ROYAL GALLERY
 Royal Gallery continues to show "MOSAIC", exhibiting a variety of works by most
of the artists in our roster. We are proud to introduce new works by Alberta
Porter and Francois Chartier!
Alberta Porter is a local artist with an admirable career as an artist and
costume designer. She had an admirable artistic career from designing bridal
gowns, collaborating with community oriented events like political dinners for
the Kennedy's, and being chosen to be an extra in The Great Gatsby movie
production filmed at the Newport Mansions. After 30 years in retirement, she
has come back full force creating a new collection for a limited exhibition of
her wonderful designs at Royal Gallery.
In the collection you will find beautifully crafted Lucite sculptures, Paper et'
Tois, and Couture Jewelry pieces made of precious stones and crystals. Her
works have enchanted, and inspired audiences that come through and view her
works and love to hear her talk about her journey. Surrounded by her loving
numerous family counting 4 generations, she is full of life, even at her noble
age of 94, a true inspiration to her followers as she exudes deep appreciation
for all forms of art.
Francois Chartier is a French Canadian artist who came from the advertising
world, and after so many years in that world, he felt the need to pursue deeper
meaning in his artistic journey. "Although my paintings are realistic, my goal
is to create, through the layering of mediums and the play with the brush, the
illusion of depth and sense of presence beyond what is found in photographs. The
themes of many of my paintings explore the relationship of light with reflective
and transparent surfaces, as they echo my journey to understand these qualities
and convey my sense of wonder and intrigue over them." This wonderful show will run through February 4th. Come and look at these
masterpieces!
Please join us for the Artist Reception December 8th from 5-9pm.
GALLERY Z
 On Thursday, January 19th, from 5 to 9 PM, Gallery Z will host the opening
reception for "The Art and Soul of Rhode Island: Home Grown Creations from
Gallery Z's Stable of Talented Artists".
Gallery Z is proud to welcome the new year 2012 with an exhibit celebrating the
artists of Rhode Island. "The Art and Soul of Rhode Island" features over 40
Rhode Island based artists from all corners of the state. This show will mark
the beginning of the Gallery's 11th anniversary and 111th exhibit. This year,
the gallery will show case nine exhibits of all original pieces of art.
The featured artists in "The Art and Soul of Rhode Island" show include:
Christine Ashley, Jillian Barber, Sandor Bodo, Erik Bright, Stephan Brigidi,
Mike Bryce, Sue Butler, Nilton Cardenas, Sharon Cutts, Bill Daby, Virginia
Delgado, Benjamin Giguere, John Hames, Jack N. Kebarian, Valerie Kitchin,
Eveline Luppi, Salvatore Mancini, Taylor Mantor, Margarita, Angelo Marinosci Jr,
Stephanie Marzella, Alan Metnick, Ian Mohon, Mathias Oppersdorff, Robert
Peabody III, Julian Penrose, Nick Paciorek, Arides Picharo, Daniel Read, Shari
Weschler Rubeck, Ewa Romaszewicz, Howard Rubenstein, Amy Ryan, Howard Schulman,
Erin Starr, Helena Stockar, Anthony Tomaselli, Toba Weinstraub, Ben Weiss and
C.C. Wolf. This show will be the Gallery's 111th exhibition.
This show runs from January 12th through February 25th, 2012. There will be two
receptions, held on January 19th from 5 to 9PM and January 26th from 5 to 7PM.
In addition to gallery Z's exhibition room the collection room boasts original
art work of all mediums from over a one hundred twenty international, national
and regional artists.
Also, join us next month, on Thursday, 16 February, 2012 for the unveiling of
Gallery Z's newest innovative public art project " Moby the ArtMobile". This
Unveiling/Christening ceremony will take place in the parking lot of Scialo
bakery next to Gallery Z located at 259 Atwells Avenue on Historic Federal Hill
@ 6 pm. in case there is inclement weather the ceremony will take place the
following Thursday, 23, February at pm.
*Gallery Z has two events every month of the year: an opening reception for its
current exhibition on the 3rd Thursday of every month, and an Art, Food & Wine
reception on the last Thursday of every month. Though Gallery Night season is
March - November only, Gallery Z carries the torch by continuing the spirit of
art in Providence through the winter months.
Our Art, Food & Wine Creating Awareness for a Cause event is held at the Gallery
on the last Thursday of every month.
Peach Woods (Mt. Pleasant Avenue)
by Lou Marciano
 Our readers who are in their 70 years of age may remember that at one time the
area from around 390 Mount Pleasant Avenue to the road leading to Rhode Island
College was dense woods. These woods extended back to the fence, which surrounds
Triggs Memorial Golf Course, and further back on what is now the road leading to
the college. The woods extended all the way back to Fruit Hill Avenue in North
Providence. The area was cleared to make room for Mount Pleasant High School,
the school's athletic fields, and in 1957, Conley Stadium. The original stadium
seated more than 12,000 fans, but one side was torn down because of poor
construction when it was built, which lead to its deterioration. Someone should
have paid for that poor construction, other than the tax payers, but alas…
Peach Woods was a favorite place for "kids" in the area to play and explore. My
first experience there was when I was a member of Boy Scout Troop 6 (BSA). Our
scout master was Edmund Micarelli, who later became a priest and Chaplain at
URI. One day he took the troop on a hike from Academy Avenue to the woods, and
there we had a cook-out about 50 yards into the woods. From then on my friends
and I would go on our own hikes to the woods.
Around 1935 the city fathers decided to build the high school, which opened in
1938, and that ended much of Peach Woods. The part that remained eventually
became the site of Rhode Island College, which opened at the current campus
location in 1960. The land was also the home site for the Fogarty Children's
Center. The area that can be entered from Fruit Hill Avenue was owned by Frank
Hennessey, (Hennessey Dairy) who was married to my cousin, Stella Marciano. One
of their daughters, Christine Cory, became a Prima Ballerina, founding the Rhode
Island Festival Ballet. A street on the campus still bears their name.
During the football season of 1941 the members of the Mt. Pleasant team would go
under the fence and carry parts of their uniforms as they hiked along the golf
course fence, all the way around to the Obediah Brown Memorial Field, which is
adjacent to the current Pleasant View Elementary School, off Chalkstone Avenue.
This area is approximately where Thorpe Hall is located on the campus of the
college. It was a long walk, especially after practice. In 1942, the field
adjacent to the high school was made usable as a practice field. Land on the
opposite side of the school was transformed years later into Little League
fields.
Another tangent of this story is that the current Forman Center, on the RIC
campus, was once the home of the Superintendent of the Fogarty Center. My
college roommate, Frank Spinelli, held that position for many years, He and his
wife, Lillian, and their five children lived there, along with hundreds of
children who enjoyed the woods before the College was built.
The current road leading into the campus was not the original entrance to the
Children's Center. Those gates were closed when the College opened. About three
years ago, Dr. Peg Brown was instrumental in having those gates reopened in
honor of the Center, and many of the former residents who are still alive. A few
years previous to that the State donated all of the buildings from that
community to the College. They are all now part of the greatly expanded campus.
If you haven't been on the campus lately you should ride through some weekend to
enjoy the tremendous progress which has been made on the former Peach Woods. Do
Any of our readers REMEMBER Peach Woods?
Marciano may be reached on line at: lou7950@aol.com
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