CUSP Gallery brings contemporary art to Belmont Chapel

Newport’s historic Belmont Chapel is gearing up for its first art exhibition after a major restoration.

From June 14 to 22, 2025, the chapel at Island Cemetery will showcase “As Above, So Below,” featuring works by local artist Juditta Musette.

Curtis Speer’s CUSP Gallery is behind the exhibition, which highlights Musette’s circular paintings that blend cosmic and earthly themes with vibrant colors.

Musette says, “This chapel is full of stories about loss and remembrance, but it’s also a place of beauty and imagination. It’s perfect for art that connects different worlds.”

The opening reception is set for June 14, 2025, from 5 to 7 p.m.

The chapel, originally built in 1886 by financier August Belmont to honor his daughter Pauline, recently underwent restoration led by the Belmont Chapel Foundation. The project has won both the 2024 Doris Duke Historic Preservation Award and a Rhody Award for Historic Preservation.

Musette plans to preview one of her paintings at the Belmont Stakes Race Day Fundraiser, donating it to the Belmont Chapel Foundation’s charity auction.

CUSP Gallery, which moved to Newport from Provincetown, Mass., in 2023, now operates out of a 225-year-old house at 51 Touro St. It’s become a hub for contemporary art in Newport, hosting weekly events and starting the Newport Artists Collective.