Exhibit Opening Reception on Oct. 13, 2016
Pawtucket ??? As part of the City Hall Gallery Series, the Pawtucket Advisory Commission on Arts & Culture (PACAC) unveils its newest City Hall Art Gallery exhibit, Arts Retro: 40 Years of Art in Pawtucket.
The exhibit reception, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. is located on the second floor of City Hall. The exhibition will run to November 11, 2016????????????
City hall Gallery hours are M-F, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.??????????????????
The exhibit looks back at the growth of Pawtucket???s artist community over the past four decades through initial support from former Mayor Dennis Lynch and the efforts of the Pawtucket Community Arts Council, says PCAC Chair Miriam R. Plitt.??????????????????
???The City???s Arts Council and its dedicated volunteers, brought enriching arts programing to Pawtucket,??? notes Plitt. Some of these events included the Galway Kinnell poetry competitions, arts and music programs throughout the schools, organized trips to local museums and concerts, intergenerational programs for seniors and students, and even ???Meet me in the Plaza,??? a downtown gathering geared to promoting arts and music, she says..??????????????????
Adds Plitt, ???PCAC???s opening of the City Hall Gallery in 1975 attracted over 500 people..??????????????????????
With its initial mantra, ???Art is for Everyone??? PCAC set the stage for many of the Pawtucket arts initiatives you see today — the creation of the 307 acre Arts & Entertainment District, art grant programs and Pawtucket Arts Festival, notes Plitt.????????
According to Mayor Donald R. Grebien, Pawtucket???s involvement and the City???s successful revitalization of its historic mills was showcased in a recently published article in the New York Times. ???As the Arts Retro exhibit clearly shows, Pawtucket has strongly embraced the arts for over four decades,??? said the Mayor, noting that this reputation has spread across the country and worldwide,??? he says.??????????????????
In conjunction, the Arts Retro exhibit also showcases an intergenerational art project of cast metal sculptures made by senior art majors from Pawtucket???s Jacqueline M. Walsh School for the Performing and Visual Arts and seniors at the City???s Leon Mathieu Senior Center. This unique art project came about through a partnership between the Pawtucket School Department, the Leon Mathieu Senior Center, Chris Kane Sculpture Studio, and Pawtucket-based Tunstall, a world leader in elder health care services.
At this gallery opening former members of the PCAC and local organizations will be recognized for their efforts to enhance the cultural and economic landscape in Pawtucket through the arts, says Plitt.
The gallery exhibit is sponsored by the Pawtucket Advisory Commission on Arts and Culture, and contributing organizations include: Flying Shuttles Studios, VSA arts Rhode Island, Pawtucket Arts Collaborative, Mad Dog Studios, Exchange Street Open Studios, Dawn at the Grant, Tunstall, Leon A. Mathieu Senior Center, Blackstone Valley Tourism Center, Jacqueline M. Walsh School for the Performing and Visual Arts, and RHD-RI.