35,000 Reasons to Get Outside: Spring on the Greenway
Spring on the Woonasquatucket River Greenway doesn’t just happen. It gets planted.
This year, WRWC’s River Rangers put more than 35,000 flower bulbs into the ground. What you’re seeing now is the payoff. Color lining the trail, clusters of blooms popping up in unexpected places, and long stretches of the Greenway starting to feel fully alive again.
Those flowers represent real work. Time, effort, muddy boots, and a team committed to making this space better season after season. It is one thing to walk past a beautiful landscape. It is another to know exactly how it got there.
And right now, it is at its peak.
You can register for the event here!
Art That Belongs Here
Greenway Flowers is not just about the blooms. It is also about the artists who help shape how we experience this space.
Allison Newsome
Allison Newsome is a standout this year.
She is a public sculptor based in Rhode Island whose work brings together art, architecture, and the natural world. Using materials like stainless steel, aluminum, bronze, and ceramics, she creates pieces that feel both precise and organic at the same time.
Her work has been shown all over the world, including the Venice Architecture Biennale and the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, but what matters most here is how naturally it fits along the Greenway.
Her installation invites people to slow down and take a closer look. It is thoughtful, detailed, and grounded in the same ideas that shape this landscape.
Learn more about Allison Newsome
Tate Won Chen
Tate Won Chen approaches the natural world through painting.
Her freehand botanical murals can already be found across Providence, and they feel like an extension of the gardens and green spaces around them. On the Greenway, her work continues that idea, bringing plant forms into places you might not expect.
Learn more about Tate Won Chen
Warren Collins
Warren Collins builds what he calls engineered art.
His work reflects the story of the Greenway itself. Something industrial turned into something full of life. His pollinators and plant forms add color and movement, helping the space feel active in every season.
A Space That Keeps Growing
The flowers and the artwork are doing the same thing in different ways. They are both helping turn the Greenway into a place people want to spend time in.
You can see the River Rangers’ work in the ground. You can see the artists’ work rising above it.
If You Want to Ride
There is also a guided bike ride after the gathering.
Totally optional, but a good way to take it all in. You will pass stretches of blooming trail, see River Rangers projects up close, and get a sense of just how far those 35,000 bulbs really go.
Join Us
Greenway Flowers Bike Ride
Saturday, April 11, 2026
10:00 AM to 12:30 PM
Gotham Greens, Providence
Come check out the flowers.
Spend some time with the art.
See what a lot of care looks like in full bloom.
And if you feel like it, hop on a bike and ride through it.