Flower Power: Art, Bikes, and a Really Nice Morning Outside
Last Saturday, we gathered behind Gotham Greens with 55 community members for to get outside, celebrate art, and enjoy the Greenway in bloom with a community bike ride.
We started with an artist talk and some time to hang out, then a good group of folks joined us for a relaxed bike ride along the Greenway where we planted 35,000 bulbs last season.
The Artists
We were honored to hear directly from three artists whose work now lives along the Greenway.
Allison Newsome talked about RainKeep, her rain-harvesting sculpture that blends function and design. It’s one of those pieces that you can appreciate right away, but the more you learn about it, the more it sticks with you. She shared how her work connects to water, infrastructure, and the environment, and later described the ride as feeling like being part of a “bicycle posse,” which felt pretty accurate.
Allison Newsome is a talented public sculptor/innovator based in Warren, Rhode Island, working in sculpture , stainless steel, brushed and powder coat aluminum, bronze and architectural terracotta faience.
She received a Masters in Fine Arts degree from Rhode Island School of Design and was an instructor with Harvard Ceramics Office For The Arts for a decade 2006-2016.
Her work has been featured at the Venice, ECC Architecture Biennale, Boston MFA, RISD Museum, Biomimicry Conference San Rafael Ca., Boston Rose Kennedy Greenway, Florida Botanical Gardens, Jingdezhen, China, Carrousel du Louvre, Paris France, Kartinty Szalon Art Center Budapest Hungary Mobile Museum of Art (Alabama), Beatrice Wood Museum (Ojai, CA), Fuller Craft Museum (Brockton, MA), Newport Art Museum, and Federal Museum Ben Franklin Biblioteca (Mexico City).
Tate Won Chen created a vibrant botanical mural with help from volunteers. Her work brings plant life into built spaces in a way that feels natural and welcoming. It adds color and softness right where people pass through every day.
Tate’s paintings speak as a celebration to our natural world. Her work is created using freehand painting techniques.
Several of Tate’s botanical murals can be found in Providence, RI, like a garden she has planted throughout the cityscape.
Warren Collins installed a bold metal flower sculpture that fits right into the story of the Greenway. Industrial materials turned into something organic and playful. It’s a strong visual marker for the space and a great place to gather.
Each piece stands on its own, but together they help make this stretch of the Greenway feel more alive and more cared for.
Warren Collin’s “engineered art” uniquely captures organic and natural elements. This work is similar to the Greenway itself, something beautiful and natural transformed from its industrial past. Warren’s pollinators and pollinator plants populate the Greenway, making it feel colorful and alive in all seasons.
35,000 Reasons to Get Outside
Alongside the artwork, the Greenway is putting on its own show.
Over the past year, our River Rangers planted more than 35,000 flower bulbs along the trail. Right now, they’re popping up everywhere. Along the edges, around corners, in places you might not expect.
It’s a lot of work that often goes unnoticed, but this time of year you really see the payoff.
Thank You
Big thanks to our Bike Team for leading the ride and making it feel welcoming for everyone, and to our River Rangers for all the work that made the Greenway look the way it did.
Thank you as well to Gotham Greens for hosting us and helping kick things off.
And we’re grateful to the funders and supporters who made these art installations and site improvements possible. This kind of work takes investment, and it shows.
Come See It
If you missed it, the good news is nothing was one-day-only.
The flowers are still coming up.
The artwork is still out there.
And the Greenway is always open.
Come take a walk or a ride and check it out.