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Trashformations
By GARY BRADY-HERNDON, Register Correspondent
Wednesday, February 8, 2006
Our consumer driven society places merit on items that are useful to us in our everyday lives, only as long as they serve our wants and needs. Once items deliver their potential value to us, i.e. candy wrappers, plastic sandwich bags, junk mail, empty soda cans -- they take on a patina of refuse, something dirty and vile. Our reaction -- to throw these items away and rid ourselves of their spent promises -- is learned as children and we carry it with us the rest of our lives. Indeed, ordinary objects are designed to become obsolete.
Part indictment of our throwaway society and part celebration of the imaginative spirit of a collection of experimental artists, Copia's current main gallery exhibit, "Trashformations," shines a refreshing light on this ubiquitous condition of American society.
Consider the revelation made in the press release for the show's opening that "Americans comprise only 5 percent of the earth's population, yet we produce 50 percent of its solid waste," and you begin to understand pervasive nature of the problem.
The exhibit, however, is not about the negative aspects of trash, but its potential for art. Deborah Gangwer, Copia's associate curator of exhibitions, said the nearly 130 pieces on display from 112 contributors represents an amazing example of the mutability of art and its capacity to inspire regardless of the medium. There are works in the exhibit that inspire strong emotions. Many others will make you laugh out loud at the preposterous ways castoff articles are combined to create familiar objects. Others will simply make you appreciate the talent of these gifted craftspeople.
Two good examples of the emotional aspects of the exhibit are found in Steven W. Byrne's, "I Ain't No Senator's Son," a replica of the United States flag. Made from a crippled picture frame, roofing shingles, steel letters, lead flashing and upholstery tacks, the piece is a statement about the diverse elements within our society, many of which do not share in the bounty of this great country. Slightly skewed, rough hewn, coarse and a little worse for wear; there remains an essence of the heroic and powerful forces that made this country great.
Farther along the wall hangs Michelle Chisholm Leavitt's "Soldier's Calendar," a compact critique of the effects that war has on the individual and society. The image of a soldier of indeterminate nationality with accompanying text creates an eerie image that asks the viewer to contemplate the insanity of war. Intentionally difficult to decipher, the piece speaks to the larger issue: Can we ever know the damage done to the lives of young people who are asked to fight the wars of their elders. The fact that the piece is made of recycled materials never comes to mind.
Many pieces have an aura of spiritualism. Steven Bradford's, "Relics and Offerings," is a compendium of found objects, and is bizarre yet oddly appealing. On the one hand, elements of the macabre are juxtaposed against a backdrop of traditional religious artifacts drawn from a variety of cultures. The flip side of the piece speaks to the harmony of the divergent elements that coursed through mankind's history. There is so much going on from the whimsical to the divine in Bradford's work that you'll want to walk away and digest what you've seen before returning again to appreciate the work anew.
On the same wavelength, but with a different focus, is Bob Rizzo's "Three Spirits." The three specters seem to have risen up from some ancient desert floor. Their unique bearing calls up images of wandering, nomadic, tribes of people. Or they could represent any one of a multitude of denizens emerging from the Black Rock desert after two weeks at the Burning Man festival.
Both Bradford and Rizzo's pieces were created without altering the trash. Other artists either altered the materials to create something totally different like Sophia Ainslie's "Labyrinth of Commercial Prophets," a priceless use of junk mail, or Natasha Cohen's "Ostrich Syndrome."
I have two favorite pieces. "Trashy Lingerie 1, 2 & 3" is Ingrid Goldbloom Bloch's tribute to a weaver's mind gone off the deep end. Consisting of a pair of panties, a bra and garter, any visions of sensuality or sexy thoughts are dashed immediately once the viewer realizes the fabric Bloch used is made of thin strips of Coke cans woven in an intricate mesh. Yet, despite the sheer bizarre nature of the subject matter, the attention to detail and artistry is extraordinary, making this one of the truly unique pieces in the entire show.
When I saw the work of Boris Bally from across the room, I immediately thought of merchandise out of a chic American Indian jewelry store in Taos or Sante Fe -- large shiny silver pieces hung together in a massive display of ostentatious overkill that vacationing eastern retirees plunk down scads of cash for.
