Interview with Allison Newsome

Screenshot of Allison Newsome during the Innovation Showcase interview.

Jay Sugarman talks with award-winning sculptor Allison Newsome and collaborator and arts advocate Carolyn Kraft.

Jay has a show called Innovation Showcase on NEW TV, which features and highlights a range of groundbreaking efforts throughout the state. The main purpose of this ongoing series is to inform viewers about exciting innovations and creative individuals across the fields of business, science, technology, education, and the arts.

Allison is the creative force behind RainKeep and SolarHearth—innovative sculptural works that harvest rainwater, utilize solar energy, invite people to gather, and turn everyday environmental concerns into shared experiences of beauty and stewardship.

Carolyn commissioned the very first SolarHearth for her property in Vermont, where every bird, tree, and motif in the piece was inspired by the landscape around her. She also helped launch site-specific shows at Kennard Park, and through her work with Friends of Kennard Park has been instrumental in bringing some of Allison’s earliest rain-harvesting sculptures to the public.

During the program, Allison and Carolyn will share how their collaboration began, how art can change the way we relate to water and climate, and what it takes to bring visionary environmental sculpture into real neighborhoods and parks.

“Rainkeep” featured

Page A1 of the November 24, 2025 edition of The Sun Chronicle

The Sun Chronicle interviewed Brian Hatch, president of Riverwalk Arts Inc., and Allison Newsome, an internationally recognized artist from Warren, R.I., about Allison’s sculpture, “Rainkeep,” that is set to be on permanent display in the Judith Robbins Riverwalk Park.

We are raising between $25K and $35K to install the Rain Harvesting Sculpture in the Judith Robbins Park in downtown Attleboro on the banks of the Ten Mile River, which will include landscaping with native plants that will benefit from the 350 gallons of rainwater harvested by the sculpture.

The sculpture is by Newsome, who has developed rain harvesting themed sculptures which have been featured in Venice, at SoHo NYC, and ‘Botanica’ in Key Largo, Florida. Each Rainkeep sculpture has a unique name that explains its purpose, the science behind its meaning, or the materials used.

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