Reed Announces NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman to Visit Woonsocket for "Art Works" Tour

WOONSOCKET, RI – U.S. Senator Jack Reed today announced he is bringing the top arts official in the Obama Administration to Woonsocket next week to get a firsthand look at how Rhode Island is using the arts as a tool for economic development, job creation, and urban renewal. Reed, who oversees federal arts funding as the Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, announced that on Tuesday, April 10, National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Chairman Rocco Landesman will visit Rhode Island as part of his “Art Works” tour of the United States. During the tour, Chairman Landesman will meet with community leaders, non-profit organizations, and local artists. Woonsocket is seeking to strengthen its creative community and is applying for a federal NEA “Our Town” grant. Mayor Leo Fontaine, Woonsocket economic development officials, and representatives from RiverzEdge, a nationally recognized youth-development non-profit devoted to the arts, will give Chairman Landesman a firsthand look at their plans to use the arts to boost economic development on Main Street and increase community vibrancy. Earlier this week, $100,000 in federal funding was made available to Woonsocket for the competitively awarded “Main Street Livability Plan,” which will be put to use enhancing Main Street by improving traffic flow and making it more pedestrian friendly with new public art, bike racks, and other streetscape improvements. RiverzEdge Arts Project and the YWCA of Northern Rhode Island are partners in the planning process. In 1965, former U.S. Senator Claiborne Pell (D-RI) was a driving force behind the establishment of the National Endowment for the Arts.

WHO:	U.S. Senator Jack Reed, Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman  Woonsocket Mayor Leo Fontaine
WHAT:	Walking Tour of Woonsocket Arts District
WHEN:	Tuesday, April 10, 2012 from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
WHERE:	The tour will kick off at RiverzEdge (68 South Main Street) and will conclude in the lobby of the Stadium Theater (28 Monument Square). Press is invited to join the entire tour.