Gallery
The Gallery at Make Do Studios is available to rent for exhibitions, installations, photoshoots and events. We do not jury the programming or content.
The gallery offers approximately 1600 square feet of space. It is located on the second floor and is currently accessible only by stairs. View the gallery floor plan here and rental rates for 2026 here.
For more information about renting the gallery, to check availability, or to schedule a walkthrough, please contact gallery@makedostudios.org.
Current Exhibition
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Current Exhibition 〰️
Undoing a Knot
OPENING July 25, 6-9pm
ARTIST TALK July 29, 5pm
The Steel Yard and Make Do Studios are excited to announce the 2025-2026 Steel Yard Residents’ Summer Exhibition, Undoing a Knot, on display at 72 Tingley St, Providence, RI from July 25, 2026 through August 20, 2026.
Undoing a Knot opens with a reception on Saturday, July 25 from 6 pm to 9 pm. There will be an artist panel on Wednesday, July 29, with a reception at 5 pm and panel starting at 6 pm, as well as a closing reception on August 15 from 6 pm to 9 pm.
The gallery will be open to the public on Thursdays through Sundays during the exhibition run, or by appointment via email (residency@thesteelyard.org).
The exhibition features work by Julia Ambros, Chantel Bollinger, Dominik Cunningham, Prinshu Gautam, Nadia Nazar, and Alex Tum.
Past Exhibitions
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Past Exhibitions 〰️
A pop-up exhibition by Propel Gallery.
Thursday July 16: Gallery Night Providence
Friday July 17: Reception, 5 to 8pm
Saturday July 18: RISD welcome event, 3 to 5pm
We spend our lives negotiating how much to hold and how much to let go. Control can be steadying, the discipline that builds a life and the focus that finishes a thing. It can also become a cage, a grip so tight that nothing new gets in. Losing control can feel like falling, but it can also feel like flying, the moment we stop managing and start living. Art sits inside this same negotiation. It is made through deliberate choices and through accidents the maker never planned, and it can soothe us or unsettle us depending on which we need. This show holds both truths at once and asks where you stand between them.
Artists:
Derek Bernstein @derekbernsteinartist
John Buron @jburon
Rebecca Jenness @eco_urbanspaces_
Audrey King @audreykingpainting
Glenn Webber @glennwebberart
You’re Talking a lot but
You’re Not Saying Anything
May 21 - 24, 2026
Opening Reception
THURSDAY, May 21 from 7 to 9pm
ON View: May 22-24 12-2PM
Join us this upcoming Thursday, May 21st at @make_do_studios from 7-9pm for the opening reception of You’re Talking a lot but You’re Not Saying Anything: An exhibition dedicated to the art of nonsense.
Featured Artists:
Nadine Macapagal, Rafael Mediodia, Sky Beason, Sophia Shin, Sy Sebastien, Alexander Pink, Daisy Benardo, Em Chu, Inga Wilhelmy, Jisu Han Jung, Joaquin Godines, Khalil McKnight, Megha Nambiar, Natalia Engdahl, Tamar Chameides, Victoria Neyman, Yolanda Sun, Zixi Wang
Curatorial Team:
Nina Jeffries-El, Sara Parulekar, Punch Kulphisanrat, Mary-Elizabeth Boatey, Yeonjae Lee
Temporary Forever
May 7-May 13, 2026
by Lingyi (Ada) Hu
A RISD Glass MFA Thesis Exhibition
Opening Reception
May 7, 6:00–8:00 pm
Additional Viewings by appointment
Artist Talk
April 30, 6:00pm
New Eyes:
Art as Transformation
April 4 to 26, 2026
Opening Reception • Saturday, April 4, 4:00 to 7:00 PM
Open gallery hours Thursday through Saturdays 12-8pm
A Propel Gallery pop-up exhibition at Make Do Studios
Curated by Propel Gallery, this exhibition brings together four artists whose work transforms how we perceive the world. Grounded in Marcel Proust's meditation on the nature of discovery, the show asks what becomes possible when we learn to see differently.
Grace Taşel (figurative painting) @grace_tasel gracetasel.com
Michael Murphy (abstract expressionist painting) @murphy170 murphysoftmodernart.com
Tammy Bottner (abstracted landscape painting) @tammybottnerart tammybottnerart.com
John Trainor (found object assemblage sculpture) @coffeeinpawtucket
EVENT SCHEDULE
Opening Reception • Saturday, April 4, 4:00 to 7:00 PM
Cocktails by Little Bitte. Free and open to all.
Drink and Draw • Saturday, April 11, 3:00 to 5:00 PM
Led by artist Elise Dietrich.
Mindfulness Session • Sunday, April 12, 1:00 to 2:00 PM
Led by Helena Safran. A guided session among the works.
