The Well, Volume 1, 2024
~ 31 interviews with interesting people in and around Rhode Island ~
By Ben Sisto for Myrtle, a bar and venue in East Providence
The Well is currently on a seasonal break.
Kathy Fernandez Blunt (Kathy) knows how to live life. At 89 years young, she’s a beloved regular at Myrtle who loves to shares stories about her years as an Emmy-nominated news producer, touring tennis player, mother, and of travels around the world. We spoke with her at her home, just down the street in East Providence.
Sheida Soleimani (شیدا سلیمانی) is an Iranian-American artist, educator, and activist, as well as a federally licensed wildlife rehabilitator. Born in Indianapolis, she grew up in the 90s, raised as a Marxist atheist in the Bible Belt. Her parents arrived as Persian political refugees, having escaped oppression related to their pro-democratic activism during the ’79 Iranian Revolution. Since then, Sheida has become a widely respected artist and community organizer; she recently participated in a talk right here in East Providence, at Odd-Kin as part of the FABRIC Arts Festival. We talked about art, birds, and life.
Kara Stokowski is queer feminist artist and educator whose practice involves DJing, event production, music video creation, collage, and more. A passionate and radical youth arts educator, her work has inspired countless kids at The Beam Center in New York and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
Earlier this week, we were visiting the Providence Public Library and stumbled upon a new show by artist Lois Harada. Pied Type: Letterpress Printing in Providence, 1762–Today explores the history of commercial printing in Rhode Island, and will be on view through January 11, 2025. Locally known for starting the #RenameVictoryDay project, Harada’s larger practice references a range of histories, aesthetics, and ideas, from WPA Posters to Sci-Fi authors Butler and Bradbury.
Poetry is Sussy Santana’s main medium for creative expression. She makes "llamados," or "calls" to community members and artists collaborators to participate in collective performance. Santana is Project Manager for the Providence chapter of Arts for Everybody, author of Pelo Bueno y otros poemas (2010), RADIO ESL, a poetry cd (2012), and the chapbook Poemas Domésticos (2018) and in 2020, was the first Latina writer to win the MacColl Johnson Fellowship.
Penina Gal (they/them) and J.R. Uretsky (they/them) traveled from New York and California to find each other in Providence, RI. During the pandemic, a small home gym sparked a big idea, and now the duo’s putting their experience and energy into developing a queer/community gym called Muscle Brunch.
Ella Boissonnault is a guitarist and songwriter whose current project, Lady Pills, has performed just about everywhere—from DIY basement shows to SXSW; from Boston’s (soon returning!) Great Scott to Lollapalooza. Boissonnault’s songs—packed with fuzzy guitars, catchy hooks, and a kind of Butchies-era vibe—explore grief and loss as a means to foster strength and acceptance.
Lira Mondal Caufield Schnug met in the Arkansas music scene of the late 2000s, quickly becoming friends and writing partners. A decade later, a jam session in Boston gave birth to their current project, Sweeping Promises. You can catch them live on tour with Bikini Kill through September or, get your minimal, angular dance on this Saturday (September 7, 2024) with an intimate gig at Myrtle.
From The Rail Band’s heyday in the 1970s to Ali Farka Touré’s posthumous release Savane in the 2000s, the music of Mali has brought joy and delight to listeners worldwide. In Rhode Island, we're appreciative of local master djembe player, composer and producer Sidy Maïga, who celebrates the cultures of West Africa in schools and on stages across the Ocean State.
Matthew Lawrence and Jason Tranchida are an artist / curator duo who publish the journal headmaster, your go-to print magazine for sophisticated takes on art, culture, and man-loving. Born a decade apart and hailing from different parts of the country, they’ve come together to build an incredible creative partnership; their most recent work is the hybrid documentary, musical, and video installation Scandalous Conduct: A Fairy Extravaganza.
neal t. walsh is a painter, activist, and collector of things who serves as Gallery Director at AS220. This Thursday, August 15, 2024, neal has a solo show, Our Days are Weatherworn, on view at Galerie le Domaine, which is a quick hop over the Henderson bridge. In advance, we had a chat with neal about his life and practice. Photo by Violetta DiChiera-Walsh.
Virginia Thomas is the researcher and community organizer behind the RI BIPOC Trans Oral History Project. An extension of The Queer Stories Project at the Providence Public Library, the project seeks to fill a gap in the historical record of Rhode Island from the perspectives and with the priorities of those who lived this history.
For over two decades, Manya K. Rubinstein has been celebrating all things Providence. Her work with Outpost Journal helped bring critical media attention to the local art scene, and recently, she co-founded the Industrious Spirits Company (ISCO) which—despite being only a few years old—already feels like an Ocean State staple.
When you deboard an airplane, how do you locate baggage claim? When visiting a new grocery store, how do you find the Cape Cod chips? William (Bill) Galligan is a husband, father, and small business owner who thinks about these problems, a lot. His East Providence-based company, Wayfinder Collaborative, handles the design and installation of all manors of signage. While we might not find wayfinding signage designers doing keynotes at TED, their work is central to how we orient ourselves in increasingly complex built environments.
Dailen Williams is a lot of things: a self-taught musician, DJ, visual artist, and an educator. She is also an organizer experienced in starting arts organizations and community projects from scratch, with a special emphasis on designing and managing human-centered systems. Dailen’s latest big idea is Club: Club, a grass-roots educational platform where anyone can learn the basics of DJing and music production in a friendly, welcoming atmosphere.
