Seven local public and nonprofit organizations will benefit from recently announced state grant funding approved by Rhode Island voters last year. The money comes from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA) and the Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission (RIHPHC), and was awarded to fund capital improvement projects and facilities work at local museums, performance venues, historic sites and more.
“Rhode Island is rich in history, arts and culture, which play a significant role in our economy in every city and town,” said Gov. Dan McKee, who announced the funding. “Through this funding, our state will continue to be a leader nationally in historic preservation, arts and culture … Thank you to RISCA and RIHPHC for their work to improve the quality of life in our state.”
Locally, the grants will be used to support maintenance and restoration of historic architecture and art, and provide ADA-compliant handicap access and facilities. The Newport Art Museum, the Newport Performing Arts Center, The Preservation Society of Newport and the La Farge Restoration Fund are among the grant recipients.
“This support will help us maintain the integrity of our historic John N.A. Griswold House, and at the same time ensure our new artist-in-residence space is ready for visiting artists who will bring a diversity of artistic voices to our community,” said Norah Diedrich, Newport Art Museum executive director.
A total of $150,000 from RIHPHC and the Alletta Morris McBean Charitable Trust will fund the restoration of an Orientalist ceiling decoration painted by artist John La Farge in 1881 at the former Newport Congregational Church, now a National Historic Landmark. The substrate on which the decoration was painted dates to the building’s original construction in the 1850s, and has become unstable. Ceiling plaster will be reapplied to hold the piece in place.
“La Farge always wanted … to have artistic control over the entire scope of work, and this was one of the rare opportunities where he was able to do both opalescent and stained glass combined with decoration,” said La Farge Restoration Fund president, Paul Miller. “This project is not exactly glamorous, but it’s crucial infrastructure work to preserve the art.”
RISCA will receive $94,000 in funding, which will match a Champlin Foundation grant to install a handicap-accessible ramp along Spring Street to the north tower of the former church, and the addition of an ADA-compliant restroom in the lobby.
The Newport Performing Arts Center will use the money toward the next phase of construction of a project to restore the former Newport Opera House on Touro Street.
“We continue to apply for and receive third party funding, which is being allocated to the construction elements of the project,” said John Cratin, chair of the art center’s board of directors. “One project currently underway is the restoration of the historic components, specifically the proscenium arch. These components are critical in order to ultimately receive the state and federal historic tax credits.”
Seventeen windows and doors at The Elms will be restored through a $74,250 grant funding distributed to The Preservation Society of Newport County. The Elms is also a National Historic Landmark and was designed by famed Gilded Age architect Horace Trumbauer.
Other local institutions to receive funding include the Newport Restoration Foundation, Fort Adams Trust and Island Moving Co. which was one of two organizations throughout the state to receive the maximum grant award of $250,000.
Rhode Island voters approved $7 million in funding for such projects through the Cultural Arts and State Preservation Grants Programs ballot measure in March 2021. Of the $7 million, $2 million was appropriated to RISCA for competitive grants, while $1 million went to RIHPHC to fund grants for capital improvements to key historic facilities. Carryover funds from the $30 million ballot measure in 2014, totaling $460,930, were included in the grants being distributed. Both programs require grantees to secure matching funds for their projects.
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