Vibrant, outdoor socializing space, and a mural, coming in 2024 at Pawtucket’s Senior Center

The Pawtucket Division of Senior Services/Leon Mathieu Senior Center has announced its receipt of a grant from the Harriet Ballou Foundation that will support the Leon Mathieu Senior Center’s (LMSC) Mural and Socialization project to create a vibrant public event space including a mural, for socializing in an underutilized parcel of land adjacent to the facility.

The 42’ area will be landscaped by Groundworks and furnished with three ADA-compliant picnic tables. A 14’ by 21’ mural will be painted on an exterior brick wall adjacent to this area and this project is expected to be completed by Summer 2024.

“We are excited to embark on this artistic journey that will not only beautify our Senior Center but will also foster a sense of pride and unity among its diverse membership,” says Mayor Donald R. Grebien. “The project fits in nicely with the City’s ongoing economic revitalization efforts along its waterfront, promoting and celebrating the arts, and the Senior Center’s efforts to offer inter-generational programs and promote positive aging.”

According to LMSC’s Director Mary Lou Moran, this project will have inclusive community involvement to reflect the City’s cultural diversity. Staff will engage the Senior Center’s ethnic and culturally diverse members in design focus groups to create the mural’s design.

Moran says that the mural’s message will incorporate the Center’s philosophy of positive aging, highlight its ethnic diversity, and provide quality public art, guided by its membership who will participate in the mural’s installation. “This project will most certainly increase the connections between our members and the surrounding neighborhood, too,” she notes.

Miriam Plitt, Chair of the City’s Arts and Cultural Commission congratulates the Senior Center for receiving generous funding from the Harriet Ballou Foundation to create a mural that enhances its outdoor public space. “The more murals the better,” says Plitt, noting that this showcases the ethnic diversity and culture of the Senior Center’s members and the community as well.

Nancy K. Saccoia, President of the Board of Directors of the Harriet Ballou Charitable Foundation, stated, “I carry the sentiment and excitement of the entire Board to be able to award this Grant to the Leon Mathieu Senior Center for such a wonderful project. We will be watching this project come to life with great anticipation, we look forward to its completion in the Spring of 2024.”

For more information on LMCS’s Mural and Socialization project, please contact Deputy Director Herb Weiss at 401 728-7582 or email [email protected].