CULTUREWATCH AS220 branches out at the Rhode Island Foundation BY BETH SCHWARTZAPFEL

Enter the lobby of the Rhode Island Foundation at One Union Station, and nothing seems out of the ordinary: marble floors, receptionist, security guard. That is, until you catch a glimpse of Neil Salley’s conscience, talking to you. The video installation Conscience opened in mid-February at the newly christened AS220 Project Space. Salley, a local artist, along with collaborators Beth and Robin Burnett (the trio is collectively known as Portal), has recreated his inner voices for the outside world. Nine faces, hovering in a circle just above eye level, follow visitors around the room, admonishing them not to "get too greedy," and to "stay focused!"

This exhibit is the first since AS220 assumed responsibility for operating the gallery from the Rhode Island Foundation, a development spurred by budget constraints. Conscience is also the first installation to use C360, a new technology that allows an image to directly face visitors no matter where they stand. Salley thinks the new gallery is the perfect place to debut C360 because of AS220’s spirit: "about 16 years ago, I found myself sitting across the table from [AS220 artistic director] Bert Crenca, explaining an idea for an installation — TVs spinning, lights, sound — and Bert said, ‘How about Saturday night?’ "

Another benefit of the new arrangement is that the gallery space will be unjuried and uncensored. Neal Walsh, AS220’s gallery director, says AS220 won’t install anything with the express purpose of sparking controversy, but "whatever we install in the gallery, we’ll install in the gallery . . . If people find it controversial, we’ll have a dialogue about it." This would represent a change from what happened in January 2003, when Entang Wiharso, an Indonesian painter with ties to Rhode Island, canceled a show at the gallery after foundation officials asked him to remove a painting that was deemed controversial.

The new space — on loan from the foundation through the end of 2004, and possibly beyond — expands AS220’s capacity from five gallery spaces to six, in keeping with what seems like the organization’s general outward trajectory outward. AS220’s Broad Street Studio, which serves as a base for the organization’s burgeoning youth programs, opened in 2001.

And fast on the heels of the new gallery space comes the possibility of a new building. Crenca is sparse on immediate details, but says the organization is in discussions to purchase another downtown building – one approximately the same size as its current base on Empire Street, and plans call for from 20 to 40 affordable work and live-work studio spaces. The move would open almost all of the Empire Street building to the public, since residential and studio space would be concentrated in the new building. Because an additional property would necessitate a new and potentially resource-intensive role for AS220, Crenca is cautious. "Each thing we stick our nose in seems to grow exponentially," he says. "We’re trying to manage our growth and decide what direction we want to invest in."

AS220 Project Space seems like a good direction for now. Conscience will run until March 20. The next installation will be by the Providence-based group of artists, preservationists, and architects collectively known as Art in Ruins. Walsh says the new gallery space is already booked through the end of 2004.