All summer long children have been engaged in a curious project in Burnside Park. On any given Thursday morning following Kidoinfo Storytime, you might see kids of all ages with their moms, dads, or babysitters kneeling on the grass with purple paint, cotton balls, glitter, copious glue, sticks, and of course crayons, at the ready. What have they been working on? PROVIDENCE AND THE PURPLE CRAYON!
The first project of the new Kidoinfo program in Greater Kennedy Plaza, Art in the Park, Providence and the Purple Crayon is a summer-long art project inspired by the children’s classic, Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crocket Johnson.
In the book, the young boy Harold sets off on a night-time moonlit adventure with only his purple crayon to invent the world he explores — and to help him draw his way back home. In Providence and the Purple Crayon, conceived by children’s book author and illustrator Alison Paul, along with program director Jen Smith, children have been drawing (and painting and collaging!) giant set pieces of Rhode Island icons and landmarks: Rhode Island Red, the smoke stacks of the Narragansett Electric Plant, the Superman building in the downtown skyline, a sun and moon to hang over Point Judith Lighthouse and a picnic complete with RI hot wieners and frozen lemonade to go with it.
This Thursday, all the children’s work will go up in Burnside Park together for the first time! Come explore the magical world we’ve made in the park, hear the story of Providence and the Purple Crayon for the first time, and help us create one more artwork to complete our adventure!
Join us this Thursday, August 23rd at 10:30 for dynamic storyteller Valerie Tutson at Kidoinfo Storytime followed at 11:30 by the finale of Providence and the Purple Crayon!
Look for more PROVIDENCE AND THE PURPLE CRAYON fun and a special performance on September 7th in Burnside Park as part of the kickoff to the “Playful Providence” Weekend kickoff celebration, 430-6:30 pm!
Providence and the Purple Crayon is a program of Kidoinfo Art in the Park with Greater Kennedy Plaza.
Special thanks to program creator and organizer Alison Paul and guest artists, children’s book illustrators Jen Corace, Chris Denise, Kelly Murphy and Antoine Revoy.
This program would not be possible without generous support from our sponsors: Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, City of Providence, The Dept. of Art, Culture + Tourism, Greater Kennedy Plaza, Downtown Providence Parks Conservancy, Citizens Bank, Providence Tourism Council, RIPTA, Providence Phoenix, Meeting Street, Seven Stars Bakery, Gordon School, Moses Brown, Ocean State Montessori, Jewish Community Day School of Rhode Island, The RISD Museum, and Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island.
