UPP Arts Collection

This collection documents the artistic, administrative, and educational activities of UPP Arts.The materials in this collection reflect a decade of interdisciplinary collaborations between artists, educators, students, and community members who used place-based art to celebrate and build awareness for Providence’s urban ponds. Their work focused particularly on Mashapaug Pond and its environs, which include the site of the Gorham Manufacturing Company and the former West Elmwood neighborhood.
This collection is part of Providence Public Library Digital Collections, hosted by Providence Public Library.

Items in this collection

Mashapaug Pond Procession poster, 2008

Poster for the Mashapaug Pond Procession, the first Urban Pond Procession in 2008. The poster includes the map route of the procession with key sites.

Mashapaug Pond party, 2013

Mashapaug Pond party, 2013

Providence Public Library

Image of two women and a girl wearing handmade fish costumes in the foliage along the banks of the Mashapaug Pond in Providence in 2012.

Mashapaug Pond party flyer

Mashapaug Pond party flyer

Providence Public Library

Flyer for an event at Mashapaug Pond in Providence with Urban Pond Procession, Environmental Justice League and the Reservoir Triangle residents.

Mashapaug Pond party boat tour, 2013

Mashapaug Pond party boat tour, 2013

Providence Public Library

Mashapaug Pond Party duck tour of the Pond with Ed Hooks as the tour guide for a group of students. Mr. Hooks speaks about the impact of industrial pollution in Mashapaug Pond.

Mashapaug Pond Ice Boat event

Mashapaug Pond Ice Boat event

Providence Public Library

Gathering of community members stand on the shore of Mashapaug Pond to watch the first ice boat lantern burn.

Mashapaug Pond clean up event

Mashapaug Pond clean up event

Providence Public Library

Phil Edmonds and a group of students pose with tools at the boathouse at Mashapaug Pond during a pond clean up event.

Map of Mashapaug Pond and West Elmwood neighborhood

Image of a map of Mashapaug Pond and West Elmwood neighborhood from 1937. The map includes numbers that were added as part of the Shadows and Sounds art installation and indicated places of interest for residents of the neighborhood

Loren Spears at Sophia Academy

Loren Spears at Sophia Academy

Providence Public Library

Loren Spears leads a group of students at Sophia Academy during a workshop related to indigenous history in Rhode Island.

Lantern making workshop by UPP Arts

Lantern making workshop by UPP Arts

Providence Public Library

Public workshop by UPP Arts at Mashapaug Pond. Workshop leader Lisa Abbatomarco stands while attendees participate in creating lanterns. Mashapaug Pond is visible in the background.

Lantern making workshop by UPP Arts

Lantern making workshop by UPP Arts

Providence Public Library

Public workshop by UPP Arts at Mashapaug Pond. Workshop leader Lisa Abbatomarco assists attendees in creating lanterns. Mashapaug Pond is visible in the background.

Installing a sign at Mashapaug Pond

Installing a sign at Mashapaug Pond

Providence Public Library

Image of Holly Ewald of UPP Arts and a student from the John Nicholas Brown Center at Brown University installing a sign advertising an audio cellphone tour of the pond and neighborhood created by students. Mashapaug Pond is visible in the background.

Installation of "Silvered: Tracing Gorham at Mashapaug Pond"

Image of the installation of "Silvered: Tracing Gorham at Mashapaug Pond", a multimedia visual and sound installation by Erik Carlson and Erik Gould for UPP Arts. The animation was projected onto a steel sculpture floating in Mashapaug Pond designed by Holly Ewald and fabricated at The Steel Yard by Tim Ferland.

Indigenous view of Mashapaug Pond

Indigenous view of Mashapaug Pond

Providence Public Library

Video footage of the What Cheer? Brigade band leading the Urban Pond Procession in 2011. Includes community members and children in costumes and students playing handmade instruments.

Image of the projection of "Silvered: Tracing Gorham at Mashapaug Pond"

Image of the projection of "Silvered: Tracing Gorham at Mashapaug Pond", a multimedia visual and sound installation by Erik Carlson and Erik Gould for UPP Arts. The animation was projected onto a steel sculpture floating in Mashapaug Pond at dusk designed by Holly Ewald and fabricated at The Steel Yard by Tim Ferland.