Downtown Providence Art Installation Highlights Local History and Inclusion

A new public art installation has brought color and highlights of history to the downtown Providence experience. The Downtown Providence Parks Network (DPPN) has just completed an extensive wayfinding marker project. The non-profit organization’s mission is to steward and activate parks within the city’s downtown core. Nora Barré currently serves as Executive Director of the organization and has spearheaded the installation.

How did this project come to life? According to Barré, the wayfinding markers stand at the intersection of community history, pride, and walkability. She often finds herself traveling to Paris and Montreal to visit her husband’s family. In both cities, she is struck by two unique aspects of the urban scene: public art and “people always walking.”

Wanting to bring a similar “vibe” to Providence, she got to work planning the wayfinding project. Her goal: to create “an outdoor museum” that encourages residents and tourists alike to explore and learn about the city and its rich past.

To develop authoritative stories for the markers, DPPN worked with the RI Historical Society and its extensive resources. Interviews with community members and non-profits played a role, as well. For instance, Barré was thrilled to include the history of Emmanuel Bernoon, a formerly enslaved man who went on to open what is possibly the nation’s first oyster bar. Stories like this were crucial to Barré. She wanted to focus on “lesser-known pieces of Providence’s amazing history, the treasure on which our city’s foundations are built.”

At the core of the wayfinding project is the message “you belong here.” Despite being the country’s smallest state, Rhode Island is packed with a rich, diverse history— largely shaped by immigrants. Barré herself emigrated to the US from Syria at the age of 12. By making inclusion central to the project, Providence celebrates its past, present, and future as a vivid demonstration of the power of diversity.