Once I got close enough to scrutinize the piece, however, it was obvious that the "silver" was something altogether different than what I first imagined. I couldn't place where I had seen these items before. I had to read the artist's description, I'll let you read Bally's artist statement about the piece pulled from his Web site.
"My contemporary necklace is made of 100 hand-gun triggers, cut and torn form the dismembered weapons reclaimed from the Pittsburgh city gun buy-back program, "Good for Guns," from 1999-2001. This urban 'Mojo' protects the wearer from the gun violence so prevalent in today's culture."
If this piece doesn't speak to the truly idiosyncratic and imaginative use of recycled material, can anything?
There is so much more. Some of the larger crowd-pleasing pieces speak for themselves -- and there are several. Those you'll have to go see for yourself. Taken in total, Trashformations is a truly a peerless, bizarre, playful, and ultimately beautiful exhibition. The show sets the bar for the 2006 regional art scene. Don't miss it.
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The kitchen-sink school of sculpture
Sacramento News and Review, Arts & Culture
February 23, 2006
Copyright ©2006 Chico Community Publishing, Inc.
By Saunthy Nicolson-Singh
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 Robert Rizzo, "The Spirits," 1997-2004, found objects
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It may not be next-door, but Copia is just a few counties away, at 500 First Street in Napa. Though known especially for its food focus, Copia isn’t peripheral in its vision, as evidenced by its tag as “The American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts.” While the free February admission is tempting with its spotlight on chocolate, Trashformations, a fine exhibit from entirely recycled materials, running through May 8, offers a very satisfying, non-caloric treat. Before you even get into the exhibit, you’ll spot the roadrunner sculpture, fashioned from shiny kitchen utensils, standing guard at the door. On the other side, Leo Sewell’s eye-dazzling “Seated Lady” reigns, born of a mélange of stuff: clocks, rulers, croquet mallets--everything but the kitchen sink. There’s also a curious necklace strung with 100 handgun triggers, a “Wrench Bench,” a school of fish carved from empty plastic laundry-detergent urns, and even “Trashy Lingerie.” For more information, call (888) 512-6742 or visit http://www.copia.org/.
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Art New England Creative Alchemy, Esthetic Recycling at the Fuller
Dec-Jan 06
D'Lynne Plummer
(Excerpt for larger article)
One person's trash is another person's treasure, as the cliché goes. Or, in some cases, one person's trash becomes another's objet d'art. While New England thrift and frugality is legendary, so is its wealth of artists, and the combination of its creative thrift and artistic skill has recently resulted in beautiful fits of highly esthetic recycling.
This summer, the Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, Massachusetts, tackled the trash trend on a regional scale with 112 East Coast artists in Trashformations East, featuring everything from lingerie made from soda cans to bracelets composed of expired coupons-how's that for parsimony? For a nation that throws away more than 160 million tons of solid waste each year, we as a society have a lot to learn from these artists who see a universe of possibility in the world of detritus....
... In similar fashion, both Robert Rovenolt and Patricia Onorato create small boxes with hallowed interiors. Onorato's Sanctuary implies Occidental faiths, while Rovenolt's Looking East contains a small framed image of Buddha. Breaking out of the box entirely and standing over 5 feet tall, The Spirits by Bob Rizzo alludes to a more animistic religion and recalls African Lega figurines or some similar African totem used to ward off evil spirits. Constructed from and festooned with hundreds of found objects, there is something about the tactile quality of familiar objects that invokes the spiritual world. Gwendolyn L. Frye's Talisman includes a Moorish doorway coated with El Ahram newspaper. All spiritual practices seem conjured up by the task of creative reuse, as if the found objects that have withstood the test of time have done so by the grace of the gods....
