Turning empty windows into artists’ showcases

PROVIDENCE Art Windows fills empty storefronts with works  such as 'Fragment Land,' a quilt by Mia Capodilupo of Chicago. /
PROVIDENCE Art Windows fills empty storefronts with works such as 'Fragment Land,' a quilt by Mia Capodilupo of Chicago. /

At night, Maureen Keaveny’s window is a black-light-illuminated sculpture of recycled paper shaped into shrubbery. The Rhode Island School of Design junior calls it “Turn of the Jungle.”
She applied to show her work in Providence Art Windows – a new, rolling exhibition in empty downtown storefront windows that started March 15 and runs through May 11 – because she liked the venue, she said.
Keaveny likes to think her work speaks to the wasteful nature of consumerism; therefore, showing her work in a storefront window downtown seemed ironic: the perfect place. But she also hopes to gain exposure through the show.
Keaveny’s window at 60 Eddy St. is one of 10 windows showcasing art along Eddy, Washington, Westminster, Weybosset and Mathewson streets in downtown Providence. Each window showcases a different artist’s work. And come May 18, there will be a second round showcasing the work of 10 new artists.
The purpose of the juried exhibit, curated by East Greenwich sculptor Elizabeth “Liz” Keithline, is multifold.
One is to give artists exposure in a public venue, which will help them further their careers. Another is to attract visitors to downtown, thus encouraging economic development.
The latter is why the Providence Foundation provided about $6,000 for the exhibition. Giving vacant storefronts a new use fit perfectly with the foundation’s mission to revitalize downtown, said Dan Baudouin, executive director of the Providence Foundation.
Baudouin hopes the exhibition will stimulate the economy by giving visitors a reason to walk a few extra blocks, thus exploring shops and restaurants.
The foundation has worked with other organizations to reduce the vacancy rate downtown from 28 percent two and a half years ago to 14 percent, he said.
Baudouin hopes Providence Art Windows will showcase the 40 new stores and restaurants that have made downtown their home in that same time period.
Claude Arnell Milhouse, president of the Providence Downtown Merchants Association, also sees the exhibition as a great way to showcase downtown.
“Like WaterFire, I can see the Art Windows project growing to become a major attraction unto itself,” he said. “It redefines the concept of a gallery. I believe the juxtaposition is already a potent and transformative instrument, and I look forward to seeing how it plays out.”
Keithline is thinking big . That’s why she cast a wide, national net when searching for artists. Two of the artists in the current exhibition are from out of state – one from Chicago and one from North Carolina.
Keithline felt it was important to invite artists from other states to apply because it helps put Providence “on the map” as an arts destination.
“Out-of-state artists will go back and talk to their communities,” she said.
But whether Providence Art Windows becomes an annual event depends on funding, Keithline said. There is no guarantee the Providence Foundation will be able to sponsor it again next year.
And there is no guarantee the R.I. State Council on the Arts will be able to provide a $1,000 grant for artists’ stipends, as it did this year. But Cristina DiChiera, director of individual artists and public art programs at RISCA, said it is a possibility.
“It never ceases to amaze me how the [do-it-yourself] spirit of our artists finds the resources to make things happen,” she said. “Maybe in combination with The Dirt Palace Window Project in Olneyville Square, the Providence Art Windows project will help establish a new Providence tradition – artwork in every window.”=

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