Bird Woman, a larger than life-size, metal sculpture by Peruko Ccopacatty is owned by Phyllis and Morris Nathanson and can be seen at Blackstone Studios, their property at 163 Exchange Street in Pawtucket, RI.,

Peruko Ccopacatty was born in Peru and attended art school there. In 1981 he relocated to Rhode Island where he maintains a studio in West Kingston.

Ccopacatty's sculptures are monumental and dramatic, full of energy and movement, achieved through both the pose and with complex open work that merges the interior with the exterior of the structural form. He shapes hard metal as if it were fluid. His themes typically express the universal human drama of struggle and triumph.

William Blackstone Memorial is a 14 foot high statue depicting William Blackstone (Blaxton), the earliest known European settler in Boston (1625.) He later became the first settler in Rhode Island (1635), establishing his home in Lincoln, RI., which was then part of the Plymouth Colony. Blackstone was a minister in the Anglican church and is reputed to have had the largest library in the colonies at that time. Legend is that he rode a white bull to and from Providence when he conferred with his friend, Roger Williams. As an active gardener, Blackstone planted orchards and developed the first variety of an American apple. He is also reported to have been on friendly terms with a number of indigenous leaders in the area.

Privately funded, the statue was placed on private property in 2021 in a pocket park funded by the City of Pawtucket. Immediately, a controversy rose over the process of using public funding to honor a white settler when, in the 17th century, there was ongoing strife between the colonists and the indigenous population that resulted in a brutal war.

The Narragansett Tribe, objected to the glorification of colonialism represented by the memorial and questioned why they were not consulted when the project was in the planning stage. Others in the community questioned the process by which the City made a funding decision without public input.

Those supporting the project countered that the memorial stimulated a discussion that was worth having.

Joan Hausrath