Trashformations
New England Crafts Connoisseur
A Quarterly Guide to the Finest Original Contemporary Crafts in the Six-State Region
Volume 8, Issue 3 Spring 2005
In artists' hands, discards become keepers (Excerpt from larger article)
Transforming found objects or ordinary materials into visual art is not a post-New Age phenomenon. Some of the 19th century's most treasured quilts are made from fabric scraps. In the early 20th century, Marcel Duchamp turned the art world upside down when he displayed a toilet and called it art. Modern abstract artists like Robert Rauschenberg create massive installations using recycled elements. A contemporary continuation of making art from found and recycled materials is on full display with "TrashFORMATIONS East" at the Fuller Craft Museum in Massachusetts. Curated by Lloyd E. Herman, the exhibit enhances the never-ending discussion of what is craft, what is art, when is trash art. In the catalogue, Herman, director emeritus of the Smithsonian's Renwick Gallery in Washington, D.C., said he viewed 1,400 slides by 350 East Coast and New England craftspeople before he selected the work of 112 artists. The exhibit is dedicated to the late Jennifer Atkinson,the director who began changing the Fuller from an art museum to today's Craft Museum. .In the catalogue's opening essay, museum director Gretchen Keyworth said, "Transformation, redemption, renewal, and transcendence are central to the exhibit and contemporary art and artists. By manipulating 'junk' the artists challenge the viewer's focus --between trash and fine art." Herman, who lives in Seattle, explained the selections in his essay. "They were chosen because they were fresh, imaginative, ironic, witty and/or because they exemplify the tradition of making art from trash," he writes. "The emphasis is on objects with a certain refinement of form, workmanship, and/or idea -- rather than funky assemblages that might more correctly be considered folk art."... In all of the exhibit pieces, the artists connect with the finished objects.... Robert Rizzo captures the essence of "Trashformations" in "The Spirits"," his trio of figures built over seven years with found objects, mementos and gifts from friends. His wall text says it all: ".--Everything means something."
(Excerpt from larger article)One person's trash becomes artists' treasure in Brockton show
01:00 AM EST on Sunday, January 9, 2005
BY BILL VAN SICLEN
Journal Arts Writer
PROVIDENCE -- Standing in his sunny Mount Pleasant studio, Boris Bally is trying to explain his fascination with cast-off and recycled materials -- materials that many people might consider little more than junk.
"I guess when you get right down to it, it's the idea of making something from nothing," he says. "Not to take anything away from anyone, but making something beautiful with gold is easy. Same thing with glass. But to take a piece of trash and turn it into art, that's special." Apparently a lot of other artists feel the same way. In fact, Bally and more than 100 of his fellow hunter-gatherers are the stars of "Trashformations East," an exhibit opening Saturday at Brockton's newly revamped Fuller Craft Museum. (Formerly an all-purpose art museum, the Fuller last year narrowed its focus to contemporary craft.)
"The use of found and recycled objects -- 'trash art,' if you will -- is really big right now," says Fuller director Gretchen Keyworth. "Partly, it's a response to environmental issues such as recycling and sustainability. But it's also a challenge. These artists are taking things that you and I throw away every day and making something fabulous." Bally, for example, is known for his boldly patterned bowls and platters, which he makes from old traffic signs. In his hands, battered "Stop," "Yield" and "One-Way" signs find new life as functional housewares. "The colors and graphics are so amazing that they make my job easy," says Bally, who has a bachelor's degree from Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University. "All I do is move things around a little bit." More recently, Bally has started using another recycled material that, potentially at least, is far more hazardous: handguns. He says he started working with gun parts as a way of publicizing a gun buy-back program organized by the Pittsburgh Police Department. "Basically, they approached me with the idea of doing something creative with some of the guns they were getting," he explains. "It was sort of a variation on the old swords-into-ploughshares thing."
Eventually, Bally's involvement with anti-violence issues led him to organize "Artists of a Different Caliber," a traveling exhibit of artworks made from recycled firearms. It also inspired Brave, a necklace whose shiny metallic "beads" turn out to be old pistol triggers.
The necklace, in turn, caught the eye of Lloyd Herman, a nationally known craft specialist and former Smithsonian Institution curator who's organizing the "Trashformations" show. "The police kept sending me these guns, and they kept piling up and piling up," Bally says. "Then I noticed how beautifully detailed some of the triggers were. They had these delicate little grooves and hatchings to give your finger a better grip. That was the inspiration."
