One of the many benefits of living in The Creative Capital is the ability to find inspiration around every corner. A haven for artists, Providence knows that art belongs in the streets as much as it does in a museum.

The marketing team at GoProvidence is charged with bringing new visitors to the city. To do that, we need to celebrate all that is good about our home and bring it to others’ attention in fresh, original ways. That means working with local talent to capture the spirit of Providence. We recently undertook two projects that organizations like ours do all the time — signage and a mailer — but we partnered with some visionary people to turn that routine work into artwork.

If you happen to be near the RI Convention Center or Providence Place, you will notice some new welcome banners, courtesy of Providence Painted Signs. Working with our team, they created a series of paintings touting iconic local landmarks — the Arcade, the Rhode Island State House, WaterFire and Haven Brothers. A gentle complement to their mural on the side of Trinity Rep, the artwork is a nod to Providence’s commitment to historic preservation, yet still feels modern. The paintings were so good that we are using the images on other products, like note cards and posters, which will soon be available for purchase at our Visitor Center, located in the Convention Center.

Our sales team crisscrosses the country, booking meetings, conventions and sporting events that bring people to Rhode Island. Our job is to help them get a foot in the door. We were charged with developing a compelling direct mail piece that would get a small group of targeted meeting planners to think about the Providence area. To do that, we turned to our friends at AS220, who designed and printed a limited edition t-shirt. It is a piece of art celebrating an iconic piece of art — WaterFire. Our team documented the whole creative process in photos and video, which we wove into the design and execution of our campaign. Here’s a peek at part of that work — a great video done by our own Nick Millard.

There will be a limited number of t-shirts available for purchase at our Visitor Center soon, but for us, the process was just as interesting as the final product. I am incredibly lucky to have such a talented marketing team here at GoProvidence and we are all fortunate to have an amazing creative community who inspire us in so many ways.