FW: PPS November E-Newsletter

In This Issue Education Preservation Events Community Notes Quick Links Become a Member PPS Website Preservation Nation Upcoming PPS Events September 28 - November 25 Children's Heritage Education Tours December 5 Downtown Holiday Festival January 21 Annual Meeting February 6 Winter Bash Support our work! Support PPS by mailing us your Eastside Marketplace receipts! A percentage of each dollar goes to support PPS programs. To learn more, e-mail PPS. November 2009 News Education PPS Fall Symposium a Success On October 23 and 24, more than 150 people attended the first-ever PPS Fall Symposium, The American Renaissance and Providence: A Golden Age in Architecture and the Arts. Leading historians of the era, ca. 1876-1917, discussed Providence architecture and culture at the time and explored the city's role on the national stage. PPS thanks all of the speakers for their richly informative contributions: Richard Guy Wilson, Ph.D., Commonwealth Professor and Chair of Architectural History at the University of Virginia, URI Art History Professor Ronald J. Onorato, Ph.D.; Erin Williams, Collections Manager at the Culinary Arts Museum at Johnson & Wales University; Thomas S. Michie, Curator of Decorative Arts and Sculpture at the MFA-Boston; Emily J. Peters, Ph.D., Associate Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs, RISD Museum; John R. Tschirch, Architectural Historian from the Preservation Society of Newport County; Christopher Monkhouse, Curator and Department Chair, Art Institute of Chicago; and interior design historian and author Pauline Metcalf.   Moreover, we are pleased to have further solidified our relationship with our collaborators: the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, and the Providence Athenaeum.  We are especially grateful to Symposium Committee Chairman and PPS Trustee JP Couture for envisioning this program and seeing it through. It has been a number of years since PPS offered an adult education program; because of the success of this program, it will not be as long until our next. Please visit our website to view photos from the Symposium. More images may be viewed in our Facebook photo album. All photos by Brian McDonald. From top: Richard Guy Wilson situates Providence in the national context; Tom Michie discusses the decorative arts in Providence; attendees enjoy lunch at the Providence Art Club. PPS Research Library Receives Donation In mid-October Mrs. Peg Norman, daughter of Parker Edward Monroe and Margaret Millard McDowell Monroe, visited PPS to donate some family papers, including architectural drawings of 240 Blackstone Boulevard, photographs, business notes, financial records and correspondence of P. L. Monroe & Sons, a masonry firm based in Providence, and memoranda and correspondence for both the business and the family. By studying the Monroe Collection we hope to learn more about the company and the houses it contributed to constructing in the city. The items in this collection will be catalogued in the PPS Research Library for research purposes and will eventually be viewable on the PPS website. Cataloguing the PPS Research Library collection and making as much as possible available online is an ongoing project of the PPS Education Department. Currently, the Mary A. Gowdey Library of House Histories, which details 5,000 buildings and grows every year, is available at http://gowdey.ppsri.org/. Children's Heritage Education Tours This year's Fall Term runs through November 25, Monday through Friday. Tours start at 10:00 a.m. and last 90 minutes. Fees are $2 per student from Providence schools, $3 per student from schools outside of Providence. For a list of tour topics and curricula, please visit www.ppsri.org/curriculum or contact PPS Education Coordinator Kathleen McAreavey. Preservation Most Endangered Properties '09 Update: Cathedral of St. John and Diocesan Properties Recognizing the need to address the physical condition and future of the diocesan properties located on Benefit and North Main Streets and anchored by the Cathedral of St. John, Episcopal Bishop Geralyn Wolf formed a committee in October 2008 to initiate study and internal planning of the complex. The firm Newport Collaborative Architects was engaged to create conceptual designs for restoration, renovation and redevelopment of this "block." These concepts were presented to the 219th Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island on October 24.    The next phase of work, anticipated to take place over eighteen months, will focus on developing specific proposals and drawings, as well as the drafting of a priority plan for restoration projects.    The diocese's installation of a new energy-efficient heating system this summer, replacing one that was sixty years old, signaled its commitment to maintaining and improving its physical complex.   We applaud the diocese as it initiates plans and takes actions to restore its properties' significant historic features while fostering improvements toward their advantageous and efficient use.   