Another contributor to the "Trashformations" show is former Providence arts coordinator Bob Rizzo. Rizzo, who ran the Parks Department's Office of Cultural Affairs for more than 15 years before retiring in 2004, is sending a trio of totem-like figures he calls The Spirits. Though based on traditional African sculptures, The Spirits have a distinctively contemporary feel, being decorated with everything from old garden tools to discarded pieces of costume jewelry. "I've been working on these guys for five or six years now," he says. "Every time I find something I really like, whether it's a feather, a piece of glass or a toy that some kid has thrown away, I come back and ask myself, 'Does it fit? Is there a place for it?' "
In all, "Trashformations" will feature the work of five Rhode Islanders. In addition to Bally and Rizzo, the show includes a "quilt" made of cut-up calendars by Saunderstown artist Michelle Leavitt, a "lamp" made of plumbing parts by RISD furniture-maker Tucker Houlihan and P.T.A., a playful folk-art assemblage by Providence artist John Marcoux.
Over the past few weeks, I had a chance to talk to all five artists about working methods and creative processes. Here's a look at how each turns other people's trash into artistic gold. (Below is excerpt from full article)
Bob Rizzo
As director of Providence's Office of Cultural Affairs, Bob Rizzo spent more than 15 years promoting the work of local artists. Then, in 2002, Rizzo was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, a disease in which a weakened heart slowly chokes off the body's blood-oxygen supply. "Basically, I couldn't breathe," he says. "It felt like somebody very big was standing on my chest and wouldn't get off." Eventually, Rizzo's condition stabilized. But by then Providence had a new mayor with plans to merge the Office of Cultural Affairs into a new cabinet-level arts and tourism department. Rizzo decided to take stock. "When I thought about it, I realized that I'd really accomplished all the things I wanted to do," he says. "And I was really tired of all the meetings and the 70-hour weeks. Ultimately, I decided it was time to stop doing stuff for other people and start doing stuff for myself."That meant spending more time on his work, which mixes influences from African sculpture to American folk art."I've always been interested in African art," he says. "For one thing, it reflects a very different way of looking at the world. In Africa, they make art out of whatever happens to be around -- wood, stone, grass, bits of metal. We, on the other hand, just throw everything out."To make his sculptures, Rizzo often starts with a frame made from old furniture parts. Then he dips into his stock of scavenged and recycled materials and starts decorating. The list of objects attached to his Spirit sculptures, for examples, includes everything from an old ox harness to the little tin buttons issued to art lovers as they enter a museum. "The great thing is that people really respond to this stuff," he says. "They look at all the junk and they say, 'Hey, I used to have one of those. How did you get it to look so good?' "
""Trashformations East" runs from Saturday through May 1 at the Fuller Craft Museum, 455 Oak St. in Brockton, Mass. Hours: Mon.-Sun., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission: adults $5, students and seniors $3, free for members and children under 12. Phone: (508) 588-6000. Web: www.fullercraft.org.
3-D Rhode Island, Newport Art Museum
76 Bellevue Avenue http://www.newportartmuseum.com/3Dri.html
Newport, RI, Through January 2, 2005
Michael Cochran - Arts Media Magazine, Nov. 2004, Boston
The exhibition “3-D Rhode Island” at the Newport Art Museum provides a unique opportunity to view the works of fifty very accomplished contemporary Rhode Island sculptors working in a wide range of styles and media. This exciting sampler of recent sculptural objects has been beautifully installed in the neo-classical Morris Gallery.
There are many strong narrative works in the exhibition like Michael Telko's “Suburbia” which is mounted on one of the dark green gallery walls and carefully spotlighted by pinpoint quartz lights. The playful contrast in scale between his suspended miniature houses with full-size faucets, hoses and sprinklers that curl onto the gallery floor puts the irony of glorious suburban living right in your face.
Jennifer Raimondi has a bizarre piece in the show in which a bathroom pedestal sink cradles a strange anthropomorphic object. It resembles an enormous pantyhose-covered phallus with pointy toes.
Like a contemporary shaman, Bob Rizzo takes found objects and gives them new life in his complex assemblage figure called, “The Dreamer.” Along with the legs from old turned-wood columns and textile spindle arms, the flotsam and jetsam of the inner organs of the figure are visible through a glass-covered abdominal cavity. “The Dreamer” comes to life and almost walks off the pedestal onto the floor.
For art viewers who love sculpture, there is much to see in this exhibition.
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I LOVE your website and your gallery! I love the Baule influenced sculpture with the Goli influenced head and I really loved the Kongo nail fetish influenced sculptures called The Spirits. I especially liked the description on The Spirits and how each item added to them over a period of time tells a story and how they became your personal protectors. Simply fascinating! I also love your abstract paintings as well. I collect a lot of local artists work, as well as other modern and abstract works, and I love your use of colors and all of the abstract designs you used in your paintings. I really loved you work and thanks for sharing it with me!
