Photography by Grace Lentini
LIFE & STYLE
L o ft y L i v i ng | by E l y s e M a j o r
Industial Inspo: An old gear displayed as wall art adds sense of place
Lofty Aspirations Inside the home of Art Providence Show founder Laura Burkett Pawtucket’s place in history as the “Birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution” is not lost on the many artisans who make it their home today. This is true for Laura Burkett, who lives with her partner Sue Fricker in a renovated mill building on Bayley Street. Burkett is a self-employed leather bag designer/maker and founder of the Art Providence Show. Originally from Kentucky, it was during nearly a decade of living in European cities that she became fascinated with old mills and acclimated to living in smaller spaces. When a position brought her to Rhode Island, one look at a two-level loft and it was love at first sight. Sealing the deal was the building’s history as the first industrial sewing machine company to combine the then-new technologies of lock-stitch and waxed thread. “Destiny!” says Burkett.
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