with a private studio practice and as a teacher. She is the founder and president emerita of the Art League of Rhode Island and makes her home in East Greenwich, Rhode Island.

Todd Stong

Sources:

http://riaaproject.blogspot.com/2012/07/in-studio-morris-nathanson.html
http://riverfrontlofts.wordpress.com/2011/06/09/morris-nathanson/
http://www.riverfrontloftsri.com/bio_des-02.html
http://www.morrisnathansondesign.com/
http://mimogordonriley.com/art/