Cheers!
RAND
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Oh my goodness! How WONDERFUL! I just spent twenty minutes enjoying your pictures. The first with the lantern in like Yoruba House of the Head--and yet not....I felt some of the same delight I did with Julie Taymor's costume design for LION KING---where there were "echoes of Kuba" etc. Thanks for brightening my day!
Best,
Eliza
Africa Direct
Denver, CO 80207
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Through the juxtaposition of the technological and natural worlds, Bob Rizzo explores the modern and the primitive. His images recall pre-industrial, tribal archetypes, blending ideas that resonate to the dawn of man with materials that shout about the fragility of our world and the waste that has characterized our modern culture.
Rizzo's use of religious iconography, fetish art and the spirituality of objects makes his work feel like more than the sum of its parts. The work speaks, speaks to us and will speak to our descendants.
Jay McNally, Collector, RI - Ibis Consulting
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Bob Rizzo, Paintings and Sculpture; Katherine Veneman, Paintings; Mike Fitzgerald, Paintings
Full Circle Gallery/Providence
John Pantalone, Art New England, April/May 2000
Katherine Veneman's engaging work combines contrasting elements of both Kandinsky and de Kooning in an abstract expressionism that hides itself at one angle, reveals itself at another. Filled with bright yellow, orange, blue, and red against black and white, sweeping lines, overlapping layers of shapes, and spaces within spaces, these large oils insist that you study them, leave them, then return to reread them like a favorite novel. Second, third, and fourth readings each reveal technical elements and nuances of meaning.
Bold, curving lines that look like architectural details at one point become majestic birds at another; shapes that hide within spaces as you look straight on become distinct when viewed at a forty-five degree angle; and cityscapes emerge behind a mélange of lines and shapes. In One Point to Another, a bridgelike highway structure floats near the center amid a rush of swirling lines and flying paint. Where, you wonder, is this bridge going?
The protean Bob Rizzo accompanied his roughly assembled warriors with a series of beautiful color studies-accomplished over the past year or so-offering stark contrast between the wood-based sculptures and the soft, almost lyrical paintings. He patiently adorns his totem-like structures with flotsam, furniture legs, interior architectural remnants, and a wild assortment of odds and ends-from nails and spikes to seashells, feathers, animal skulls, rusted tools, fishing lures, tiny bells and what not. Almost uniformly drab, the sculptures possess a persevering life, which emanates from their status as junk saved from death like old warriors who refuse to die. They also enjoy a crude robotic personality as if they were creating a bridged dialogue from ancient to modern times.
By contrast, his paintings are lovely, colorful bursts of red, orange, green, brown, black, yellow, and blue. Cave Dweller offers a fiery red cauldron that could be either hell or the dawn of a new age. From the Center camouflages urban structures while allowing them to peek out through a veil of restful color. Thru the Keyhole cleverly clarifies distorted vision, and in The Tempest you can clearly discern the bicycle that might have belonged to the Wicked Witch of Dorothy's strange dream, suggesting perhaps that all perception is a strange dream.
Mike Fitzgerald's small oil mood paintings hold their strength as nicely rendered atmospheric scenes that transfer momentary moods to nature through the use of color and light. In a political departure from most of the paintings, he adds charcoal to two expressionist pieces that possess a nervous energy, which helps define a more subtle energy resting beneath the surface of smaller natural scenes.
 PUBLIC ART/Festival turns city's downtown into a canvas
Oct 1, 2001
Each fall, Providence, R.I., changes from a state capital into a public performance arena and a museum of contemporary art. That is when the Office of Cultural Affairs (OCA) for the city's Parks Department hosts the Convergence International Art Festival.
The citywide festival, which draws about 500,000 people annually, features large-scale public sculptures, performances, concerts and exhibitions. Every year, more than 30 artists are commissioned to provide sculpture for the festival. They are given site-specific guidelines and up to $2,000 to allow their work to remain in Providence for one year. “The sculpture stands year-round as a reminder that Providence is a city that embraces its public space,” says Nancy Derrig, superintendent of the city's parks department.
