Marietta Cleasby

Professionally, I taught business subjects in Central Falls High School while Robert was a music teacher at Smithfield High School. After we had 3 children, I taught art to others’ children in my home for several years. In 1988 I was hired as Arts Coordinator and teacher of drawing and painting at Rhode Island’s Adult Correctional Institution. That was a challenging career because it was like living in a foreign country; I had to learn my student-inmates’ language and values. This lasted 32 years and ending in retirement only because of the pandemic.

At the ACI, not only did I have classes but I also produced an annual art show for the inmate artists at the Atrium Gallery across from the State House at One Capitol Hill (a collaboration between the State Arts Council and the State Department of Administration). That was my way of giving my students a way to communicate another side of themselves to the community. The inmates would think and work all year on what they wanted to say to those who viewed their work. The work was strong, often introspective, and the artistic expression often moved those who saw it. What meant the most to the artists were the comments made each year by visitors to that show who never imagined that such talent might come out of a prison.

Artist's Statement

For my husband, music is his passion (Robert is the music director for Martha’s Vineyard Tabernacle). Mine has always been art. Although my father

said I had to do something to make money, it was art I loved.

It is never work for me to create, which may surprise some people because of the hours involved. For instance, many mornings at 6 AM I photographed from the old I-195 bridge in Providence before it was torn down and replaced in a different location. I was taking photos of this view but also the content of the shadowed areas. When I finally put all this together, it took 60 hours of watercolor painting.

The last touches were in the wash on the water and the reflections. It is important to remember that reflections only exist in the middle values. That means the light colors in the buildings become a bit darker in the reflection and the darker colors become lighter. This painting was completed in 2010 and, like my other paintings, will live long after my words.

The Illumination is a celebration on Martha's Vineyard which started during the China trade in the 1860's. No one knows the purpose of it but what happens has always been the same. The audience in the Tabernacle has a "sing" for an hour led by the Music Director (who is my husband).

Then the lights are turned off everywhere, and the Ceremonial Lantern (which I painted) is lit by an important resident.

It is carried up the aisle and when it appears outside the building, it is a signal to light all the lanterns on the cottages. There are many thousands of people visiting the Illumination every year.

Rhode Island

Martha’s Vineyard