​Chazan Gallery at Wheeler is a nonprofit artists' space which exhibits a wide range of contemporary work by artists living or working in the area. Providence is a city with a very large community of artists, and the gallery provides an excellent space for these artists to exhibit their work. Through an open jury process, the gallery shows work from among the strongest artists in the area in a series of varied and interesting exhibitions each year. Bill Van Siclen, the former Providence Journal's art editor, has called the gallery "a model of quality and consistency. The artists have been among the best the state has to offer." Located on the East Side of Providence near Brown University and RISD, the gallery is totally supported by Wheeler School, a gift to the Providence arts community from the school.*

 

Exhibitions: The gallery is open to all area artists working in any medium. A "call for proposals" is sent out every other Fall and regular exhibitions are juried by a panel that awards five to six shows each year. All proposals are reviewed anonymously. The jury includes local artists, curators and art educators and its composition changes each year. Special curated exhibitions are also scheduled and are fully funded by the Chazan Gallery.

 

Gallery History: The present gallery was completed as part of the school's new library building in 1990. Sue Carroll was the director from that year until her retirement in the Spring of 2013. The gallery's new director is Liz Kilduff. Prior to 1990 a smaller gallery was housed in a building on the same site; Gertrude Pardee was its director since its founding in 1969. In 2007 Wheeler re-named its gallery in recognition of Dr. Joseph Chazan's long-standing and generous commitment to the arts at Wheeler, including the gallery and, at that point, his support of the Public Art Initiative. His support for the arts extends all the way back to his time as a Wheeler Trustee in the 1970s.

 

*Wheeler School was founded in 1889 by Mary C. Wheeler, an American Impressionist painter. The gallery has always been an important teaching resource for the school and an extension of its strong art program. Students view the exhibitions, write about the shows and have the opportunity to meet the artists during gallery talks. The exhibitions are an integral part of the School's art curriculum and are also well attended by classes from RISD, Brown, and RIC, as well as the larger arts community in the Providence area.

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