According to festival creator and OCA Director, Bob Rizzo, having contemporary art downtown says much about Providence. “Through Convergence we get a city that is full of public sculpture,” he says. “It also helps give the impression that we are a city that is open to new ideas. It has recognizable impact.”
Additionally, the festival provides public arts variety to the city. “The sculpture brings a lot to the city because the art is renewed every year,” Rizzo says. “We aren't stuck with one big piece that is expensive to maintain. [The art] makes people look at the city a little differently.”
The Street Painting Festival, modeled on an Italian tradition since the 16th century, is part of the Convergence Festival. It transforms South Main Street into a color-splashed collection of more than a hundred asphalt canvasses, each sponsored by a business, organization and/or individual(s). This year, a Film/Video/Animation Festival and a Music for the New Millennium concert rounded out the event.
The festival was created in 1988 when the city began rehabilitating the 420-acre, Victorian-era Roger Williams Park and started hosting cultural programming to entice families back to the park. In 1996, the festival expanded into the city's entire downtown. More than 150 artists participated in this year's multi-week festival, which is funded by OCA and organizations including CapitolArts Providence and the state Division of Tourism.
The Office of Cultural Affairs: Celebrating 25 Years of Bringing the Arts to The People
by Lisa Palmer
June, 2001 East Side Monthly, Providence,RI
THESE DAYS IT'S not unusual for news of Providence city government to capture the attention of the media. But one city office has made the community and the media look twice, literally, for years. Behind the city's downtown contemporary sculptures and Waterplace Park performances is the Providence Parks Department Office of Cultural Affairs, which celebrated its 25th anniversary season this summer.
Each year the Office of Cultural Affairs (OCA) supports over a hundred quality art, music, dance, performance, and cultural events in the city's public parks that are free, or at low cost, to the public. Annually, an estimated three quarter-million audience members encounter a broad range of artistic styles and forms in Waterplace Park, Memorial Park, and along Riverwalk.
Providence has invested millions into downtown riverfront and park renovations, but they would be incomplete without things to do in them. "The Parks Department Office of Cultural Affairs brings together people who appreciate the visual and performing arts," say Providence Mayor Vincent A. "Buddy" Cianci, Jr. "Their programming is part of what makes this a city of choices. There's always some type of quality cultural programming going on. "Mayor Cianci has long supported the arts as a way to improve the cultural vitality and economics of the city. Since 1976, the OCA has been committed to revitalizing public parks. Its initial mandate was to return music and the arts to Roger Williams Park.
The OCA supports over a hundred free or low-cost art, music, dance, performance, and cultural events in public parks each year, drawing an estimated three quarter-million audience members.
"Looking over the past twenty-five years, the Office of Cultural Affairs has met our expectations and more," says Nancy Derrig, Superintendent of Providence Parks. "I think one of the goals at the beginning was to find a way to bring families to Roger Williams Park. The park had fallen on hard times, and it was not a family place anymore. None of the facilities were what they are now. In the beginning we felt we would need activities that would attract families.
Events, like concerts and festivals, were first introduced at that time. The very first thing, 'Sunday's in the Park,' was designed for families. Getting families back into the park, along with plans to renovate the buildings, would allow the community to see what the park once was."
Visual arts events and performances persuaded the community to return to the 420-acre, historic park during its renovation and rediscover its beauty. The office developed a prototype for successful arts programming at the park and provided quality events there.
"We were so successful in transforming Roger Williams Park that it has exploded in popularity," says Derrig. Back in 1976, they worked hard to entice people to enter the park. Twenty-five years later the number of visitors has swelled to over 2-1/2 million.
Arts events and performances persuaded the community to return to the 420-acre, historic Roger Williams Park during its renovation; now, over 2-1/2 million people visit annually.
By 1980 Roger Williams Park renovations were nearly complete, and the park was bustling with family activities and public support. That first directive had been met, and the office's free cultural programming branched out to include parks citywide.
Throughout Providence, community members harnessed the assistance of the OCA to develop their own festivals. The office gave community organizations financial backing, planning assistance, and technical advice. Popular events, including the Latin American Festival, were initially supported by the OCA and are now run independently.
