Entry No. 17 — the Providence file — filed under: frescoes
St. Ann Arts and Cultural Center
Italian fresco painter Guido Nincheri spent eight years on scaffolding inside this 1914 French-Renaissance church, painting roughly 475 Woonsocket mill workers, parishioners, and their kids into the biblical scenes that cover its walls and 65-foot vaulted ceiling — child models earned a quarter and a peanut butter sandwich, the janitor posed as Jonah, and the organist became Saint Cecilia. It is the largest collection of fresco painting in North America, which is how a mill-town church came to be called 'the Sistine Chapel of America' by Yankee Magazine. When heating bills north of $10,000 a month finished off the parish, a volunteer nonprofit took over the deconsecrated building; it now runs walk-in Sunday tours alongside a calendar of Halloween parties, Mardi Gras dinners, and concerts under the frescoes.
→ Three at a time, never the same twice — explore weird Providence
The story
The first St. Ann's, in 1890, was a plain brick box holding church and school together, built for French-Canadian millworkers who would grow to some 85 percent of Woonsocket. The parish outgrew it. The replacement went up between 1914 and 1917 — modern French Renaissance, a $150,000 budget raised in nickels and dimes, a nave seating 1,500 under a 65-foot ceiling — with the first mass in 1918. Over forty stained-glass windows by French artists followed in the 1920s.
Guido Nincheri, a Florence-trained Italian who by then was the busiest church decorator in Quebec, walked into the unfinished stucco and quoted $25,000. He spent eight years on scaffolding painting straight onto wet plaster, which allows no corrections and must be finished section by section within hours. His models were roughly 475 parishioners and neighbors; children who sat for him got twenty-five cents and a peanut butter sandwich. The organist who played him popular music became Saint Cecilia; the janitor who kept helping him became Jonah; choir member Marguerite Forget became the angels of the virtues. He settled scores too: the Mother Superior he argued with is the fallen angel taking Michael's sword, and two boys a nun named as her worst-behaved are devils in the Last Judgment.
In 2000 the Diocese of Providence announced the closure — a shrinking congregation against a building that can cost more than $10,000 a month to heat and $2,000 to light. Former parishioners and art lovers incorporated as the St. Ann Arts and Cultural Center rather than watch it come down. There is no paid staff: volunteers give the tours, change bulbs around the ceiling perimeter, and sit inside overnight during storms checking for damage. “This is a living scrapbook of the generations that came before us,” says board chairman Wally Rathbun.
What it's like
You come down Cumberland Street looking for the twin towers, park in the small lot beside the building or the plaza lot next door at 68 Cumberland, and walk in. No reservation, no timed entry: a volunteer at a table takes $15 and you wait a few minutes for a group to form. The tour runs about 45 minutes and is essentially portrait identification conducted at a craned neck — that's the janitor as Jonah, that's the organist as Saint Cecilia, those two are the nuns' problem children. The guides are volunteers with long parish memories, several of whom have been up on that ceiling changing bulbs, so questions pay off. Cell-phone cameras are fine; anything larger needs written permission. The nave is stone and brick and holds cold, so bring a layer.
The move: Sunday, noon to four: drive the half hour up Route 146, pay $15 at the door — no reservation needed — and take the 45-minute docent tour, competing over who can spot the most obviously twentieth-century face in a biblical crowd scene. The janitor-as-Jonah is the warm-up round.
📍 Before you go Walk-in tours run Sundays only, 12–4 p.m., about 45 minutes, $15 (kids four and under free); the season is seasonal — roughly spring through late fall, since the vast nave is unheated (those heating bills are why the parish gave it up). Some Sundays close early for private events, so check the tours page for cancellation notes before driving. Cell-phone photography only; small lot beside the building, plus the funeral home lot across the street when no funeral is on.
- 📍 Woonsocket
- 💸 $$
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 84 Cumberland St, Woonsocket, RI 02895
Hours: Added 2026-08-25 — confirm current hours before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Pair it with
- Chan's Eggrolls & Jazz — A mile away in downtown Woonsocket and the obvious second half of the day — tour the frescoes, then eat egg rolls under a wall of signed musician photos and catch a set.
- Rustic Tri-View Drive-In — Sits right on Route 146 between Woonsocket and Providence, so it is literally on the way home: frescoes at noon, a double feature at dusk.
- Old Slater Mill — The Pawtucket end of the same story — the cotton mills that produced the working-class congregation whose faces ended up sixty-five feet in the air.
More weird in Providence
Good to know
How do I get there and where do I park?
84 Cumberland St, Woonsocket, about half an hour north of Providence: Route 146 north to Route 99 north, left at the light onto Route 122 (Mendon Rd), then straight about 1.5 miles — the Center is on the right, and you are looking for the twin towers. There is a lot beside the building plus Plaza Center at 68 Cumberland, next door.
What does it cost, and do I need to book?
$15 general admission, children four and under free. No reservations for the Sunday walk-in tour, which runs 12–4 p.m. and lasts about 45 minutes.
Can I bring a group?
Yes. Group and bus tours can simply join the Sunday hours with no reservation. Any other day or time has to be booked in advance and needs a minimum of twenty people, still $15 per person — arrange it at 401-356-0713 or through the Center's email.
Any seasonal catches?
Check the tours page before you drive: individual Sundays get cut short for private events, and the site posts notices to that effect. In cold weather the thermostats sit at 50 degrees, dropping to 45 when funds are tight, because the furnace burns upward of twenty gallons of oil an hour. Dress like you are entering a stone building in winter, because you are.
Is there anything besides the tour?
The volunteer calendar carries the building all year: the 12th Annual Halloween Party on Saturday, October 24, 2026 at 6 p.m. (18-plus, costumes optional, tickets sold through shops around Woonsocket), Trim a Tree on December 2, a Christmas party December 5, and a Mardi Gras night on February 14, 2027. The nave also rents for concerts, weddings and receptions.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · rimonthly.com
last checked: 2026-08-25