Gallery Night Providence • Thursday, April 16, 5:30 to 8:30 PM
RISD Alumni and Student Gathering • Saturday, April 18, 3:00 to 5:00 PM
An informal gathering connecting current RISD students with alumni.
Film Screening • Saturday, April 25, 6:00 to 8:00 PM
Closing Reception • Sunday, April 26, 2:00 to 4:00 PM
Free and open to all.
*Propel Gallery is an independent contemporary art organization facilitating an exhibition at the Make Do Studios Gallery in April.
Looking in All Directions
April 29 – May 5, 2026
by Abby Sunde
A RISD Glass MFA Thesis Exhibition
Opening Reception
April 30, 7:00–9:00 pm
Additional Viewings
Valley Open Studios May 2, 12:00–5:00 pm
or by appointment
Infinite Fetch
January 25 - March 14
Opening Reception: Sunday, Jan. 25, 2-4PM
Closing Reception: Saturday, Mar. 7, 4-6pm
Open gallery hours 11-2 on Saturdays during exhibition run
Infinite Fetch is an idealized oceanographic term describing how the circumpolar current, the strongest current on earth, is so powerful due to its lack of impediments. There are no land masses to stop its energy; the winds are allowed to blow, infinitely. This, in combination with the spiraling effect of currents which push the deep water up from the bottom of the ocean, makes this region of the Southern Hemisphere a unique window into the deep ocean.
The Infinite Fetch exhibition features artwork which transforms the research of participants on the NBP24-10, a research cruise which travelled through the Southern Ocean and parts of Antarctica in Fall 2024, and participants of the Vis-a-thon 2025 program at the Rhode Island School of Design. This art was made collaboratively by scientists, artists, designers, technicians, and researchers.
MEMBERS SHOW
MAKE DO STUDIOS MEMBERS SHOW
Reception: December 6th, 6PM-9PM
72 Tingley Street
Come help us celebrate a big year of becoming Make Do!
Work by studio members and shop keymembers:
Henry Brown, Ian Cozzens, Kara Dunne, Evan Farley, Alex Gonzalez, Lois Harada, Yasmine Hassan, Calvin Hubbard, Cranston Propulsion Laboratories, David Karoff, Martha Koch, Jazzmen Lee-Johnson, Haley MacKeil, Aaron McLaughlin, Anna McNeary, Ellen Rogers, Rena Rong, Edward Steffanni, and Sam Toler
Vibes will be jolly. Cocktails by Little Bitte.
DON'T MISS OUT.
Shifting Grounds
𝕊𝕙𝕚𝕗𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝔾𝕣𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕤:
𝕎𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝔽𝕒𝕦𝕝𝕥 𝕃𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕤 𝔹𝕖𝕔𝕠𝕞𝕖 𝔽𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕖𝕣𝕤
Opening: September 28 (Sun) 2-4 PM
On View: September 29–October 10 2-5 PM (except Mon)
@make_do_studios 72 Tingley St, Providence, RI
▫️What layers of memory remain inscribed in place?
▫️Where does locality begin to reform itself?
▫️Who speaks through the fault lines?
The exhibition begins at the site of rupture—where traces accumulate, identities overlap, and meanings slip through fractured ground. Here, locality is not fixed geography but layered terrain: eroded, displaced, and recomposed.
Rather than restoring place as origin, the participating artists engage in acts of recomposition—through sensation, memory, language, and material. In their work, rupture no longer signals collapse but becomes a generative frontier.
Participating Artists
@alivedadyuner.jewelry
@bdavissynergy
@mikegesty
@dcocozzastudios
@fedaeid
@lionpawlilly
@lendasock
@maha.mohan
@nadiahajiomar
@nahom.ghebredngl
@ntxoo.art
@_xuanlam
Team
Curated by @eunbyeol.e
Graphic Design: @thatruchika
Exhibition Design: @helenkwon98
Support
This project is supported by the SPUR Fund, awarded by the RISD Research Center.
FEVER BLOOM
Fior de la Cruz
Reception 10/24, 5:30-8:30pm
Artist talk 10/25, 12-2pm
FEVER BLOOM is a vibrant and glowing garden of color and emotion—exploring beauty, identity, and resilience amid the chaos of contemporary life.
Fior De La Cruz (b. 1997) is a Dominican-American emerging artist and creative based in Rhode Island. She graduated with a BS in Fashion Merchandising and Retail Marketing from Johnson & Wales University in 2019. Her work has been exhibited throughout New England, including the Providence Art Club, the Pitcher-Goff House, No Mind Gallery, and Spring Bull Gallery in Newport. In 2024, she was featured as a guest artist for Gallery Night Providence.
See more about Fior’s work and practice at their website and instagram pages.
LA CASA DE CARTAS
Saturday, November 8th, 5pm-9pm
This is a ticketed event. Buy tickets here
An exhibition based on the personification of loteria, while promoting Latinx culture & the importance of family archiving.
