Bristol Art Museum Explores the Art and Enduring Influence of Bannister and Sargent

 The Bristol Art Museum will host two October lectures exploring the work and legacies of artists Edward Mitchell Bannister and John Singer Sargent. Through a documentary screening, conversation, and close looking at paintings, the programs invite audiences to consider how artists shape the way we see their work and their times.
“A museum can do more than put art on the walls,” said Lynn Moran, Museum board member. “It can bring people together to look closely, ask questions, and learn something about the place they call home. These programs connect Bristol audiences with two very different American artists and the histories around their work. That kind of conversation is an important part of what the Bristol Art Museum contributes to our community and to visitors from across the region.”
In Bannister’s Footsteps: Art in History, Art in Social Justice, Art in Activism will take place Sun., Oct. 18, at 2 p.m. The program begins with a short documentary about the Bannister Community Art Project and the life of Edward Mitchell Bannister, a celebrated 19th-century Black painter from Providence. A panel discussion and audience conversation will follow, exploring his artistic achievements, his place in Rhode Island’s cultural history, and the contributions of his wife, Christiana Carteaux Bannister, an educator and entrepreneur.
Wayne Franklin, a Bannister Community Art Project committee member and Providence Art Club board member, will moderate. The panelists include Theresa Guzmán Stokes, executive director of the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society, and Ulli Ryder, who is leading an effort to restore Bannister’s historic gravestone in Providence’s North Burial Ground. The program is sponsored by Annie Castlenovo McMullen in memory of her mother, Providence Art Club artist Mary Castlenovo.
On Tues., Oct. 27, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., local art historian Jill Sanford will present Art For Your Mind: John Singer Sargent – An American Legacy. Looking closely at paintings from across Sargent’s career, participants will explore how his subjects and techniques evolved, from society portraits to informal watercolors. Sanford’s Art For Your Mind programs welcome artists and non-artists alike and encourage participants to see familiar works in new ways. The Sargent lecture is hosted by the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and the Museum.  
Preregistration for both lectures is kindly requested at [email protected]