Our first program takes a comprehensive view of The Ocean State arts scene. We'll hear from Rhode Island State Council on the Arts staff members, including Executive Director Randall Rosenbaum, Education Program Director Sherilyn Brown, Grants and Communication Manager Elizabeth Keithline, and Steven Feinberg, Director of Rhode Island's Film & TV Office.

We meet furniture craftsman Timothy Philbrick of Narragansett whose work can be found at museums around the world, including the MFA in Boston and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. We’ll also hear from new rap Raymond Watson of Providence, who has produced a music video to get out the vote.

Artscape host Bob Seay visits the home of the Rhode Island Philharmonic and Carter Center for Music Education in East Providence; and a preview of another Gallery Night in Providence

This month's Rhode Island Artscape features our performing arts critic Bill Gale talking with former Trinity Rep artistic director Oskar Eustis now at the Public Theater in New York.

Listen to an extended version of our conversation with Ricardo Pitts-Wiley, playwrite and artistic director of Mixed Magic Theater in Pawtucket.

This month on Rhode Island Artscape  - how local theaters are exploring black history this February. Trinty Rep is staging the black theater classic "Raisin in the Sun" and helping local teachers develop strategies for their classrooms.

Also, a conversation with Ricardo Pitts-Wiley, the artistic director of Mixed Magic Theater in Pawtucket, and the author of a new play that reflects on the civil rights movement.

We start on location at a teachers workshop in Providence...

Web Extra: Hear an extended interview with Ricardo Pitts-Wiley

This month we discuss the future of the Newport Jazz and Folk Festivals with the festival founder George Wein, and Bill Gale reports on the work and history of 2^nd Story Theater in Warren.

Bob Seay visits the Everett Dance Theater in Providence and talks with co-artistic director Aaron Jungles about their new multimedia theater piece. "Silas the Teenager" is inspired by Jungle's relationship with his autistic 16 year old nephew.

This month's Rhode Island Artscape features the Everett Dance Theater of Providence and their latest multimedia production "Silas the Teenager" about a boy with autism. Bob Seay previews the production and interviews its creator Aaron Jungels.

For this month's Rhode Island Artscape we turn to a major artists who had emerged from the city of Central Falls.  Anyone who has seen the film doubt can not forget about the riveting performance of Viola Davis.  WRNI's Bob Seay visits Viola's sister, Deloris Grant, who teaches acting at Central Falls Highschool. 

On this month's edition of Rhode Island Artscape, we profile a local artist who recovered a treasured diary lost in the nineteen eighties and turned it into a uniquely personal piece of art. Correspondent David Golann has the story.

Providence is known internationally as a center for glass art, thanks to Dale Chihuly, renowned as the most inventive glass sculptor in the history of the medium - and the program he created at Rhode Island School of Design in the 1970's. Many graduates have gone on to distinguish themselves in the art world, often working with glass in ways much different than those of the renowned Chihuly. One of them is Daniel Clayman, who works out of a 12,000 square foot factory building in East Providence.

The theater can be a very tenuous proposition.  That's why it's notable when an acting troupe lasts for 25 years.  Now in Pawtucket, the Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre has done just that.  Bill Gale has a look at the past and present of a Rhode Island theatrical winner.

As part of our One Square Mile: Focus on Newport reporting series, Bob Seay spends some time with Newport gallery owner William Vareika.

Vareika has a story to tell about John LaFarge, the multi-talented and influential artist based in Newport in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Take a look at some of LaFarge's stained glass.

Images courtesy of William Vareika Fine Arts

Natural disasters are not usually seen as subjects for the musical stage. But, then, there was "Titanic" on Broadway and in film. Now being worked on in New York, there's another idea for an improbable production. But it is centered in Rhode Island. Bill Gale has the story

There are working artists, and then there are artists who work so they can create their art. You will find them everywhere, especially in Providence. Our special Arts Correspondent Marina Windels introduces us to one of them: C.W. Roelle.

On this month's edition of Rhode Island Artscape, we hear readings and an interview with the Rhode Island Black Storytellers.

By MARTINA WINDELS -- Currently on view at the RISD Museum of Art is a 40 year retrospective of drawings by artist Pat Steir.  Mostly known for her large paintings, this exhibition, titled "Drawing out of line" focuses on Steir's drawings.