In the Exhibit: An After Church Gathering to Honor Annye Raye Pitts

475 Valley St,Providence RI 02908

15 August, 2021

Description

Gather together in the exhibit in honor of Annye Raye Pitts - enjoy fruit cobbler and Granny Squibb's tea. Wear your hats for Annye! Contributions to the Annye Raye Pitts Memorial Scholarship Fund are welcomed at the door. Wear your hats for Annye! A special thanks to our sponsor, Granny Squibb's. This WFAC program is part of exhibition related programming presented by WaterFire Providence in association with the current exhibition at the WaterFire Arts Center, “EYE TO EYE Photographs and Projects MARY BETH MEEHAN” and “ANNYE RAYE PITTS: WITNESS” an installation by Mary Beth Meehan and Jonathan Pitts-Wiley, open until August 22, 2021. For a full listing of programming visit, waterfire.org/eyetoeye-programming. The program is funded in part by the Rhode Island Foundation. Presented in cooperation with Leadership Rhode Island. (exhibition photographs above by Elaine Fredrick) ABOUT ANNYE RAYE PITTS: WITNESS Rich with public and personal history that offers a look into the past and serves as timely commentary on the present, ANNYE RAYE PITTS: WITNESS is an over seven decade chronicle of American life through the eyes of the late Annye Raye Pitts, a community activist, educator, and singer who, in 1959, left the oppression of her hometown of Montgomery, Alabama, to seek freedom and opportunity for herself and her children in Providence, Rhode Island. Created by acclaimed photographer Mary Beth Meehan and Ms. Pitts’ grandson, photographer and storyteller Jonathan Pitts-Wiley, ANNYE RAYE PITTS: WITNESS explores a captivating swath of American history through the eyes, words, and personal effects of a daughter of the Great Migration. This exhibition centers around the thoughts, meditations, and critical observations of a woman who both embraced and challenged American realities and the notion of the American Dream. “Beyond being a fashionable and active member of her community, my grandmother was an engaged historian, documentarian and citizen. It has been such an honor and a pleasure to work with Mary Beth in using these artifacts and personal effects to celebrate my grandmother’s incredible journey from Alabama to Rhode Island.” said Jonathan Pitts-Wiley. (exhibition photograph above by Matthew TW Huang) ABOUT THE EXHIBIT WaterFire Providence presents EYE TO EYE Photographs and Projects Mary Beth Meehan at the WaterFire Arts Center (WFAC), an exhibition of work from all four of Mary Beth Meehan’s most recent in-depth projects – from Brockton, Massachusetts, to Providence, Rhode Island, to Newnan, Georgia, to her newest project and book on Silicon Valley, California. A collaborative installation, ANNYE RAYE PITTS: WITNESS an installation by Jonathan Pitts-Wiley and Mary Beth Meehan will be on display in the Visitor Center Gallery. This exhibition will be at the WFAC from Wednesday, June 30 – Sunday, August 22, 2021. (exhibition photograph above by Jared Winslow) The WaterFire Arts Center is available for your next event! From Galas and Weddings to Business Lunches and Town Hall Meetings, we can make your event in Providence a success. Initially built in 1929 for the US Rubber Company as a multi-purpose manufacturing facility, WaterFire Providence completed renovation of the WaterFire Arts Center in the summer of 2017.