Horse with blue trim, Looff Carousel |
Looff Carousel
The
Looff Carousel is located at Crescent Park in East Providence,
Rhode Island, for several decades one of New England's most
prominent amusement parks. The carousel was designed and built in
1895 by Charles I.D. Looff, a native of Denmark, and one of the
earliest and foremost manufacturers of carousels. Still functioning
on its original site more than one hundred years later, the Looff
Carousel is the finest surviving example of a once-prevalent
American folk art. Although many early handmade carousels have been
sold off piecemeal and are either in the hands of private
collectors or in museums as part of static displays, the Looff
Carousel continues to serve the community. In recognition of its
cultural significance, the Looff Carousel was entered into the
National Register of Historic Sites and Places on April 21,
1976.
The project, the combined work of a folklorist and an
historian, examined the Looff Carousel as community-based art,
describing the contexts of its use from the beginning to the
present. The photographic documentation, consisting of 30 slides
enlarged into 16 x 20 cibachrome colored photos, became the basis
of an exhibition which opened at the Cranston Public Library in the
spring of 1995. The exhibition was subsequently shown at the Rhode
Island School of Design in June 1997 and the Bristol Art Museum in
March 1999.
The project is documented with a forty-page essay "A
Living Museum: Oral History and Folklore of the Looff Carousel at
Crescent Park, Rhode Island"; an eleven-page exhibition text; a
two-page project summary; two pages on project personnel; a booklet
entitled "The Looff Carousel: A Teacher's Guide to Community Based
Projects"; and thirty color slides of the exhibition " A Living
Museum" with two-page printed documentation.
Originally submitted by: Jack Reed,Senator.
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The Local Legacies project provides a "snapshot" of American Culture as it was expressed in spring of 2000. Consequently, it is not being updated with new or revised information with the exception of "Related Website" links.
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