Arts and culture invigorated Roger Williams Park in the 1970's, why not downtown in the '90's? With that in mind, the city's mandate shifted to downtown when Waterplace Park and the Providence Riverwalk opened. In 1996 the OCA began producing concerts, festivals, and special events in parks downtown. The OCA's Convergence Festival branched out from its Roger Williams Park venue to the downtown parks and open spaces, and the agency became the curator of contemporary art downtown.
The annual Convergence Festival turns Providence parks and urban land into a public contemporary art museum.
Bob Rizzo, director of the office for 15 years, is an accomplished artist himself and approaches his job that way. "Putting it all together and envisioning the sculpture and music in the city is an art form to me," says Rizzo. "I spend a lot of my own time looking at books and slides, on artists websites, attending art student critiques, and listening to music. I want to know what is happening and who the emerging artists are."
One of Rizzo's great achievements is the annual Convergence Festival, now held each September. Established and emerging artists are commissioned for the event, which takes place in Providence. The Rhode Island Division of Tourism has teamed-up with the office this year to help promote Convergence events statewide.
Some critics say the OCA should promote a nationally recognized artist, fund one dominant public sculpture, or have one big-name event for the Convergence Festival. "That is the opposite of what we're trying to do," says Rizzo. "We hire many extraordinary artists who often go on to receive prestigious public commissions. We give them a chance, and we take risks. The artists often have something to prove, and that is when we get great art."
"The presence of public art has long been under-represented in Providence," notes Barnaby Evans, a prominent artist and early "discovery" of the OCA. "It is important for the vitality of the city."
The presence of Convergence art is the most tangible evidence that Providence is an arts city. "Convergence has been a great way for artists to show their work in Providence," says Rizzo. "It also brings a lot to the city because the art is renewed every year. We aren't stuck with one big piece that is expensive to maintain. Instead, the folks here have much more experience with public sculpture. When people travel, they realize how much we have right downtown and that is significant to remember. Convergence art makes people look at the city a little differently, and it makes them think differently."
During the annual Convergence Festival, art converts Providence Parks and urban land into a public museum of contemporary art. "The sculpture stands year long as a reminder that Providence is a city that embraces its public space," says Nancy Derrig, "and celebrates the arts as a part of everyday life."
The Office of Cultural Affairs has been able to put a face on the arts community in everyday experiences. "Artists create art so they can create a dialogue and want to know it has impact," says Cathy Bert of the Bert Gallery. "The presence of art is nice for the city because it provides a great visual message that this is an arts community." The office has developed collaborations with arts organizations throughout the city and the state. Gallery Night Providence grew out of the 1996 Convergence Festival, and now includes 20 galleries along with a free ArTrolley tour provided by the city. Not only has the agency built relationships with the business community, it has worked tirelessly to develop relationships with emerging artists. Now a well-known artist, Barnaby Evans received his first three public commissions from the OCA. In 1996 Evans installed a form of WaterFire, braziers of floating fires placed along the river, along Waterplace Park and Riverwalk at the Convergence Festival and received national attention. WaterFire is now a series of 90 flaming braziers set afloat on the river, features recorded music from around the world, and is held on designated evenings throughout the year.
"By providing artistic activity and by putting arts programming downtown, the OCA creates a significant arts statement in the city," says Randy Rosenbaum, Executive
Director of Rhode Island State Council on the Arts.
"The version of WaterFire that appeared during the Convergence Festival received so much attention, volumes more than its initial appearance at First Night in 1994," explains Evans. "It was larger, the weather was nicer, and it was along the new Riverwalk."
"The presence of public art has long been under-represented in Providence," continues Evans. "It is important for the vitality of the city." The OCA has provided extraordinary locations for thousands of artists and performers. Performances in free public venues, like Roger Williams Park's Temple to Music or Waterplace Park in downtown Providence, have shaped careers because they are unlike a theatre or classic stage appearance.
Dominique Alfandre of the Island Moving Company has been impressed by the OCA's willingness to include modern dance performance in its repertoire of programming. "I remember when I performed at Roger Williams Park years ago. It was the first time Island Moving Company performed outside. Performing at the Temple to Music was really an amazing idea." Outdoor performances have since become a signature of the company.
