Art&Newport aims to develop and host a series of city-wide visual arts presentations in Newport, Rhode Island.  It was inaugurated in the summer of 2017 with exhibitions and events, all free and open to the public, in Trinity Church, the Newport Art Museum, and the Redwood Library & Athenaeum.  

Art&Newport works closely with local institutions, the town of Newport, and its tourism board to educate and create programming that will make use of the city’s natural landscape and its history as a place for contemporary art and artists.  Although not called a festival, the model is George Wein’s Newport Jazz Festival, which since 1954, has brought in, and often introduced, the best and most avant-garde musicians of the time. Contemporary art, like jazz, is an international language that often deals powerfully and directly with the most pressing issues of our time.  It can challenge our assumptions, pushing us and opening our minds to new thinking about the future. The goal is to put Newport, with its unique institutions and natural riches, on the map as a place to learn about and share the ideas and visions that only art and artists can provide.

Art&Newport will build on and further establish our town’s reputation as a leading cultural destination.

      - Dodie Kazanjian