Taking Art to the Streets

In 1974 Providence artist Ruth Dealy had an idea. A founding member of a new artists’ collaborative Loft Horizons, Dealy was looking for a way to bring the experience of enjoying visual art to “as large a group of people as possible.” She happened to read that the owner of Radding Sign Company (now Lamar Advertising) had a strong interest in public art and her idea took hold: Billboards as gallery space.

With donated sign space and free installation services in hand, Loft Horizons secured a small grant from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts and four hand-silk-screened prints were installed on eight billboards in the Providence area. The project received national acclaim. Dealy had always hoped that the project would be repeated and eventually turn into something more permanent. “I tried and tried, but the funding always fell through. It tortured me,” she says.

No more. Artboards RI, a yearlong project launched in October, will once again showcase the work of local artists on billboards in the Providence area. The focus will be on bringing art into the urban neighborhoods of Providence and Central Falls, where access to art is often limited. By using smaller billboards, targeted to pedestrian and slower automobile traffic, Artboards RI hopes to engage the neighborhoods, especially the youth, in conversations about art. It is hoped that through the use of print and social media the project will eventually reach beyond the neighborhoods, encouraging even visitors to Providence to seek out the experience of the “urban art gallery.”

The works of Artboards RI’s first three featured artists will remain in place through most of January. Ruth Dealy’s Ground Fog can be seen at 384 Valley Street. Painted in 2003, it reflects on Dealy’s ability to finally “see the fog lifting” following surgery that successfully restored her eyesight. She hopes others will find it enlightening and encouraging.

Mark Freedman’s NY RT 5 IV (pictured below) can be seen at 221 Allens Avenue. The original painting’s large size fit the format of a billboard, says Freedman, and its subject matter – an urban highway overpass – is appropriate to the Allens Avenue location. Freedman, who likes to paint from memory, is known for his stark (and starkly beautiful) urban scenes.

The third featured artist is AS220 youth artist Wilson Aguilar. His photograph, a stunning juxtaposition of dog, urban rooftop and blue sky, can be seen at 800 Charles Street. His impressive photography portfolio is accessible through AS220’s website.

Every 12 weeks, three new artists will be featured on three different billboards in Providence and Central Falls. Be on the lookout for the works of these artists: Ida Schmulowitz, Robert Artboard art by Mark Freedman Dilworth, Angel Quinonez, Entang Wiharso, Chesare DeCredico, Alfred DeCredico and AS220 youth artists Ariel Brito, Justin Espinal and Kyle Collins. The Central Falls installations will be done by RISD students.

East Siders may easily recognize at least one of the artists, Ida Schmulowitz, by sight if not by name, as she is a somewhat established presence in Fox Point. Schmulowitz has been painting a series of urban landscapes from the same vantage point on the India Point pedestrian bridge (old and new) since 1983. She might also be recognizable as the person seen dragging very large, still wet canvases along the streets of Fox Point as she makes her way back to her Ives Street studio. The bumpy ride, Schmulowitz has found, besides being the most practical way to get her canvases home, enhances the texture of her landscapes. Ida was drawn to participate in the project because she sees it as “a great way to get more people to see what Rhode Is- land artists do.”

Artboards RI is sponsored by the Providence Tourism Council, Cornish Associates, AS220, Rhode Island School of Design, Attorney Marc Greenfield and Lamar Advertising. For more information contact Linda Holmes, lindaholmes.newton@gmail.com