Island Moving Company's experience in an outside, public realm has been significant to developing their style. "The whole idea of having a performance where the audience could wander in and out was amazing. Most (modern dance) events were in arenas where audience members bought tickets, came to that performance, and sat down. This experience was different in that people who hadn't even planned to attend a dance festival that day came and experienced it. Maybe it was a surprise as they walked through the park. The informality of performing outdoors is the most pleasant part of Convergence."
"The Office of Cultural Affairs has attracted other creative people to the city besides artists," observes Jay Coogan, Dean of Fine Arts at RISD. "...creative businesses want to be a part of this community."
Artist Peter Stempel first connected with the OCA with his impressive Convergence sculpture Ceramic Buoy Color Field. "The project was ambitious, but I wasn't certain that Bob (Rizzo) would agree to show it at Convergence. So, when I hadn't heard back from Bob after I sent him my proposal, I walked into his office one day with a scale model of my piece. That pestering helped quite a bit and I got into Convergence. They put a lot of faith in me," says Stempel.
It took more years than I care to admit to pay off credit cards for that project. But, that is the project that gave everybody else confidence that I could build a 200 by 110 foot sculpture. Without that first Convergence piece none of the public art work I have done would have happened," explains Stempel. "Convergence has a high level of visibility (for artists). It gave me a format to interact with public art. So, I spent the $2000 commission on this piece that has given me considerable visibility as opposed to (my work) in private homes that reaches only a small number of people who visit that home."
Randy Rosenbaum, Executive Director of Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA), knows how the public OCA programs have invigorated this renovated, historic city. "The work they do has energized Providence and now the rest of the state," says Rosenbaum. "By providing a level of artistic activity and by putting arts programming downtown, the Office of Cultural Affairs creates a significant arts statement in the city." The Rhode Island Division of Tourism has teamed up with the office this year to promote Convergence statewide.
One significant challenge that faces the Office of Cultural Affairs is funding. Rizzo's office receives a scant $70,000 in city funding. That amount is not enough to maintain the high-caliber performances, distinctive concerts, and hip festivals that reflect the city's arts legacy. Rizzo has been innovative in the way he has developed financial resources. Through an affiliation with CapitolArts Providence, a non-profit organization that funds Convergence and other projects, grants from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts and the Providence Tourism Council have subsidized the city's funds.
Over the years, the office has moved all of its programming from Roger Williams Park to downtown. John Palmieri, director of the Providence Planning and Development for the past eight years, is enthusiastic about the role of arts and culture in the city. "Some cities try to create ways to include art in their city. Providence has always had an arts presence. With Rhode Island School of Design, Brown University, Johnson and Wales, the arts have historically always been here," says Palmieri.
The free public events include a broad spectrum of artistic styles and forms and always offer something extraordinary. They are meant for the whole community to enjoy together, not something exclusive to one group or another.
"The Office of Cultural Affairs has been able to harness resources and provide cultural programming in a central way," says Palmieri. "It complements what RISD and Trinity (Repertory Company) are doing. Their office has been significant in creating arts programs that pay homage to the city's status. The Office of Cultural Affairs has been largely responsible for the enhanced reputation we enjoy as a city that embraces art and culture. The office manages to do things with real skill and aplomb. They do it the right way."
"The Office of Cultural Affairs has been largely responsible for the enhanced reputation we enjoy as a city that embraces art and culture," says John Palmieri, Director of the Providence Planning and Development.
It is that finesse which has given Cultural Affairs its highly regarded reputation. "The Office of Cultural Affairs is very sensitive to the high arts in a way that respects the city's status and that influences the city's center," remarks Palmieri.
The Office of Cultural Affairs has made a difference in the city. Providence has invested millions into downtown riverfront and park renovations, but that would be incomplete without things to do. Cultural Affairs has helped transform this venerable, post-industrial relic into a vibrant, vital city center filled with lively arts programming.
"There is no question of a program's success when it is funded through the office," explains Jay Coogan, Dean of Fine Arts at RISD. "The programs are there, people see them, they are diverse in nature, and enliven the city at a time when people want to be out."
Coogan has noticed that Providence's lively cultural community appeals to newcomers.
"The Office of Cultural Affairs has attracted other creative people to the city besides visual and performing artists," adds Coogan. "Others with creative minds, creative businesses want to be a part of this community. Providence is an arts magnet that pulls people here."
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