The 2024 WaterFire season currently includes six (6) full lightings and two (2) partial lightings. The 2024 WaterFire Season will kick off with a wall lighting in Memorial Park in coordination with the scheduled release with the first full lighting to follow on Saturday, June 1st. Community favorite events including,… Read More »Announcing the 2024 WaterFire Season Schedule
We have some exciting news to share! Kellie Martin, formerly a rockstar Volunteer Coordinator, has started a new position at WaterFire: as of April 1, she is our new Manager of Community and Corporate Relations. Our extensive volunteer network has been a critical part of WaterFire since the very beginning… Read More »Kellie Martin Moves To New Role As Manager of Community and Corporate Relations
All of us will remember Michael at WaterFire and while we will miss his presence, we will work to continue his mission. Michael reached out to us all to share his gift of a red carnation to encourage each of us to reach forth and to grab the beauty of the world as we step into the bounty of life.
At the very start of 2023, we launched the pilot year of a completely new program: ArtLab@WaterFire. This paid educational and workforce development program works with BIPOC young men from nearby Alvarez High School, introducing them to many different experiences and career paths within the arts world. Tyler is a… Read More »WaterFire Impact Stories: Tyler Moyet
When I volunteered at WaterFire for the first time, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. In early 2015 I read a Facebook post that WaterFire was looking for volunteers, and I thought “Hmm…that sounds interesting!” I had been looking for volunteer opportunities, and I had experienced… Read More »WaterFire Impact Stories: Charlie Stone
I have been attending WaterFire with my husband and our 11-year-old son for the last several years that we have lived in the Boston MetroWest area. Our favorite part is the lighting ceremony: my son enjoys watching the boats that go back and forth stocking all the braziers with more… Read More »WaterFire Impact Stories: Urmila Kamat
Where does your inspiration come from? For WaterFire Accelerate Artist Sydney Darrow, it comes from the people, experiences, and memories in her own life. A native Rhode Islander, Sydney has been exploring the arts from a very early age and continues to grow her practice today. In September, Sydney became… Read More »WaterFire Impact Stories: Sydney Darrow
I relocated to the United States a year ago as an asylee from the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. As a seasoned event manager myself, I was lucky to continue in my field by joining the WaterFire Event Staff team this season. After such a large change, I consider myself… Read More »WaterFire Impact Stories: Natalya Kharkovskaya
My husband and I moved from northern Minnesota to Providence 22 years ago, returning to the East Coast on a Saturday with our cat and a great book that inspired us to drive downtown for dinner in our new city. We struggled to find parking, but we persevered. “We’d like a table for two, please,” we said when we arrived. “That will be three hours,” the hostess replied. We gasped: “Is it always this busy?” “Yes,” she replied: “Always.” What had we done?! No one had warned us this city’s well-known restaurant scene offered hours-long ordeals just to get a table.
We were honored to present four extraordinary Rhode Islanders with WaterFire Impact Awards: Barbara Papitto, The Honorable David N. Cicilline, Dr. Silas Otniel Rodrigues Pinto, and Umberto Crenca. With such incredible honorees and a great lineup of performances and guests, it’s no surprise that the evening was so memorable.
