Winners
Grades K-2
Grades 3-5
Grades 6-8
Grades 9-12
View Submissions Gallery
Running from April 5 through April 29, with a Gallery Night on April 15th, Ocean View includes artworks in all media from 25 area professional artists and a youth art competition with more than 200 artworks by Rhode Island K-12 students exploring the many ways in which we are all connected to the ocean. The artwork explores the ocean as a place in constant flux, a source of food and the oxygen we breathe, with its dramatic character and an unknown future facing global change.
Gallery Information
The URI Providence Campus Gallery is located at 80 Washington Street, 1st and 2nd floor lobby gallery.
Tour Hours: Thursday and Fridays every half-hour from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., and on Gallery Night from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., in small groups, please enter from 255 Westminster Street.
Hours may vary due to COVID-19 restrictions. Visiting the exhibit will require wearing a mask, other policies apply in accordance with university policies.
Winners
The winners of the Ocean View Art Competition will be announced during a live streamed event on Tuesday, April 27th at 10:30 am. This event will take place on GSO’s Facebook and YouTube. The stream will be archived on this page following the event.
Prizes
Three winners from each of the four divisions will receive the following prizes:
- First prize: $150 cash, $50 gift card to local art store, ocean science-themed book
- Second prize: $100 cash, $50 gift card to local art store, ocean science-themed book
- Third prize: $50 cash, $50 gift card to local art store, ocean science-themed book
These twelve award-winning original pieces of artwork will be framed and showcased on the URI Narragansett Bay Campus for a year after the April showing concludes.
Judges
We have the pleasure of working with three Rhode Island artists and art educators as judges for the Ocean View Art Competition.
Maggie Anderson is the Arts in Education Director of the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, a position she has held since January 2018. Anderson manages the Arts Council’s education-based programs and services, with an emphasis on working with state and community-based partners to ensure that all kids have access to quality arts education. In Spring 2018, Ms. Anderson was also appointed Rhode Island’s representative to SEADAE (State Education Agencies Directors of Arts Education). Ms. Anderson graduated from Pratt Institute with a master’s degree in Arts and Cultural Management.
Barbara Pagh is a printmaker and papermaker who is a Professor Emerita of Art at the University of Rhode Island. Pagh is a founding member of the Printmakers’ Network of Southern New England. She has been a member of Hera Gallery in Wakefield since 1985 and serves on the Board of Directors. She served as coordinator of the Rhode Island Visual Arts Sea Grant program until 2015.
A figurative colorist who skillfully utilizes color, depth, and design, Monique Rolle-Johnson’s trademarks are etched in her artistic flamboyance and rich, ethnic heritage. Affectionately penned, “The Artistic Diva,” her talents range from drawing, to printmaking, illustration to her signature bold paintings, and interior designs to curatorial oversight. Rolle-Johnson holds 25 years as a consummate educator instructing through curricula, life skills, and aspirational mentorship.
Theme
What does the ocean mean to you as a Rhode Islander? With its hundreds of miles of coastline and Narragansett Bay extending through its center, Rhode Island is known as the Ocean State. Beyond its connection to the marine environment, Rhode Island also has a booming “blue economy,” and coastal and ocean resources are important to the state’s economic well-being.
This competition and exhibition explores the many ways in which we are all connected to
the ocean. As the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2021, we want to know: What is your ocean story?
Use the prompts below to inspire your art piece.
- The ocean is part of everyone’s life, whether you can walk to the water or you’ve never visited the shoreline. The air you breathe, food you eat and the things you use every day all depend on the ocean. In what ways do you connect to the sea? How might our relationship with the ocean change in the future?
- Underwater or above the water, how do you explore the ocean? What do you think the future of ocean exploration looks like?
- Do you remember the first time you saw the ocean? What are you memories of what you saw, heard or felt? What questions were you inspired to ask?
- The ocean is dynamic with tides, weather and and other conditions all changing its look and feel. How do you view these changes—what are the colors, what are the patterns?
Eligibility
Rhode Island students in grades kindergarten through 12th are eligible to apply. Original artwork will be judged in four divisions:
- Grades K-2
- Grades 3-5
- Grades 6-8
- Grades 9-12
Winners from the four divisions will receive prizes to support their artistic development and ocean interest.
Rules
To participate in the competition and exhibition, a completed commitment form must be submitted by March 1st.
Artist’s statement: all submissions must include a maximum 100-word statement that provides information on how you interpreted the theme through your artwork.
Each participants may submit one, original two-dimensional piece including but not limited to:
- Drawing & Illustration
- Painting
- Mixed media and collage
- Photography
Visual art submissions can be no larger than 24” x 36”. Original artwork must be submitted, digital or copies of artwork will not be accepted.
Questions? Email agingras@uri.edu