Founders and Inventors Who Shaped Our World
Inaugural Gather RI Portrait Gallery Exhibition
2025 — 2026
Founders and Inventors Who Shaped Our World is a declaration that women and gender expansive people are central to the story of human innovation.
Across centuries and geographies, from the ninth century to today, the 40-plus individuals featured here shaped the very contours of our shared world. Their tools were many: algorithms and poetry, patents and protest, healing, and invention.
Through newly commissioned portraits by Rhode Island-based artists and carefully curated reproductions, this exhibition honors their vision, ingenuity, and the ways they expanded what was thought possible. Each figure, in their field—science, medicine, education, art, activism, design—was not just building something new, but building something for others.
Artists
Amelia Rozear
AGONZA
Ariel Willis
Brett Day Windham
Coral Woodbury
Deb Hickey
Deborah Spears Moorehead
Elizabeth Duffy
Erin Lobb Mason
Eva Okrent
Heather Mcleod
Hili Slav
Jennifer Hrabota Lesser
Julie Jin Ghim
Keely O’Connor
Keri King
Kobe Jackson
Kristin Lamb
Malda Smadi
Patricia Jurkowski
Priscilla Carrion
Quinn Bryan
Sambodia
Selene Means
Shirley Bell
tommi parrish
Vessna Scheff
Victor Aguirre Williams
Victoria Guerina
Vic Xu
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Gather RI extends special thanks to:
Xander Marro and Pippi Zornoza (Dirt Palace) for creative and project management.
Sheila Palmer (189 Development) for administrative support.
Providence Picture Frame for framing, digitization, and installation.
Jurors: Edwige Charlot, Lois Harada, Anne Holland, and Kate McNamara.