Evan Villari (he/him)
Professor College of Arts & Sciences English Providence
Biography and Expertise
As a documentary filmmaker, Evan Villari creates small pictures from his own life experiences that strive to contribute to larger societal conversations. His films, shot digitally and on celluloid, have been shown in group and solo screenings from Boston to Anchorage.
The past two decades have found him in the classroom teaching a variety of filmmaking, media production, photography, animation and communications courses at a number of institutions of higher education. He is currently the Director of the Center for Media Production in the John Hazen White College of Arts & Sciences here at Johnson & Wales University.
Previously, he served on the faculty at Rhode Island School of Design in both the Film/Animation/Video degree program as well as in the Continuing Education Division. While at RISD, he was the Program Advisor to the Digital Video Production and Animation + Video programs. In 2009, Villari was recognized with RISD’s Teacher of Excellence Award.
As a filmmaker, his last project, “Blood and Watershed,” was a documentary about the history and contemporary vulnerability of Rhode Island’s public water supply. This feature-length film was produced through a partnership with the Center for Independent Documentary and through major grants from the Rhode Island Humanities and Rhode Island PBS.
His current project is a documentary about a local basketball league, started at the height of the Civil Rights Movement, that went on to see over three dozen players go on to the NBA. With fiscal sponsorship from the Center for Independent Documentary, the film, currently in production, has received grant support from Rhode Island Humanities, Rhode Island State Council on the Arts and the Rhode Island Foundation.
Education
MFA
The Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University
BA
University of Rhode Island