P R E S S R E L E A S E

The Executive Office, City of Providence, Rhode Island

VINCENT A. CIANCI, JR.

MAYOR OF PROVIDENCE

DATE: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 1996

CONTACT: BERYL KENYON/DOREEN PICOZZI, 421-7740, EXT. 222

PROVIDENCE -- Mayor Vincent A. Cianci, Jr. praised the action of the House of Representative's Finance Committee that, today, passed both pieces of legislation granting tax exemptions to artists living or working in the area designated as the downtown Providence Arts and Entertainment District.

"Today," Mayor Cianci said, "we move significantly forward in writing history, in making Providence the only city in the United States granting tax exemptions to artists creating in the heart of downtown Providence. With the passage of the legislation by the House Finance Committee, we take a great first step toward eventual passage by the full House and the Senate."

On February 1 of this year, Mayor Cianci submitted, as part of his legislative package, a bill providing sales tax exemptions to artists, composers, writers, photographers, filmmakers, and those producing other creative works, living or working in the economic development zone designated as the Arts and Entertainment District of downtown Providence. The area will be designated, by Ordinance, by the City Council.

The Mayor also submitted a bill giving a personal income tax exemption to artists, writers and others creating in the same district, under the same guidelines.

The bills have generated much interest from artists and writers hoping to move downtown to take advantage of the exemptions.

Mayor Cianci said, "Due to the enormous enthusiasm and support by members of the Providence delegation to the General Assembly, and with passage by the House Finance Committee, we are on the verge of a new era in our downtown. It's significant that the passage came about while the International Sculpture Conference, the biggest and best held by the Conference in the last ten years, brings artists from the world over to Providence.

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"These bills, while supporting our artists and the arts, promote economic development and tourism, and will create a more dynamic synergy among the Arts and Entertainment District, Capital Center, and the Providence Place mall," the Mayor said. "I thank all members of the House Finance Committee for their vote. It amounts to a spectacular vote of confidence in downtown Providence, and in the arts. Together, we are providing an incentive that will lead to the complete renewal of our older downtown core, that will spur further development of artists' studios and lofts where they belong--in our Arts and Entertainment District."