Volunteer

Project Description: A team of graduate students from Brown University engaged with the Pawtucket Foundation in a capstone project to identify trends in development and establish metrics to measure the effectiveness of the Pawtucket Foundation and the City's efforts in revitalization. The report looks at the effect building vacancy has on property value, recommends policy changes, and outlines the GIS analysis process for future duplication of the metrics. 

Course: Capstone
Credit Hours:
Level: Graduate
Institution: Brown University
Instructor: William Allen
Project Length: 6 months
Semester: Spring 2015

Project Description: This project's purpose is to serve as a living catalogue that highlights the rich inventory of publicly accessible art in Pawtucket. The tour includes over 20 public art installations, from sculptures to murals to memorials, and features relevant historic information and installation details for each piece.

The Pawtucket Foundation, with input from the Mayor's Commission on Arts and Culture, devised this project as a useful tool in not only identifying public art throughout the city, but also in evaluating places for future installations. To this end, the Pawtucket Foundation engaged Todd Stong, a graduate from Brown University in Fine Arts, to develop and complete this online tour of Pawtucket's public art scene as part of an Arts and Culture Internship. Stong researched and compiled the background and installation details and has incorporated this information into Google Maps. Photos, information, and previous documentation of public art were contributed to Stong's research by Joan Hausrath, Paul Mowrey, and others. See the complete list of contributors below the interactive map.

The tour highlights several well known works, such as local artist Gretchen Dow Simpson's I-95 mural and Chris Kane's sculpture, Fanny the Elephant. He also researched pieces that may not be as well known but still exist in the public's eye, such as Lee Lawrie and Hugh Cairn's white marble piece that details the facade of the Deborah Cooke Sayles Public Library, or the history behind the sculpture in Wilkinson Park by W. Granville Hastings, Arming the Patriot.

Level: Internship
Institution: Graduated from Brown university
Project Length: 10 weeks
Semester: Summer 2014

Experience Pawtucket's diverse range of public art installations with our virtual map!

<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=1sghs8yNadHbg20K4jtTNCFHD12c" width="640" height="480"></iframe> 

The Pawtucket Public Art Mapping project's purpose is to serve as a living catalog that highlights the rich inventory of publicly accessible art in Pawtucket. The project features relevant historic information and installation details for over 20 public art installations including sculptures, murals and memorials.

The Pawtucket Foundation along with input from the Mayor's Commission on Arts and Culture, conceived this project to be a useful tool not only in identifying public art throughout the city, but also in evaluating future installations sites. As part of an Arts and Culture Internship the Pawtucket Foundation engaged Todd Stong, a graduate from Brown University in Fine Arts, to develop and complete an online map of Pawtucket's public art scene. Stong researched and compiled background and installation details of these pieces that are now incorporated onto Google Maps. Joan Hausrath, Paul Mowrey, and others contributed photos, information, and previous documentation of public art to Stong’s research. Please view the complete list of contributors

The project highlights several well-known works, such as local artist Gretchen Dow Simpson's I-95 mural and Chris Kane's sculpture, Fanny the Elephant. He also researched pieces that may not be as well known but still exist in the public's eye, such as Lee Lawrie and Hugh Cairn's white marble piece that details the facade of the Deborah Cooke Sayles Public Library and the history behind the sculpture in Wilkinson Park by W. Granville Hastings, Arming the Patriot.

Project Description: Experience Pawtucket's architectural beauty and historic past with self-guided historic walking tours of Downtown Pawtucket.
The online tour features a Google Map application including step-by-step instructions for the tour of 40 historic sites, each complete with background history, fun facts and photos of buildings and vistas. Users may access the tour from the comfort of their computer or access a printable PDF with full text of the tour and historic information. The information is available on computer web browsers or via mobile devices.

Several key sites on the tour include: the Wheaton-Toole Building (1892), long home to the S.S. Kresge Company that eventually became K-Mart; the Cogswell Fountain (1880), which was originally placed at the corner of Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue to provide fresh water to residents in hopes that it would serve as a substitute to alcohol consumption; Pawtucket City Hall (1933-1935); Sayles Library (1899-1902) and Old Pawtucket Post Office (1897); Beswick Building (1891), location of Dustin Hoffman's handprints from the filming of American Buffalo; Pawtucket Elks Lodge building (1926); Pawtucket Times Building (1895); and Slater Mill Historic Site.

The tour is an update and adaptation of a downtown walking tour previously compiled by the Preservation Society of Pawtucket. For his updated tour, Rotondo worked to verify, compile and add information and images in a more contemporary format. For more information on the Downtown Pawtucket Historic Walking Tour, contact the Pawtucket Foundation at 401-725-4400 or the Preservation Society of Pawtucket at 401-725-9581.

See printable full-text PDF of Downtown Pawtucket Historic Walking Tour 

Level: Internship
Institution: Graduated Bryant University
Project Length: 10 weeks
Semester: Fall 2013

Project Description: Individual student project to assess the feasibility to establish a business improvement district in Downtown Pawtucket. The project included case studies, real world input from local businesses and sample budget.
Course: Urban Studies
Credit Hours: 3
Level: Undergraduate
Institution: Brown University
Instructor: Robert Azar
Project Length: 8 weeks
Semester: Spring 2011

BID Background Paper
BID Executive Summary 
Full Report: BID Feasibility

Read Report
Project Description: To undertake phase one, Marketing Research, of the Pawtucket Foundation's Prospectus for Marketing Pawtucket's Assets. Students will gain a base knowledge of Pawtucket by touring and evaluate existing resources, then prepare casestudies of revitalization efforts in similar communities. Focus will be on outlining market positioning to attract individuals and businesses to Live | Work | Visit. The research will be used to inform content on the Foundation's ExperiencePawtucket.org website to be unvieled in early 2012.
Course: Directed Work Study
Credit Hours: 6
Level: undergraduate
Institution: Johnson & Wales University
Instructor: Dr. Anthony Fruzzetti, Professor College of Business
Project Length: 10 weeks, opportunities for continued partnership
Semester: Fall 2011/Spring 2012