A tour of Convergence's outdoor art in Providence, Newport and Pawtucket
A driftwood forest that sways gently in the breeze. A rough-hewn granite arch that looks like a refugee from Stonehenge. A jumble of cones and wires that suggests a futuristic tuba.
These are among the outdoor artworks that await the adventurous, the curious and even the unsuspecting at this year's Convergence International Arts Festival, through Sept. 22.
Now in its 15th year, Convergence has grown to include concerts, dance performances, art exhibits and a film festival (see page X for information on this week's events). But at heart it remains what it has been since its debut in Roger Williams Park in 1987: a showcase for outdoor sculpture.
This year's sites include two busy urban areas -- Providence and Pawtucket -- and one truly spectacular stretch of Rhode Island shoreline: Newport's Easton's Beach.
As usual, it's a mixed bag, with good, bad and mediocre works scattered around streets and parks, sand dunes and riverbanks. Some, like Rob Lorenson's elegant stainless steel sculptures in the Fleet Center Galleria and a jazzy bronze-and-steel construction by Mike Hansel at Easton's Beach, are about as good as contemporary sculpture gets. Others demonstrate what can happen when large pieces of wood and metal fall into the wrong hands.
Still, almost any of these works are capable of tweaking our artistic perceptions, if only because of where they are: outdoors.
In fact, looking at art outdoors isn't at all like looking at art indoors. For one thing, there are no tastefully painted walls and ceilings to fence our eyes in. We're free to look at the art, the sky, the trees, the couple with the his-and-hers nose rings -- whatever.
At the same time, art has a way of interacting with its surroundings, causing us to see even familiar places through new eyes.
This year, that's especially true in Providence, where recent renovations to Kennedy Plaza and Burnside Park and continuing improvements in the city's Smith Hill neighborhood are highlighted by some of the festival's best outdoor sculptures.
Providence
For both practical and sentimental reasons, I began my sculpture safari in downtown Providence. Practical because that's where The Journal's offices are. Sentimental because Providence is where Convergence began a decade and a half ago.
But where to start?
After obtaining a map from the festival's sponsor, the Providence Park's Department's Office of Cultural Affairs, I decided to start in Kennedy Plaza, then work my way along the Providence riverwalk from Waterplace Park to the Crawford Street Bridge.
From there, I could cut through the financial district -- more sculptures are stationed in the Arcade and Fleet Center, as well as on Adrian Hall Way across from the Lederer Theatre -- before returning to The Journal's offices on Fountain Street.
Visits to outlying sites such as Roger Williams Park, Smith Hill and India Point Park would have to wait for another day.
(Note: Guides to Providence's Convergence sculptures are available at the Providence Tourism Council, 55 Dorrance St., and the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau information booth in the Rhode Island Convention Center, 1 Sabin St. Information on Convergence-related activities is also available online at www.caparts.org/convergence/).
MY FIRST STOP was Biltmore Park, a small island of open space between the Providence Biltmore hotel and the Fleet Skating Rink.
Despite the fact that two permanent sculptures already call the park home -- one a better-than-average statue of Civil War hero Maj. Henry Harrison Young, the other a memorial to Lillian Feinstein, matriarch of Rhode Island's ubiquitous Feinstein clan -- five Convergence pieces have been installed here. All look vaguely industrial.
My first sighting occurred on the west side of the park, where I noticed what appeared to be a small spiral-shaped cannon perched at the corner of Dorrance Street and Exchange Terrace. It turned out to be I do what I can do, by German sculptor Roland Mayer.
Other works included a large metal ball and chain (Origin) by Syracuse, N.Y., artist Tash Taskale and an even larger plywood cylinder (Canal) by South Carolina sculptor Jon Rajkovich. At night, an interior light turns Rajkovich's piece into a glowing above-ground tunnel.
From there, it was on to Burnside Park on the other side of the skating rink.
A large untitled sculpture by Newport artist Peter Diepenbrock came first. Located just outside the park, across from the Rhode Island Foundation offices on Exchange Terrace, it reminded me of a Japanese Torii Gate covered with shiny metal shingles.
Inside the park were two more Convergence works: Inquiry, a series of gray granite posts by Maine sculptor Evan Hayes, and Arch, a craggy pink-granite portal by New Jersey artist Harry Gordon.
Both Gordon's and Diepenbrock's sculptures were bigger, stronger and more physically impressive than those in Biltmore Park. Nevertheless, I spent most of my time ogling another piece of park art: the newly restored Bajnotti Fountain, which looked terrific in the early morning light.
NEXT STOP: WATERPLACE Park and the Providence riverwalk.
