The subjects interviewed for Underground Rhode Island were selected, among many possibilities, for several reasons. The eldest were likely to have been part or the "hip" scene around jazz and the Celebrity Club of the 1950s. More than a few had a connection with AS220 and its circle, at some time in the past. And the youngest members have been active in the Rhode Island arts scene, in one way or another, during the last twenty years or so. Not all are either "lost" or "unknown"; some of them have long been prominent. And yet they represent a self-consciously offbeat take on the mainstream culture of Middle America. They are "underground" even when "overground," part of a world more recognizable to Allen Ginsberg (or Bruce Springsteen) than the people in the White House or Wall Street. And they were intriguing to the students who chose to interview them.
You may expect to find a photo--not necessarily from the recent past--a short biography, a recording of the subject's own voice, a verbatim transcript of the interview, and links to related materials. Not all these are present for each interview--some are still being gathered (or recovered)--but they definitely represent a sense of a life and creative work within that life.
Ruth Frisch Dealy has lived and worked in Providence, Rhode Island for more than thirty-four years and is best known for her contribution in painting, specifically self-portraits and landscapes. After graduating from Cambridge public schools, Dealy studied at Rhode Island School of Design where she received her B.F.A. in Painting in 1971, and M.F.A. in Painting in 1973. She has received various grants, including a Regional Fellowship in Painting from the New England Foundation for the Arts/National Endowment for the Arts in 1994, and two Fellowships in Painting from the Rhode Island State Council for the Arts in 2000 and 2003.
© 2005