 |
 |
 |
 |
|||
| Get Involved |
 |
Mission Statement |
 |
Calendar of Events |
 |
Just For Fun |
| Associates | Projects | Spotlight |
Art show honors city's namesake
Michael Medeiros, Fall River Spirit Correspondent - 4/29/2004
Green Futures contest gives river attention it deserves.
"...And how can I forget
all those men who came and went
In those lifetimes, all scheming to build their grand homes and
granite factories
On the hill tops, trying to tame your blessed river with stone
and concrete
Until the Quequechan's shoreline all but disappears in time.
| These lines made up the final stanza in Robert Barboza's ode to a river, a poem which earned Barboza, editor of The Chronicle, The Fall River Spirit's sister paper, the first prize in the one literary category at the Green Futures-sponsored Quequechan River art exhibit held at the Narrows Center for the Arts on Saturday evening. Fall River's much altered, but still existent, major waterway, the Quequechan, was the subject of dozens of paintings, drawings, photographs and poems all aimed at one goal: broadening awareness about a river that some hope will one day be restored to its proper stature as a natural landmark in a city that isn't exactly known for its open spaces. |  Kent Kreutler entertains while the public views the art work. |
"No river has been abused quite like the Quequechan,"said Green Futures Everett Castro, the man in charge of this environmental organization.
Last year, Green Futures held an art show concerning the Taunton River, another body of water that they felt needed attention directed towards it.
"It was so well-received that we thought we would do a similar show with the Quequechan River,"says Castro.
 |
The reason for that is easy to understand. The Quequechan flows at varied strengths all the way through Fall River before emptying out near Battleship Cove. It's hard to realize today, however, since generations of people have altered it for whatever need was pressing at different moments in time. The textile industry used the Quequechan for a number of purposes, whether as a source of power or as a dumping ground. |
It was at this time, in the late 1800s and on into the 1900s, that parts of the river were paved over. Late on, when I-195 was built, more sections of the river were paved over, causing it to largely disappear from the consciousness of a rapidly urbanizing populace even though some of it can still be seen from the highway today.
Recent decades, though, have brought a changed philosophy concerning natural resources, and Green Futures has set its sights on bringing the Quequechan back to its former glory. The most dramatic revival, Castro says, would take place right in the heart of downtown, which, until I-195 showed up, was the home of a real rushing waterfall.
"We're the only city on the coast with a waterfall,"says Castro, who has pictures of it before it was covered over that show the falls bursting by the Fall River Herald News building.
 |
 Green Futures members, the Garants: Roger & Liz and Roger's Dad, Philip, serve refreshments and chat with the crowd. |
Right now, as most residents know, that area is mostly concrete and blacktop. But if Green Futures has its way, the waterfall will be uncovered and a greenway, complete with a bike path, will be constructed around it and the other sections of the river once they are uncovered. This isn't a unique plan; Providence did the same thing to the previously paved river which runs through the center of their own downtown. Now, Waterplace Park and the summertime Water Fires are major attractions, drawing thousands there every weekend they are held.
That's where the Quequechan River art exhibit comes in.
 Winning poems were read and awards were given to the exhibitors. |
The art show, Castro believes, showcases the river in ways that simple lectures and slide shows can't. By bringing together many artists from across the region, a diverse range of perspectives is gathered for the public to witness. |
From abstract representations to almost surreal views of Native Americans transposed over modern Americans and their urban enclaves, to realistic representations of the wildlife on the Quequechan and the man-made structures which they deal with every day, this art show managed to capture nearly all that the Quequechan has become in the 21st century.
| And if
that makes some people upset, or if it lets them in on the natural
wonder which has literally become an underground treasure in
their city, all the better, says Castro. Because once people
are paying attention to the river, changes can be accomplished. "There is this longing among a lot of people to see the river turned into what it should be," he said. And thanks to an art exhibit, even more people are feeling that longing today. The hope is that ten, fifteen or twenty years from now, there won't be an exhibit showing an abused river. |
 Michael Troy entertains after the awards ceremony. |
Instead, Green Futures and the others concerned about the Quequechan would rather have a show chronicling what it has become after Fall River decided to restore it to its proper state. That's still a dream, of course, but maybe this exhibit...has pushed that dream a little closer to reality.
 |
|