For 2026, on the advice of a wise mentor, I’m expanding the scope of my WUN Voices column from exclusively spotlighting women-led organizations’ “Voices” to include the Voices of all Rhode Islanders doing ground-breaking work that is making an outsized impact in the smallest state.”
Enter Curtis Speer
I recall sitting at a Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce “Business During Hours” lunch a few years ago when I spotted a new attendee in the center of the room who exuded such energy and confidence that I knew I had to introduce myself. Artist and Gallerist Curtis Speer had just relocated his successful fine art gallery from Provincetown to Newport and wanted to get involved in the Newport community. And POW! since then, Curtis has ignited an electric current of powerful energy, vision and community-building for Newport’s artistic scene.
Curtis’ interview responses needed no editing or polishing (that would be akin to art forgery, in my mind) so we have chosen to share his story and vision in a Q&A style so WUN readers can truly hear his voice and see his vision. This is an abstracted interview for space considerations. To read the full, unedited interview, visit CUSP Gallery’s or City-by-the-Sea Communications’ websites.
MG: Your career has taken you from a small town in Oklahoma to a national visual design career, to opening a gallery in Provincetown, and ultimately relocating to Newport. What were the most formative lessons along that journey, and why did you choose Newport for your namesake gallery? (“CUSP” represents the first two letters of Curtis’ first and last name.)
CS: My journey has been less about geography and more about evolution. Growing up in a small town in Oklahoma taught me humility, resilience, and the value of community. That foundation stayed with me as my career expanded into high-profile visual design work with major retailers across the country. Those years taught me scale, discipline, precision, and the power of visual language to shape emotion, experience, and identity on a national level.
Opening a gallery in Provincetown shifted my relationship with art from production and design toward meaning, dialogue, and storytelling, showing me that galleries can be cultural anchors – not just exhibition spaces.
Newport ultimately felt like the place where all those experiences converged. It has history, depth, creative energy, and a strong sense of place — but also holds space for something new. I didn’t want to open a gallery that simply sold art. I wanted to build a living, breathing cultural space — one that supports artists, nurtures community, and invites conversation, curiosity, and connection.
Opening my gallery in Newport wasn’t about legacy — it was about responsibility to artists, to community, and to creating something meaningful rather than transactional. For me, the journey has always been about alignment — between purpose, place, and people. Newport is where those three elements finally met.
MG: You’ve said you consider yourself an artist who uses a camera rather than a photographer. Can you explain that distinction and share the moment you realized you had found your artistic voice?
CS: For a long time, I struggled with the label “photographer.” Not because I don’t respect photography — I deeply do — but because the word often implies documentation, technique, or capturing what already exists. I consider myself an artist who uses a camera the way a painter uses a brush or a sculptor uses stone. The camera is simply my tool; the work itself is about intention, interpretation, and emotional resonance.
My “Aha!” moment came when I stopped trying to prove technical mastery and started trusting my instincts. Early in my career, everything was about precision, polish, and meeting expectations. At some point, I realized that the images that stayed with me — the ones that felt honest — were the ones that were quieter, ambiguous, and emotionally charged. They weren’t explaining anything. They were asking something.
That shift changed everything. I began approaching each image as a constructed experience rather than a captured moment. Light became language. Absence became as important as presence. That’s when the work became less about what I was seeing and more about what I was feeling.
Finding my artistic milieu meant embracing uncertainty. It meant allowing space for imperfection, for discomfort, for unanswered questions. I realized my voice lived in the in-between. Once I gave myself permission to stay there, the work finally sounded like me.
That was the real “Aha!” moment: understanding that my role wasn’t to capture the world as it is, but to translate how it feels to move through it.
MG: You are the Owner/Founder and principal artist of CUSP Gallery, now based in historic Washington Square, where you often show exhibitions featuring other fine artists in collective showings or individual exhibits. When you opened the gallery in 2023, what were your first impressions of Newport’s fine art scene, and how have you seen it evolve as we enter 2026?
