Mayor Taveras Celebrates Creative Placemaking in Providence at Annual Pell Lecture

Speaking at the 2012 Senator Pell Lecture on Arts & Humanities on May 24, Mayor Angel Taveras celebrated Providence as a hub for creative placemaking and reaffirmed his commitment to supporting arts and humanities in the Creative Capital.

"I have the privilege of leading a city where the arts and humanities are not just amenities," said Mayor Taveras. "My administration understands the arts are core strategies in reinventing and reviving our city. From youth development to economic development, from neighborhood planning to transit enhancements, from civic dialogue to interventions in public space - our city's arts and cultural organizations and artists have worked hand in hand with elected officials and business leaders to shape the past, present and future of our city."

The fourth-annual Pell Lecture, hosted this year by AS220, honors the late Claiborne Pell, who represented Rhode Island in the United States Senate from 1961-1997 and is best remembered for being a champion of education, the arts and humanities. The event is free and open to the public.

The 2012 event, Creative Place-making: Providence the Creative Capital, Fact or Fiction?, was a conversation about the role of arts and culture as a tool for building strong communities, revitalizing neighborhoods, catalyzing economic activity, and fostering meaningful connections between people and places. The panel is comprised of noted national and local experts: Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD, Jason Schupbach, Colin P. Kane and Manya K. Rubenstein.