Providence’s innovative arts department is confident about the future
PROVIDENCE — In 2003, the City of Providence and its then-newly elected mayor, David N. Cicilline, did something that few American cities have ever done: they created a new public agency, the Department of Art, Culture and Tourism, to oversee arts-related events and activities. At the stroke of a pen, art, music and theater joined public safety and pothole repair on the list of basic city services.
Eight years later, a lot has changed.
