• Lyza Baum’s work as a textile and interdisciplinary artist is dependent on the context of the place and community which surrounds her, often addressing the personal and collective relationships to our built and natural environment.

POD alumni spotlight

  • MECA, BFA Painting ‘24

    Kalyah is a Cape Verdean artist from Pawtucket, RI, studying painting at the Maine College of Art & Design. Her work is bold and colorful with repetitive diaristic imagery. These repeated images range from crosses to flowers to spontaneous scribbles. Kalyah loves exploring mediums and concepts and creating intuitive and honest work.

  • RIC, BFA Printmaking ‘25

    Alia a multidisciplinary artist currently working towards a BFA in Printmaking at Rhode Island College. She works primarily in intaglio and relief printmaking, traditional drawing, and collage. Alia's work centers around an interest in historical machismo imagery and comments on the absurdity of patriarchal gender associations by applying it to hyper-masculine activities and symbols through a lens of humoring the contextually "undesirable" yet present femininity.

  • RISD, BFA Painting ‘24

    Naylea Hernández is a Dominican-American painter and papier-mâché artist born and based in Providence, Rhode Island. Passionate about visual storytelling, narrative pieces, and teaching, her work focuses on the ways we honor our community, love, life, and death. 

  • RIC BFA Printmaking, BA Graphic Design ‘20

    Hannah a multidisciplinary artist based in Providence. She comes from a family of artists and has been making art in some capacity for as long as she can remember. Her passion for illustration lead her to pursue a double major in Printmaking (BFA) and Graphic Design (BA) at Rhode Island College.

  • Kendel is a Rhode Island-based artist whose work in portraiture has become a well-known feature in the Providence community. In this residency, Kendel focused his work on five faces of local artists, creators and leaders using translucency, light and the mirrored reflection of self. He explores these portraits using spraypaint and works free-hand without projection, grids or other orienting strategies.

  • USC, MFA Animation ‘21

    Dariel is a story board and comic book artist originally from Puerto Rico. Cartoons and anime have inspired his interest in comics, art, and design. He received a BFA in Illustration from RISD and an MFA in Animation from the University of Southern California. Daniel currently works as a Production Assistant for Futurama.

  • RISD, BArch ‘19

    Vuthy is an architectural designer & fine artist based in the Westend of Providence, Rhode Island. Their practice cycles between language, drawing and making to create tools for negotiating cultural trauma.

  • RIC, BFA Printmaking ‘20

    Sandra received her BFA in Printmaking from Rhode Island College. Her work is influenced by one-point and two-point perspective, using straight lines and interior spaces.

  • RISD, BFA Apparel ‘17

    Jamall is an emerging fashion designer based in NYC. His work explores topics such as race, identity, and gender to challenge stereotypical notions. His collections have been shown at New York Fashion Week and New England Style Week, as well as in prominent features in i-D, Vice, and Paper, and CFDA Fashion Future Graduate. He was also a contestant on Project Runway.

  • NYU, BFA Photography ‘25

    Jada is a Queer, Trans, Afro-Carribean photo artist and community organizer born and raised in Providence. Jada's work often explores topics such as love, memory, Blackness, and the idea of reimagination.

  • RISD, BFA Illustration ‘16

    Jordan is a fine artist, illustrator, and teacher currently living in western Oregon. He graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in 2016. Jordan taught an acrylic landscape painting class with POD in Summer 2021.

  • RISD, BFA FAV & Sculpture ‘25

    Josa is pursuing a BFA in Film/Animation/Video and Sculpture. Their work explores notions of vulnerability as they examine personal experiences, re-contextualize memories, and share them as a means of catharsis.

  • Molly Brown, also known as Deadlymelodic, is an aspiring creature designer, having been influenced by art books for her favorite games from a young age.

  • MassArt, BFA Industrial Design ‘20

    Sina is a Cambodian-American artist and designer who completed her undergraduate studies at MassArt with a BFA in Industrial Design and a minor in sculpture.

  • Brianna Rose Brooks received their BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and their MFA in Painting from the Yale School of Art in New Haven in 2021. Their work investigates themes of black representation, love and vulnerability as they continually shift through public and private memory and thought.

  • Pamela Fernandez is a Providence-based interdisciplinary artist. Immigrating at a young age from the Dominican Republic her cultural identity and idea of home have been created from fragments pieced together from lived experiences, familial stories and media.

  • Nigerian-American filmmaker Temilola Matanmi was born in Providence RI, Before spending time back and forth living with family in Lagos. At the age of eight, Temilola made his permanent return to the United States. To the dismay of teachers, he cured his boredom by sketching his diverse experiences on the margins of his textbooks, which soon developed into a passion for drawing and a desire to see his art move. Eventually, his artistic endeavors brought him to study at his hometown art school the Rhode Island School of Design, which bolstered his love of traditional character animation and its tactility while simultaneously sparking a newfound obsession with live-action cinematography and visual film techniques. Today his filmmaking practice and art explores his culture & blackness, abstraction, social commentary, class dynamics, character, and camera movement.

  • RISD, BFA Illustration ‘22

    Abenda is a multidisciplinary Liberian artist currently based in Providence, Rhode Island. His artwork explores the intersections and intimacy of memory, Liberian identity, and archives pertaining to Liberia’s history and his family’s immigration experiences.

  • RISD, MA TLAD ‘24

    Elizabeth Alice-Isam Jweinat (Lizzy Sour) is a Providence-born artist with Jordanian roots, whose work transforms public spaces into vibrant, abstract canvases. Her distinctive style, developed from a lifelong love of freehand drawing, blends shape, color, and typography into a unique visual language. A Rhode Island School of Design graduate, community organizer, and mentor, Lizzy is dedicated to supporting marginalized artists and fostering creative expression in the next generation. Through her murals, sculptures, and diverse artistic mediums, she weaves together her Middle Eastern heritage and the dynamic spirit of her city.

Alumni ambassador members

  • Desmond Andrews

  • Kalyah Boaventura

  • Adrian Cabrera

  • Victor Camargo

  • Julie Cheeks

  • Avari Escobar

  • Francy Hinds

  • Bellie Karpee

  • Shiloh Lemaire

  • Jaz Means

  • Vethlie Milcette

  • Temilola Matanmi

  • Tyson Noka

  • Luka P.

  • Mars Ramos

  • Juana Rodriguez

  • Mimi Smith

  • Olivia Smith

“POD has been a life changing experience and helped me grow so much! It's a beautiful community and learning environment and I’m so grateful I was a part of it.”         


— Gio C., POD Alumni