The Agenda

What do you do at the library? Read? Research? Look for new movies or music? Seek out reference materials? Check your e-mail? Use the printers? Or is it where you meet your neighbors? Have meetings? Or just go because it's safe, it's free, and it's one of the only places you can go where you're not subject to endless advertising?

October 31, 2006

Dear Mayor Cicilline,

Thank you for recognizing Firehouse 13 as vital to Providence’s creative economy in The Providence Journal’s article “The Politics of Art” (Van Siclen 10/22/06). This article only begins to touch on the complexity of issues that artists and art organizations are experiencing in this city. I write to you today to call attention to the crisis of emerging artist-run developments and organizations in Providence.

Mayor Meets Match

Letters appear, at first glance, to have become less relevant these days. Technological devices take care of the stamp, envelope, and messy handwriting with a few clicks of a mouse. Yet, letters require the time, thought, and effort that few emails or phone calls can boast. With that said, the ease of communication today increases the significance of a letter. We are now looking at a time where people, organizations, and publications will take notice of a mailed communiquè, and thankfully we live in a city where our mayor will respond—and so will our publications.

featuring Zane Claverie and Quinn Corey

On Thursday, June 22, Firehouse 13 opened its doors to the public for the first time. Previously home to cadets in training for the Providence Fire Department, the building at 41 Central Street has been unused for many years now. The newly renovated three-story firehouse, purchased five years ago by owner Nicholas Bauta, is nearly ready for occupancy. The open house was a chance for the Firehouse 13 folks to show off the new facilities and some local talent.

Zane Claverie’s colorful collages spanned the length of the available wallspace in the experimental gallery. Every piece delves into a different theme and subject matter, each meticulously laid out in a chaotic jumble of imagery and found trash. The amount of imagery is staggering: from Tootsie pops, religious iconography, and instruction manuals, all the way to hardcore porn and back again, Claverie’s work is refreshingly honest. No inside jokes or artistic self-reflections here, only an artist working with what the world has left behind in its dumpsters.