Most Endangered Properties '09 Update: Grove Street School In the ongoing saga of the neglected and deteriorating Grove Street School, the Providence Building Official gave notice on July 10, 2009 to its owners, setting forth measures required to make the building safe. The owners, citing cost, are appealing this ruling. On November 5, 2009, at 3:00 p.m. at 190 Dyer Street, the Providence Building Board of Review will hear the owners' appeal. The public may attend. For more information, call the Building Board of Review at (401) 421-7740. Providence Public School Facilities Architectural and engineering firm Fanning Howey is conducting a study of Providence school facilities, expected to be presented to the School Board in January, 2010. Community meetings were held during October. For information about the process and timeline, visit  the Providence Public Schools website. Events 2009 Downtown Holiday Festival December 5, 2009 Celebrate the Season with the Providence Preservation Society Downtown Holiday Festival. Tickets will go on sale soon for the PPS Downtown Holiday Festival! Ticket holders will have access to several renovated residential and commercial spaces and to two lectures - on The American Renaissance & Providence: A Golden Age in Architecture and the Arts, and on recent development in Downtown. The Festival will feature entertainment throughout Downtown, including carolers, performance groups, and hay rides, and will culminate with a parade to City Hall, where Mayor David Cicilline will conduct his traditional tree lighting at 6:00 p.m. Afterward, party with PPS at an After-Tour Celebration sponsored by Lite Rock 105 and featuring a special guest. Ticket information and event details will be posted shortly. To learn more, e-mail PPS. 2010 Winter Bash! 100 Westminster Street Save the Date: February 6, 2010 It's getting closer to midnight in The Garden of Good & Evil. Start picking out your mask for the Winter Bash 2010! Volunteer Opportunity Downtown Holiday Festival Volunteers Still Needed Volunteer to be a part of one of the great holiday traditions in Providence! PPS is looking for outgoing and energetic volunteers to act as guides in the homes featured on the Downtown Holiday Festival tour. The homes are open from 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., but volunteers are asked to serve only one shift: from 11:00 - 2:00, or from 2:00 - 5:00. During the opposite shift, each registered volunteer will receive one complimentary tour admission. Guides work with a captain and a small team in each home to provide information to tour goers throughout the home in which they are stationed. Guides will be provided with some historic and architectural information about the home to share with guests on the tour. Guides are usually stationed in one location within the home as assigned by the captain.   In order to ensure that all volunteers are prepared for the event, volunteers will be asked to attend a mandatory training session on Saturday, November 7 at 10:00 a.m. at 24 Meeting Street, Providence, RI 02903. For directions to the training, click here. To volunteer, please e-mail Volunteer Coordinator Barbara Zdravesky at barbara.zdravesky@gmail.com. Community Notes Urban Policy Panel Discussion at Brown University: "President Obama and America's Cities" In February of this year, President Obama issued an executive order establishing the White House Office of Urban Affairs. The White House website describes President Obama's urban policy agenda as being "grounded in the recognition that our nation's cities and metropolitan areas are vital engines for economic growth, innovation, and opportunity." It continues, "To maximize economic productivity and opportunity in a 21st Century economy, federal policy must reflect the new metropolitan reality - that strong cities are the building blocks of strong regions, which in turn, are essential for a strong America."   "President Obama and America's Cities," a panel discussion, will be held on Wednesday, November 18, 2009 at 4:00 p.m. in Wilson 102 at Brown University. It is sponsored by The Taubman Center for Public Policy and is free and open to the public. Panelists include Thomas Deller, AICP, Director of the Providence Dept. of Planning and Development; Scott Lang, Mayor of the City of New Bedford, MA; Wilbur C. Rich, the William R. Kennan Jr. Professor of Political Science at Wellesley College; and Gregory D. Squires, Professor of Sociology and Public Policy and Public Administration at George Washington University. Moderated by Marion Orr, Frederick Lippitt Professor of Public Policy and Political Science. For more information, click here. Central Library Free Film Noir Matinees! Sundays, 2:00 p.m.- 4:00 p.m. November 15 - January 31 Central Library, 150 Empire Street See ten classics of the genre throughout the dark, cold winter! All matinees will take place on Sunday afternoons at 2:00 p.m. in the Library's Auditorium Theater. The Library is accessible to individuals with disabilities. Click here for more information and the complete schedule. Central Library Hosts African Heritage Day Saturday, November 7, 1:30 - 4:00 p.m. A round table discussion, "Human Rights and the Exploitation of Resources in Africa," will be followed by a performance by the renowned balafon player Bala Kouyate. Click here for more details. The mission of the Providence Preservation Society (PPS) is to improve the quality of life in the city of Providence through historic preservation and the enhancement of the built environment. PPS is a nonprofit membership organization, exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and is recognized as a charitable organization.