Rhode Island Visit I (11/19/2016)

Saturday, November 19, 2016
We left home about 6:45 yesterday, arriving in Providence, RI at 17:15 to visit Kyle and Katrina. We had great pizza at Pizza J on Westminster Street; try the Arcimboldo or The Audrey!
Today was another beautiful day.

Cranston Street Armory (1907, designed by
William R Walker & Son) was home to the
RI National Guard until 1996; still owned by the
state, funds are being sought for needed repairs

We headed to Pawtucket to the Hope Artiste Village, located in the former Hope Webbing Company Mill on N Main Street, which was built in stages from 1889-1914.

Hope Webbing Company Mill building

The Hope Webbing Company moved out in 1994, and the building now houses the Hope Artiste Village, a community of mixed use from live-work lofts, artist studios, retail shops, light industry, and professional office suites. There are restaurants, bakeries, coffee roasters, event and concert venues, and more.

The Hope Artiste Village donated space for the
Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame (2012),
the result of a merger with the
Rhode Island Popular Music Archive

Several nationally well-known music artists are included, such as George M Cohan, The Cowsills, Nelson Eddy, and Roomful of Blues.

The Pawtucket Winter Farmers' Market takes over the corridors
on Saturdays from November to April

Kyle and Katrina do some shopping

Chioggia or striped candy cane beets

Twin Carnival Pumpkins (separate but on one stem)

Bucket o' cranberries

Olga's Cup + Saucer, an old Little Compton bakery favorite
(more on this tomorrow!)

We drove into downtown Providence for a wander.

Condo building (1899) and
Richmond Building (1924 or 1930)

The Providence Performing Arts Center
(1928, designed by George and CW Rapp
as Loew's Movie Palace) was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places in 1977

Historic comfort station tower, which once marked the entrance to
stairs leading down to men's and ladies' restrooms underground,
originally located at the NW corner of Weybosset at Mathewson Street,
closed in the mid-1970s and fronted a police substation since the 1990s

The Arcade (1828, designed by Russell Warren
and Tallman & Bucklin ) is billed as the
first enclosed shopping mall in the US, was listed
on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971

111 Westminster Street (1925-1928, designed by
Walker & Gillette and George Frederick Hall
in Art Deco style as the Industrial Trust Tower; name
changed when the bank name changed to Fleet Bank)

After Fleet Bank left in 1995, the bank was acquired by Bank of America who was a tenant for 10 years in this building until 2013. Locals call it the "Superman Building" because of its similarity to the Daily Planet Building in the Superman comic (the actual inspiration for the Daily Planet Building were Toronto Art Deco edifices).

Strange wavy reflections on 111 Westminster Street

Bas reliefs on 111 Westminster Street

Union Trust Company Building (1901, designed by
Stone, Carpenter & Willson; Stone, Carpenter & Sheldon
in Classical Revival style) was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places in 1973

Time Wave (1998) by Robert Ellison

She Never Came (2015) by Bezt of Etam Cru
(the Polish street artist duo of Bezt and Sainer)
pictures the heartbroken Nick Platzer, a native of Providence and
owner of Inoperable Gallery in Austria, who was instrumental
in bringing international muralists to Providence

Adventure Time (2015) by Natalia Rak, a Polish muralist, said to be
inspired by “Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There”
(apparently the creature in her backpack was added anonymously)

Three Waves for Coastway (2013) by
Amy Bartlett Wright, for Coastway Community Bank

Figure from Spectacles & Spectators (2016)
by Keri King

Another figure from Spectacles & Spectators
(2016) by Keri King

Keri King "signature"

Providence Industrial or Artistic Industry (2010)
designed by Shepard Fairey, known for his 2008
Presidential Campaign Hope poster with Barack Obama

After a tasty lunch at the AS220 (a "self-sustaining creative commons") FOO(D), we returned to Kyle's and Katrina's flat to wait the arrival of Ryan and Maddy, and 6-month old Fiona.