CS: When I opened CUSP Gallery in Newport in 2023, my initial observation was that there was a tremendous amount of creative talent here, but it often existed in pockets rather than in conversation with one another. Newport has an extraordinary artistic lineage and a strong appreciation for beauty, craftsmanship, and history, yet the contemporary fine art dialogue felt quieter than it could be — less visible, less interconnected, and sometimes overshadowed by the city’s well-established traditions.
What I sensed early on was a gap — not in talent, but in platforms for dialogue, risk, cross-disciplinary exchanges and experimentation.
Fast-forward to the beginning of 2026, and the shift is tangible. I see more artists claiming space, more collaboration across disciplines, and a growing appetite from collectors and audiences for work that challenges and reflects the complexities of our time. There is a noticeable increase in curiosity — people are asking deeper questions, spending more time with the work, and engaging in conversations rather than simply consuming visuals.
There’s also a generational broadening happening, bringing fresh perspectives while long-standing community members grow more open to contemporary narratives. This intersection has been especially exciting to witness.
I measure progress less by numbers and more by energy – by the conversations happening in the gallery and the sense of shared momentum. Three years in, Newport’s fine art scene feels more awake, more connected, and more willing to stand at the edge of possibility.
As we move into 2026, I’m optimistic not because the work is finished, but because the momentum is real.
The “why” behind my passion for supporting other artists comes from my own journey. I know what it feels like to navigate creative life without a clear roadmap or to feel underestimated. At different points in my career, someone opened a door for me, not by handing me success, but by offering belief, visibility, and community. I’ve always felt a responsibility to pay that forward.
What fuels my energy is simple: art changes people when people are allowed to change together. Creating space for that transformation — for others and for myself — is both the challenge and the reward.
MG: The Newport Artists Collective’s Fine Arts Ball has quickly become one of the most anticipated events on Newport’s social calendar. With this year’s Masters & Muses theme, what can attendees expect?
CS: Last year’s Ostara Ball quickly became less of a gala and more of a moment — a creative ignition point for Newport. Last year felt like a permission slip for imagination, and this year we’re turning that energy up even further.
With Masters & Muses as the theme, guests can expect an evening that blurs the line between observer and participant. This isn’t about watching creativity from the sidelines — it’s about stepping into it.
The experience will be immersive, layered with intentional design, unexpected performances and moments of surprise around every corner. Guests will see nods to art history alongside contemporary reinterpretations, classical influence colliding with bold modern expression.
If last year was a feast for the senses, this year is an invocation — of inspiration, collaboration, and creative courage. It’s where the energy of Art Newport begins, and where the city collectively says: let’s make the artistic experience in Newport unforgettable.
MG: Your new CUSP wallpaper collection (a recent obsession of mine) extends your artistic vision into home interiors. What inspired the collection, and how can readers incorporate it into their 2026 projects?
CS: This CUSP wallpaper collection grew out of my long-standing love for environments — how spaces shape our mood, memory, and sense of self. I’ve always thought about how people live with visual language. Wallpaper is intimate. It surrounds you and becomes part of your daily rhythm.
The inspiration comes from nature, history, pattern, repetition, and the quiet tension between order and chaos. These are deconstructed pieces of my work from botanical forms, shadow and light to architectural rhythm. These designs feel layered and soulful — not trendy, not loud, but deeply considered. Pieces that can live in a room for years and continue to reveal themselves. These aren’t backdrops; they’re conversations.
As for acquiring the collection, the wallpapers are available directly through CUSP Gallery, and via personal consultations. It’s important to me that this feels accessible and collaborative — not intimidating. Whether someone is redesigning a single room or rethinking an entire home, this collection is meant to meet them where they are.
At its heart, this project is about bringing art off the wall and into daily life — letting creativity live with you, not just be admired from a distance. That idea continues to excite me, and I can’t wait to see how people make these designs their own.
The CUSP Gallery, 51 Touro Street, will reopen to visitors in April 2026.
The Newport Artists Salon Series is held almost every Thursday at The Brenton Hotel, 5 pm – 7pm.
To find out more about, or join the Newport Artists Collective, click here.
To purchase tickets to the Masters & Muses Fine Arts Ball, click here.
Michele Gallagher is a dedicated advocate of local businesses, community leaders, and non-profits and is the founder of City-by-the-Sea Communications.