SPUN

Public artwork for the

Pawtucket/ Central Falls Commuter Rail Station

Commissioned by the Rhode Island Department of Transportation and the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts through the Allocation for Art for Public Facilities Act.

Pawtucket, RI, 2022

crossing paths

Commuters arriving at the Pawtucket / Central Falls commuter rail station are greeted by a suspended sculpture. The six-foot sphere recalls a globe or ball of yarn. Its surface of hundreds of giant woven threads allude to the Conant Thread District’s industrial textile past, and echo the many crossing paths of commuters today.

The power of workers and water

in Pawtucket forever changed the course of textile production and labor in America. Today, Pawtucket is again on the cusp of invention and innovation, with transit-oriented development, inter-modal connectivity thanks to the new Pawtucket/ Central Falls Transit Center, and the most artists per capita in Rhode Island.

The Team

Fabrication Assistants

Karis Gregory, Christina Stewart, Ignatius Marino, George Stanton

Hanging System

Matt Berrelli, PE, Ronstan Tensile Architecture

Installation

Bianca Mauro, Jane Long, BRM Production Management

Engineering

Erik Nelson, PE, SE Structures Workshop

Stainless Steel Ring

Ramsay Welding and Fabrication

CNC Forms

Jim Turner

FEA

Frank Wang, PhD FEAMax

Crating & Teammate

Peter Hilton

“Spun” was commissioned by the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts and Rhode Island Department of Transportation through the Allocation for Art for Public Facilities Act.

Thanks to Molly Dickinson, RISCA for overall coordination, Jan Bak, DOT, Barletta, and Michael Baker International for facilitating.