What is this Call for Art about?
Art League RI and the Pawtucket Foundation is seeking proposals for artwork to be installed in approximately 20 storefront display windows located in downtown Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
The exhibition, Windows on Pawtucket, is a collaboration between the Pawtucket Foundation and Art League Rhode Island. Large individual works, multiple works, or site-specific installations are welcome. Successful submissions will be those that are exciting, colorful, and engaging, making them easily visible to street traffic. Works that reference the city’s rich textile history are especially welcome. Preference will be given to Pawtucket and Central Falls artists. Artists teaming up to create collaborative artwork/installations are also welcome to apply.
How do I apply?
- Fill out the online application here
- Pay the $20 submission fee online here
- Email 3 images (JPG) to office@artleagueri.org
Who can apply?
The call is open to artists living or working in Rhode Island. Preference will be given to Pawtucket and Central Falls artists. Artists working as a collaborative team are also welcome to apply.
What are the window locations and specs?
The windows in which artwork will be installed and exhibited vary from building to building. Click here to view a PDF containing complete details with sizes, window and building locations, and photos.
Why Pawtucket?
The City of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, most notably known as “the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution” and Slater Mill Historic Site, is also home to a vibrant and growing arts and culture community. “As the City of Pawtucket evolves from a historic industrial city into a city with a 21st century identity, the arts are playing a major role.”
No longer a thriving hub of the New England textile industry, Pawtucket’s now vacant mills are being
refurbished into loft living spaces, live/work studios, light manufacturing businesses, performance venues, breweries, art galleries, and a host of other creative businesses. With an emergent Public Art Program, Pawtucket is known as an “arts friendly” city.
What are the goals of this public art project?
The long-term, overarching goals for the city are to reignite a sense of community pride and reinvigorate existing businesses and to attract artists, new retail business, and restaurants to relocate in the downtown area. Windows on Pawtucket is a finite project that has the potential to be the first step in engaging residents, business owners, and artists in creative place making and community revitalization.
Empty stores and storefront windows provide the ideal platform to introduce color, design and texture to an otherwise drab backdrop. The windows project will be the start of reimagining the identity of the neighborhood, bringing a new sense of vibrancy and walkability. The Pawtucket building owners have generously agreed to allow their windows be part of this exciting program, and they play a significant role in contributing to this venture.
About the Pawtucket Foundation
The Pawtucket Foundation: The Pawtucket Foundation (TPF) (pawtucketfoundation.org) represents the business and not-for-profit sector of Pawtucket as advocate, problem solver and catalyst to moving forward in the areas of the new commuter rail station, the downtown, and the riverfront. We represent the residents and businesses alike in working with its partners to create an attractive, active and economically viable quality of life and supportive work environment.
Since its organization in 2000, TPF’s work has played a critical role in redevelopment planning and public-private investments that focus on building quality places and spaces in Pawtucket’s downtown, riverfront and transportation gateways. TPF’s goal is to bring energy and vitality to a higher level in a city that is rich in creativity, history and opportunity. With a current focus in the downtown sector, the Foundation is working on projects that bring attractive, active, and engaging enhancements to the City’s public spaces., and at the same time, supporting the creative, small businesses that make up the foundation of the City.
About Art League RI
Art League RI (ALRI) has a 20-year history of supporting artists and the arts. The organization was incorporated with a goal to contribute, encourage and promote integrity and excellence in the arts in Rhode Island. ALRI numbers among its founding members some of Rhode Island’s most prominent artists working in a wide range of media from painting to furniture making. Its mission is to provide a venue for the growth and encouragement of artists, to promote high standards in the visual arts, and to encourage community participation and appreciation of the greater Rhode Island arts community.
The membership is deeply committed to the value of visual art in contemporary life and embraces current approaches to curatorial programming, community-building, art education, and outreach to under-served communities. As an all-volunteer organization, ALRI represents over 100 Artist Members, hailing from 32 of the 39 cities and towns throughout the state
ALRI has recently relocated to a new gallery space at Hope Artiste Village www.hopeartistevillage.com. Hope Artiste Village, one of the largest successful mill restoration projects in Rhode Island, is a hub of cultural activity fostering collaboration and innovation among a diverse community of creatives and professionals.
Want to become an ALRI Member? ALRI membership offers many benefits to artists. If you would like to explore ALRI and join as a Member, please go to the link www.artleagueri.org and click on the tab “Support ALRI”.