"The Return Home" by Gillian Christy - Providence, Rhode Island - Abstract Public Sculptures on Waymarking.com

The Gillian Christy stainless steel sculpture, "The Return Home", stands above the Woonasquatucket River on a wide pedestrian footbridge connecting Promenade Street and Providence Place in downtown Providence, Rhode Island. This eye-catching, 7-foot diameter and two-foot wide gleaming disk is both artistic and informational.

The front and back sides exhibit text precision cut through the material. Facing north to Promenade Street is "WOONASQUATUCKET RIVER". The Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council logo and web address are centered near the bottom of the back side and below this informational text:

Woonasquatucket River
(Woon ahs kwa tuck it = Where the salt water ends)

The Woonasquatucket River is one of fourteen federally designated American Heritage Rivers. From its headwaters in North Smithfield, it flows to Providence where it creates Waterplace Park, and then joins other rivers to form the upper part of Narragansett Bay.

The River played a powerful role in Rhode Island’s progression from pioneer to national leader in the American Industrial Revolution. This rich industrial heritage left behind dams that prevent the passage of fish - such as herring, shad, and eel - that need to move between fresh and salt water to spawn.

The Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council’s mission to reclaim this River as a natural, historic, and recreational resource includes returning these fish to the river through restoration of fish passages.

Follow the river upstream and you may see great blue heron, painted turtles, kingfishers, red-tail hawks and the first fish ladder at Rising Sun Mills.

From the artist's web site:

The Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council commissioned The Return Home for the Bath Street Pedestrian Bridge in Providence, RI. On one side, the sculpture serves as an important indicator for the Woonasquatucket River, while on the other side, descriptive text educates visitors and residents on the river's history. The sculpted school of fish, "swim" over the round discs which is symbolic of the circle of life and the rivers' connection to the ocean.

Recently, a fish ladder was installed down stream near Rising Sun Mills and anadromous fish are able to migrate to the fresh water to spawn. When one has the opportunity to view a school of fish passing through the fresh water, it is astonishing to note that they are such a tight-knit group of fish, swimming, moving and working together. This vibrancy, life and growth can also be discovered within the community. The piece was installed in March 2008. Funding for Ms. Christy's sculpture was provided by EPA Region One, The Foundry, and the Rhode Island State Council of the Arts.

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