CitiArt Collection

In the mid-1970s, a group of Providence-based artists and arts professionals coalesced around efforts to create a nonprofit advocacy organization for local artists. In October of 1976, CitiArt: The Union of Rhode Island Artists was chartered. CitiArt was an incorporated organization with a structure which sought to allow the membership to determine the functions of the group as a whole. According to a statement included in the first issue of Citiartnews, a free periodical produced by the organization beginning in 1977, “CITIART [was] designed to help the individual artists who are economically and professionally isolated from their communities and have few outlets for visibility.” The aims of CitiArt were manifold and included advocating for artists rights and fair practices, as well as for more gallery and performance spaces in the downtown area. In addition, the group worked to connect artists with professional legal and tax information, supplied job listings, and provided members with access to a group health insurance plan. Most ambitiously, the group hoped to develop a community space encompassing an entire building, with artists studios, offices, exhibit rooms, and a performance venue, called the CitiArt Center Downtown. Though this enterprising community space did not come to fruition, a great deal of CitiArt’s activities were centered around Gallery 383, a building where many local artists had studio spaces. In about 1981, CitiArt’s charter expired and was not renewed.