If you want to meet Craig Spencer, look for a local watering hole with a decent whiskey selection and some live bluegrass. If he’s not there…suit up and travel to the heart of an infectious disease outbreak in Forécariah. By day, Spencer serves as an Associate Professor of the Practice of Health Services, Policy and Practice at Brown, and he approaches all things in life—be it learning the banjo or providing emergency medical assistances—with curiosity, focus, and a true respect for craft.
Stephen Mattos is a born-and-raised Rhode Islander, experimental music maker, and librarian. When not cycling or working on photography, he cooks and gardens with his wife, artist Alicia Renadette. Since the late 2000s he’s been performing under the moniker Chrome Jackson, and he’s got a new band playing out, THERE. Previously, Stephen was a founding member of acts like Arab on Radar, Athletic Automaton, and Doomsday Student.
Matthew Muller (he/him), is a designer, builder, and co-founder of Pneuhaus whose work balances adaptation, function, and lightness. In addition, Matt’s part of Below and Above Collective, a group of 6 artists and a botanist that build floating wetland sculptures to clean small water bodies.
Born and raised in North Providence, Keith McCurdy (he/they) is a songwriter and singer for the gothic folk ensemble Vudu Sister. Growing up in an artistic family, Keith spent time at Crescent Park and fairs around New England, picking up a wide range of interests along the way. They’re a French citizen, Romani, and a self-described Classicist who loves to dive deep into myth and lore.
Kate McNamara (she/her) is a curator, educator, art administrator, and mother based in Rhode Island. Kate wears many hats: running the East Providence exhibition space ODD-KIN, acting as Executive Director for the nonprofit My Home Court, and teaching at RISD and Sotheby's Institute of Art. We chatted about her journey from the 90s all ages ska scene in Boston to helping issue Warhol Foundation-funded grants via Interlace.
Candace Williams (they/them) is an interdisciplinary artist and continuous learner who nerds out about a lot of things. Their most recent collection of works, I AM THE MOST DANGEROUS THING, has received praise from Book Riot, Vogue, and Morgan Parker, among others. In the summer of 2020, Candace moved to Providence with their partner—educator and visual artist Laimah Osman—to take up a teaching job. We chatted via email.
Dan Boucher (he/him) is a musician, sound explorationist, busted-gadget-tinkerer, designer, and gardener who self-identifies as “old.” Across four decades, he’s been a major contributor to underground and experimental music in America, One of his projects, Neptune, has north of 20 releases and his label, Wrong Way recently got back together and played AS220, so we thought it’d be a nice time to check in and see what he’s up to.
Sleeping Turtle / Isaiah Johnson Bey is a Rhode Island-based musician, author, decolonization educator, and media personality. Sleeping Turtle's mixed ancestry—Indigenous American, Moorish (African), and European—informs a practice that explores psychedelic music, fantasy, history, and justice. Sleeping Turtle plays Myrtle on 7/28/24.
Küf Knotz is a producer, MC, and songwriter. Christine Elise is a harpist, vocalist, and music therapist. As a duo, their work truly offers something for everyone—fans of Dorothy Ashby, Joanna Newsom, and Grand Puba would leave a gig equally happy. Their practice combines studio recording, live performance, and community engagement, and we’re pleased to announce that the duo’s coming back to Myrtle on November 1st. Free show!
Coco Roy is an artist, musician, and filmmaker currently based in MetroWest, Boston. If you put Fred Schneider, Poly Styrene, and the city of Worcester in a blender, you kinda get a sense of the energy she’s bringing. Hands down one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet at a dive bar, in a parking lot, on set, or an Institute of Contemporary Art.
Leah Beeferman is an artist and educator working in digital photography, video, laser-etching, and related practices. Her work is concerned with how we relate to uncertainty—in our lives, in relation to climate change, and within the arts. While the practice has brought her from sandy deserts to Arctic archipelagos, for the past few years Rhode Island’s been home.
Claire Annette, aka Dr. Vince Dominguez, (he/they) is a multidisciplinary artist with a doctorate in music, specializing in woodwind performance, music education, and drag entertainment. They are the recipient of two 2023 RI Options Awards for Best Local Artist and Top Drag Performer, and are the first drag artist signed by the major classical music label, Henri SELMER Paris. This summer, Claire brings Ocean State energy to Dublin, Ireland, headlining the 2024 International Clarinet Association conference.
Micah Salkind (he/him) is an arts advocate, administrator, DJ, sound designer, cultural historian, and family man. He finds his connections to Rhode Island through its people, and “the way local communities nurture creativity and social wellbeing.” We talked about his journey from Kansas to the Ocean State, where he serves as Deputy Director of the Providence Department of Art, Culture, and Tourism.
McKenzie Sullivan is a Boston-based face and body painter who started her own company, Sully Paints, about a year ago. Visiting Providence often and co-hosting a monthly at Myrtle, she considers the area her second home.
Ryan Lee Crosby (he/him) is a human being, musician, husband, and caretaker of two dogs. His work blends Bentonia and North Mississippi blues styles, and at the time of this chat, he’s holding down a monthly at Myrtle.
Sam Bryan (she/they) is a dancer, event planner, producer, and Co-Director of Bimbology at Inspiria PVD. We walked about Covid, sex work, and getting by with support from awesome communities.
© Myrtle, 2024