Feelings about increasing development on Providence’s West Side remain quite raw in some quarters, as evidenced by the dissonance over the “Olneyville Holiday Art Sale” planned this Saturday, December 9, at Rising Sun Mills.
Many artists in the city’s creative underground perceived Rising Sun as an ill-conceived harbinger of gentrification from the time when it was planned. This view intensified earlier this year when a leasing agent for the refurbished mill was recorded while describing an “us and them” atmosphere between the “very insulated” residents and members of the surrounding “ghetto” (see “Class warfare in Olneyville,” News, May 24). Now, the holiday sale (which was advertised in last week’s Phoenix, among other places) strikes critics as a misguided attempt to co-opt the broader Olneyville sensibility, as well as the spirit of such past efforts as the Olneyville County Fair.
A contrary voice, as expressed on the Fort Thunder Yahoo group, noted the absence of fees to set up a table at the Rising Sun Mills event, unlike at most similar events, and how participants will keep 100 percent of their sales, unlike artists whose work is sold through galleries. “So, apart from the fact that it is at Rising Sun Mills (and therefore tied up in all the politics and ill will surrounding recent events)” wrote Modus Operandi, “it looks to me that this is actually going to be a really great event.”
Judging by the ongoing discussion, however, critics remain very unhappy.
Those with an interest in discussing Providence’s ongoing clashes between art, community, and development will have a chance this Sunday, December 10, when I’ll moderate a discussion on the topic at the RISD Museum, 224 Benefit St., from 2:30 to 3:30 pm. The panelists will be artist and musician Brian Chippendale; Laura Mullen, the artists’ affordable housing liaison for the Rhode Island State Council for the Arts; and Lynne McCormack, director of the Providence Department of Art, Culture, and Tourism.
With Mayor David N. Cicilline returning for a second term, he can be expected to continue courting development, in an effort to expand the city’s tax base. Whether the city can help ensure the future of the fertile creativity focused around the West Side, however, remains to be seen.