Over the past few years, the busy, pedestrian-friendly walkways along the Providence River have become Convergence's main showcase for outdoor sculpture. This year is no exception, with some of the festival's best work located between Waterplace and the Crawford Street Bridge.
But perhaps the most moving piece of riverfront art isn't part of Convergence: that's the "Wall of Hope" tile project, parts of which have been installed in the Convention Center, on the Journal Building and inside the Memorial Boulevard tunnel leading to Waterplace Park. The tiles commemorate the victims of last year's terrorist attacks.
Other highlights include a series of wind-propelled sculptures by Ipswich, Mass., artist George Sherwood and a massive arch-like Cor-Ten steel work by Plattsburgh, N.Y., sculptor Don Osbourne.
Sherwood's pieces are located at the Waterplace Park basin and across from the Steeple Street Bridge on the College Hill side of the riverwalk. Osbourne's sculpture is on the riverwalk at College Street, near Market Square.
For the first time, a number of sculptures have been installed farther down the riverwalk, between Crawford Street and the Point Street Bridge. Best reason to go: Rob Lorenson's Textured Gear, a big O-shaped sculpture that looks like an armor-plated bagel.
THE LAST LEG of my Providence sculpture crawl took me through the financial district, then up to Trinity Rep's Lederer Theatre on Washington Street.
Somehow I managed to miss Private Cathedral Series, a sculpture by Maryland artist Cheryl Springels that my map indicated was on the second floor of the Arcade. However, I did find Eclipse #3, another work (actually a pair of works) by Lorenson that added some sculptural panache to the otherwise austere Fleet Center Galleria.
A few minutes later, I noticed an elderly man banging on Totem for a Viking, a big welded-metal sculpture at Fountain Street and Adrian Hall Way.
At first, I thought the man was annoyed by the spiraling horns on the Viking's helmet, which looked more satanic than Scandinavian. But eventually I realized that he simply enjoyed the sound -- like a muffled steel drum -- the figured emitted after each whack.
Newport
During the summer, Easton's Beach is a mecca for swimmers and sun-worshipers. But come fall, this sparkling crescent of sand, sea and sky on the Newport-Middletown line becomes a showcase for local sculptors working under the auspices of Project One, a Newport-based arts group.
The art-on-the-beach tradition began before Newport became part of the ever-expanding Convergence empire, and the exhibits retain their original name: "Wind Sea Sky." But in other ways they further Convergence's mission of bringing contemporary art to public places.
"It's a great opportunity for both the artists and the public," says Molly Sexton, one of the coordinators for the event.
"For the public, it's a chance to see the work of local artists in a very visible, very accessible place. For the artists, it's a chance to show their work in one of the most beautiful places on the island."
At the time of my visit, about a dozen sculptures had been installed in a long looping arc at the back of the beach. Another 12 to 15 works were due to arrive within the next two days.
Of those that had already claimed their patch of paradise, many used materials connected with the sea.
For Sea Forest, Portsmouth artist Patty Freeborn collected long pieces of driftwood, then embedded them in the sand. The result manages to be both sensuous and slightly spooky, like a garden designed by Stephen King. Scott Hemeon's Clambake, meanwhile, consists of dozens of clam and quahog shells balanced precariously on wooden stakes.
Other highlights include Ned Miller's sailfish weathervane, which sports a fluted tin fin and a piano soundboard for a body, and a big industrial-looking work by talented Newport sculptor Mike Hansel.
"Wind Sea Sky" continues through Oct. 20.
Pawtucket
Compared to the hearty servings of outdoor sculpture in Providence and Newport, Pawtucket's offerings are more like a tray of low-fat canapes. Still, there are a number of good reasons to visit the city's two sculpture sites: downtown around Slater Mill and the Blackstone Valley Visitor Center, and off Armistice Boulevard in Slater Park.
To save time, I decided to focus on downtown and leave Slater Park for another day.
I found one work, a topsy-turvy cast-concrete sculpture by Andrew Oesch, across the street from the Visitors Center, at Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue. Meanwhile, directly in front of the visitors center sat Bill Martin's Conocular, a holdover from last year's Convergence that suggests a kind of space-age tuba or Franch horn.
Another holdover, a craggy welded metal figure by Peruvian-born sculptor Ccopacatty, can be found across the Blackstone River. Sited on a grassy slope overlooking the river and Slater Mill Historic Site, the piece, Bird Lady, has what may be the best view in town.
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Also
Michael Janusonis reviews some of the films from this weekend's Convergence Film / Video / Animation Festival.
Read the review
