Portrait restored as part of City Archive project to restore several mayoral portraits in City HallProvidence Mayor Angel Taveras held a ceremony in his office today to unveil the newly restored portrait of Mayor Patrick J. McCarthy, which now hangs above the mantle in the Mayor's Office.
Born in Ireland, McCarthy was the city's first foreign-born mayor and served from 1907 to 1909. The McCarthy portrait has been restored as part of a special project of the City Archivist to raise private resources for the restoration of several mayoral portraits in City Hall. The restoration project was announced at the 2012 St. Patrick's Day Celebration on March 16th at Providence City Hall.
"Today we are unveiling a restored oil portrait of Mayor Patrick J. McCarthy, the Irish-born Mayor who served as the city's chief executive from 1907 to 1909. McCarthy's rise from impoverished immigrant to Harvard graduate and Mayor of Providence is a quintessentially American story, inspiring to this day," said Mayor Taveras. "The portraits of past mayors that hang in City Hall are emblems of our past, evocative of other eras, other struggles and other triumphs. We are the caretakers of these precious artifacts that speak eloquently to us of Providence's rich history."
Renowned local art conservator and Rhode Island School of Design graduate Alice Miles restored the Mayor McCarthy portrait to vivid new life, working on the fifth floor of City Hall to provide the public with an unprecedented opportunity to see professional restoration first-hand.
Two other mayoral portraits will also be restored during the first segment of the project: Mayor Henry Fletcher, who served from 1909 to 1913; and Mayor William Knight Potter, who served from 1892 to 1894.
A fund has been established to direct resources toward the Mayoral Portrait Restoration Project. Private donations are welcome. Those interested in contributing to the project can contact City Archivist Paul Campbell at 421-7740, ext. 558.
The Mayor was joined by City Council President Pro Tempore Terrence M. Hassett (Ward 12), who created a Special Commission to Study Archival Storage in 2009 following the flooding and damage to historical city paintings and documents.