Just about a year ago, the North Burial Ground cemetery’s most-visited gravesite was burglarized when two copper medallions were stolen from the memorial of Edward Mitchell Bannister, a prominent Black artist who resided in Providence throughout the late 1800’s. On February 27th, 2025, two community leaders and kickass women, Ulli Ryder and Victoria Gao, reignited the artist’s legacy as they hosted a fundraising event to support the restoration of the two stolen medallions. Read on to learn more about the modern and historical women behind the Bannister saga and how you can support their mission to restore this vital piece of local history.
The gallery was dedicated to Edward Bannister in 1978, on the 150th anniversary of Bannister’s birth. And in 2018, curator Dr. Victoria Gao began overseeing the space and its exhibits. Dr. Gao expressed that honoring the artist’s legacy does not mean blindly filling categories with diverse artists, but rather it means finding artwork that is informed by identity.
She referenced the Gallery Night kickoff event’s exhibition with award-winning artist RaMell Ross, a visual arts photographer at Brown University and director of Nickel Boys. His exhibition focused on exploring Black identity through quiet, intimate photos in the Alabama South. Dr. Gao appreciates how these kinds of projects offer an authentic and novel artistic experience that she can share with her students and the community through Bannister’s gallery. She also highlighted the importance of displaying a diverse array of artists and artforms that confront viewers with bold subject matter and does not pigeonhole any one artist or piece into a general category.
Dr. Gao appreciates how these kinds of projects offer an authentic and novel artistic experience that she can share with her students and the community through Bannister’s gallery. She also highlighted the importance of displaying a diverse array of artists and artforms that confront viewers with bold subject matter and does not pigeonhole any one artist or piece into a general category. Dr. Ulli Ryder’s connection to the medallions restoration project is a bit more personal and begins in 1976 when her father, Mahler B. Ryder, led the design campaign to replace the same copper medallions after a previous burglary.
Mahler B. Ryder not only led the commission to replace Bannister’s medallions in the 1970’s, he was also an esteemed faculty member at the Rhode Island School of Design and was a founding member of the Studio Museum in Harlem. RISD still hosts events to celebrate Ryder’s contributions as a designer and an educator, and you can see his work featured on the RISD website today. Dr. Ulli Ryder continues in her efforts to carry both of these weighty legacies, as she led a talk at the Gallery Night Kickoff event titled Mahler B. Ryder and Edward M. Bannister: Bound by Art and Activism in which she discussed her father’s connection to the Bannister legacy and their impact on the PVD art scene overall.
Background on Bannister
To better contextualize the importance of Dr. Gao and Dr. Ryder’s work, let us take a trip through history (or Market Square if you’d like to see Bannister’s statue). A local legend known for his triumphant career as an artist and passionate activism as an abolitionist, Bannister is one of the most prominent Black landscape painters of the 19th century. While Edward Bannister’s artwork did not directly depict scenes of political upheaval or abolitionist reform, his career most certainly paved the way for the dozens of Black artists now living and working in Providence and beyond.
Bannister’s landscape paintings are a prime example of why Black artwork is inherently political. One of the painter’s chief motivations to succeed was the following bigoted quote from an 1867 edition of the New York Herald – “the Negro seems to have an appreciation for art while being manifestly unable to produce it.” Less than 10 years later, Bannister became the first Black artist to win the nationally recognized 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. The judges were resentful when they matched the anonymous landscape piece Under the Oaks with the Black artist, and they attempted to confiscate the award when they discovered Bannister’s race. It was only to prevent the remaining artists from pulling their artwork from the exposition that the judges decided to honor Bannister’s accomplishment. Through a lifetime and career dedicated to creativity and activism, Bannister molded the modern community of artists in Rhode Island and is an enduring symbol of Black excellence and artistry.
Madame Christiana Carteaux: The Bannister in The Background
Despite the collection of galleries, memorials, and statues honoring Edward Bannister throughout Rhode Island, the artist was adamant that none of his success would have been possible without his badass abolitionist and socialite wife, Christiana Carteaux Bannister. An equally impactful activist and community leader during this time period in New England, Christiana owned a highly profitable hair salon in Providence that would free Edward from working in order to pursue his career as an artist. Although Christiana is most-known for funding Edward Bannister’s artwork, she allocated her wealth across a variety of abolitionist movements throughout the region that would ultimately change the course of history. In 1890, she opened the Home for Aged and Colored Women, providing care for elderly Black women who were barred from entering segregated nursing homes. CarteauxBannister also supported the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, one of the first all-Black regiments in U.S. history. Not only did Christiana fight for equal pay on behalf of these Black soldiers, but she also supported their wives and eventual widows throughout the Civil War.
Together, Christiana and Edward Bannister combined their talents to bolster the abolitionist cause in New England through the arts. For instance, Edward Bannister painted a portrait of Robert Gould Shaw, a commander of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment who died in action. The Bannisters then donated the painting to raise money for the abolitionist movement.
Support the Bannister Legacy!
To assist Dr. Ulli Ryder and Dr. Victoria Gao on their mission to honor Bannister’s legacy, you can donate to the Bannister Grave Restoration Fund by mailing checks to the Rhode Island Historical Society (110 Benevolent Street Providence, RI 02906). Any amount is appreciated and will be a symbol of your contribution to the rich history of artistic activism in PVD. •
