Donald R. Grebien, Mayor of the City of Pawtucket, speaks about the power of the arts.
Many have heard the old saying, “A picture is worth 1,000 words.” Taking this phrase one step further, in the City of Pawtucket we have seen artists creating portraits, sculptures, jewelry, and revitalizing the economy of our community.
In 1998, the City approached the Rhode Island General Assembly to establish an Arts & Entertainment District. With passage and enactment of this legislation, Pawtucket became one of more than 90 communities in the United States to plan and implement a district, at this time the largest in the state.
The Industrial Revolution began at Slater Mill in 1793. Artistic creativity and skills flourished on the Blackstone River. Today, Pawtucket’s mills are home to businesses, restaurants, artists, and apartments. Visitors can experience art galleries across the city, attend performances at the Gamm Theatre, Mixed Magic Theatre, and Community Players, and hear live music at Machines with Magnets, the Met and other venues. The City’s infrastructure is also infused with art, such as murals along the I-95 corridor by world-renowned artist Gretchen Dow Simpson, the Pawtucket River Bridge, and will soon include the grant-funded Art Bridges Pawtucket piece on the George Street overpass.
Since the establishment of the City’s Arts & Entertainment District, these mills have brought hundreds of artists, creative sector companies, and small businesses into Pawtucket, reducing the vacancy rate in these properties, creating jobs, enhancing the quality of life, and most importantly providing increased tax revenues to the City.
As a result of Pawtucket embracing the arts, beautifully renovated historic mills house artists’ studios and lofts and created hundreds of new market-rate and affordable places in which to live and work. We estimate that these projects brought 609 new residents to Pawtucket and the $84,400,000 in development projects costs brought a whopping $965,504 additional tax revenues.
The Pawtucket Arts Festival, an annual month-long event, has grown into one of the largest arts festivals in New England. The festival is a citywide showcase of visual and performing arts, interactive workshops, cultural celebrations, film and live music.
The City is also proud to offer the only public arts high school in the state, the Jacqueline M. Walsh School High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Our students represent Pawtucket at events all over the state.
Artists are involved in local government through the City’s arts and culture advisory commission and arts panel review commission. The Pawtucket Arts Collaborative also advocates for their membership and promote the arts in the community.
Art has become a very important economic engine for Pawtucket. Art has enhanced Pawtucket’s image enabling the City to attract a growing number of artists, creative sector companies and small businesses and residents. The arts also offer an enhancement to the quality of life for the City’s 70,000 residents who live and who work in the City.
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Donald Grebien is the Mayor of Pawtucket.
To read more art stories, visit Rhode Island Art Stories. To contribute your own, email: mka [at] mkimarnold [dot] com.
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