Hello,

My name is Ben Sisto, I’m an artist in Providence, R.I. working with people, places, and things. I run OPEN at 50 Sims in Valley, where I’m also Manager of Events and Community Programs. I also organize Awesome Foundation Rhode Island. Other / older things are on this Projects page——art, loose ideas, past gigs, etc. There’s also this Event History page (sort-of complete) going back to the 2000s. Below is mostly 2021 — present day.

Thanks for stopping by,
Ben (Email)

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Upcoming or On Now (my things, or related)

+ Open Valley, November 7, Valley, Providence
+ When Would You Like to Turn Into a Pumpkin?, through Nov 9 at OPEN
+ Star Dot Star, RISD Fleet Library, Aug 24-Dec 13, 2026
+ Do it Again!, The Gallery at Make Do Studios, October 15–?
+ reharvest/repair at the PPL, October 17–Dec 1

Recent Grants & Awards

+ RI Humanities, 2025
+ RISCA, 2024
+ RI Humanities, 2023
+ Art, Culture, and Tourism, 2023
+ RI Humanities, 2022

Committees & Community

+ Awesome Foundation Rhode Island
+ RISD Unbound, 2025, 26
+ Panelist, RISCA, 2024
+ Panelist, RI Humanities, 2023

Other Curatorial, Editorial, Project-based

+ Open Valley, Valley, Providence, RI, 2026
+ The Well, East Providence, RI, 2024
+ Permanent Collection, PVD, 2022–23
+ atac, Framingham, MA, 2022–2023

DJ Sets and Mixes

+ Soft Opening DJ night, E.P, RI, 2024–2025
+ ProviDance (guest mix), 2024
+ Arquivo Tony Sonto, Myrtle, 10.05.25
+ Droll Yankees set, Myrtle, 04.19.25
+ Jeremy Earl, Dan Higgs, DJ Ben Sisto, AS220, 03.24.25
+ Extended Play, Myrtle, 06.20.24

Websites for Artists

+ Providence Commemoration Lab
+ DJ Dayglow
+ Michael Beresford
+ Dennis Byrnes

Exhibiting, Talking

+ Various Talks, PechaKucha, Providence, 2022–
+ Getting Warmer, East Manning Projects, Providence, 2026
+ Bait/Switch: Affect & Cause, Boston, 2025
+ September, various local shows, 2023-2024
+ Roger Free Library works, Bristol, RI, 2023
+ Reinsulator Reading Room, Providence Public Library, 04.20.24
+ Rhode Island QSL Archive, AS220, 2023
+ QUERI, Dye House, Providence, 2022
+ Inside/Out, Warwick Center for the Arts, 2022
+ Boundaries, 6 Bridges Gallery, Maynard, MA, 2022

Press / As Seen In (since 2001)

99% Invisible, The A.V. Club, Artnet, The Atlantic, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Boston Magazine, Boston Metro, Boston Phoenix, Bostonist, Brooklyn Vegan, The Capital Times, Casual Archivist, CBC Radio, Complex, Cool Hunting, The Daily Beast, The Daily Dot, Dazed, Dwell, Electric Literature, Fast Company, GLAAD, The Guardian, Hazlitt, HuffPost, Hyperallergic, i-D, IndieWire, John Cage Trust, KEXP, Los Angeles Times, The Lot Radio, McGill Tribune, Mental Floss, The New York Times, Noisey (Vice), Nylon, Observer, Out.com, Paper, Philadelphia Inquirer, Portland Mercury, Posture, POV Magazine, PVD Eye, Rolling Stone, The Rumpus, The Stranger, Texas Monthly, Time Out Los Angeles, Time Out New York, Village Voice, Vogue, WBUR, Weekly Dig, and others.