Hello, I’m John Caserta, founder and director of The Design Office. I want to welcome all of you here… particularly newcomers. Bathroom and fire exits? The Office is coming up upon 10 years, and has for the past five has hosted events that foster meaningful conversation and mingling amongst designers and related fields. One topic of interest here has been the city of Providence, itself. I was pleased to see Mary Beth’s work become part of the city – at city scale – uncommon – quite a different experience than seeing photography in snapchat or instagram. The series captures the best of our fellow citizens and places them high up for all to see.
Lynne McCormack, former Director of the City of Providence Department of Art, Culture + Tourism writes, “our goal in working with Mary Beth on this project was to set the table for a conversation about race that comes from a place of dignity and grace.”
The intention tonight is to host a conversation about the project with the photography community. This is why I asked peers of Mary Beth to lead the discussion … Thad Russell and Jo Sittenfeld … both teach photography at RISD, and both have been active practitioners and photographic citizens here in Providence. As moderators, they have questions and the interest to guide the discussion.