Wender·Vista
Providence
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileUnited States
at the head of Narragansett Bay, in Rhode Island

Providence

— — the city Roger Williams started over.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.
— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand
— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall
— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround
— a note from the studio

“The capital of the smallest state, set where three rivers meet salt water at the head of Narragansett Bay. Roger Williams walked here in 1636 looking for a place to think his own way about God. The hill above the harbour holds Brown and RISD; the river below holds WaterFire on summer Saturdays. The city is old in an American sense, and quiet for one its size.

from the studio
Providence
— bring it home

Providence, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?
One tile — square or rectangle.
How big?
the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand
6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb
Surface finish
A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.
How it sits
A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.
$58
Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.
— size
6 × 6 in
15 cm
— weighs
1.6 lb
solid in the hand
— surface
ceramic, hand-finished
art rests beneath a thin glossy finish
— from
Knoxville, TN
our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies
— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Providence

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.
— the place

Providence sits at the head of Narragansett Bay at the confluence of the Woonasquatucket and Moshassuck rivers, which meet to form the Providence River. The city covers about 50 square kilometres and holds roughly 190,000 residents, making it the third-largest city in New England. Rhode Island, founded around it, is the smallest state in the United States by area. Roger Williams established the settlement in 1636 after fleeing the Massachusetts Bay Colony for his unorthodox views on religious liberty and the separation of civil and church authority.

— informed by Wikipedia: Providence
— the water

WaterFire is a free public art installation by Barnaby Evans that ignites about 80 floating braziers along the three rivers downtown on roughly 20 nights a year between May and November. The fires are lit at sunset, soundtracked by classical and world music piped along the riverwalk, and burn until past midnight. It began in 1994 as a single-night piece and now draws over a million visitors a year, the most-attended free arts event in the region.

— informed by WaterFire Providence
— the year

The College Hill side of the city carries Brown University, chartered in 1764 as the seventh-oldest college in the United States, and the Rhode Island School of Design across College Street, founded in 1877. Together they shape the rhythm of the city: September arrivals, December exam quiet, May graduations that fill the hotels. Federal Hill on the opposite slope holds the Italian-American district whose restaurants and bakeries trace to the great-wave immigration of the early twentieth century.

— where
United States · Providence County, Rhode Island
— elevation
7 m · 23 ft
— position
41.8240° N · 71.4128° W
— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.
1 km E
Brown University
university
1 km E
Rhode Island School of Design
art school
2 km W
Federal Hill
neighbourhood
1 km N
Roger Williams National Memorial
national memorial
1 km N
Rhode Island State House
capitol
N
Providence
Brown University
Rhode Island School of Design
Federal Hill
Roger Williams National Memorial
Rhode Island State House
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Providence — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

Roger Williams founded Providence in 1636 after the Massachusetts Bay Colony banished him for advocating separation of church and state. He named the settlement for what he called God's merciful providence.

Providence holds about 190,000 residents and covers roughly 50 square kilometres, making it the third-largest city in New England after Boston and Worcester. It is the capital of Rhode Island.

WaterFire is a free public art piece by Barnaby Evans, lit on about 20 evenings a year. Roughly 80 braziers burn along three rivers downtown from sunset to past midnight.

Brown University, founded in 1764 on College Hill, and the Rhode Island School of Design across College Street, founded in 1877. Providence College sits on Smith Hill; Johnson and Wales is downtown.

Federal Hill, on the western slope across from downtown. Atwells Avenue is its spine, and most of its restaurants and bakeries descend from families who arrived in the early 1900s.

The Woonasquatucket and the Moshassuck meet downtown to form the Providence River, which empties into Narragansett Bay. The confluence point is the centrepiece of the WaterFire installation route.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. Providence holds a deep loyalty in its residents and alumni. A Small or Medium with a card from the studio works well for a graduation, a relocation, or a Brown or RISD reunion.

The river-and-brick palette settles into Brownstone Traditional, New England Coastal, and Warm Academic rooms. The piece reads collected rather than decorated and pairs with wood and worn leather.

Yes. The recent return of Dark Academic and Library-Modern interiors has put river-cities and college towns back on the mood-board. A Providence tile carries that vocabulary without pastiche.

A single Large reads well above a console. Above a sofa, a four-tile Mural carries the wall; a nine-tile Mural suits a wider great-room or a long entryway.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and unaffected by heat and steam, which suits them to backsplashes and the wall behind a stove.

A microfibre cloth with water is enough. The colour lives inside the ceramic surface rather than in a coating, so it does not wear under normal cleaning.

Yes. Every WenderVista tile is painted by Reid Wender in the studio's stained-glass and alcohol-ink visual language. The work is not licensed and not reproduced from any outside source.

— if this one stayed with you

A few you might also love.

Hand-picked by the eye that found Sorapis. Same air, same kind of quiet.