Hello everyone,
As an arts organization with a mission to bring people together in a safe and inspiring way, the welfare of our community is our top priority. Out of an abundance of caution, in cooperation with our event producers, we are postponing and rescheduling events at the WaterFire Arts Center which will be closed to the public until further notice. The WaterFire Providence office’s daily operations and Wheeler Cityside program are closed as well. The WaterFire Providence team has shifted to a remote working situation. You can reach team members by phone and email. See our staff directory for email and phone contact info.
We are continuously and closely monitoring the situation regarding COVID-19 and the effects it may have on day-to-day operations at the WaterFire Arts Center. The health and safety of our staff, volunteers and visitors to the Arts Center is our top priority and we have policies in place that are in line with City, State, and Federal guidelines.
Measures we have taken at the WaterFire Arts Center include:
- Installed hand sanitizing stations
- Hung CDC signage with guides advising patrons to wash their hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds in English and Spanish in every bathroom
- Placed hand sanitizer at all water fountains in the building
- Implemented new sanitary protocol to consistently disinfect high touch areas (handles, railings, faucets, etc.)
- Designated the WaterFire Arts Center a handshake-free zone
- Modified passageways for minimal contact
Our collective public health takes the entire community to participate in healthy habits. Please follow the CDC’s hygiene practices, most importantly, wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, avoid touching your face, cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue or elbow, and stay home when you are sick. The Rhode Island Department of Health has a COVID-19 Info Line you can call with questions, 401-222-8022, after 4:30 pm, call 211. COVID-19 resources are also available online https://health.ri.gov/diseases/ncov2019/.
As we believe the power of art can comfort people, especially during challenging times, these difficult decisions were made to support the health and safety of our community and were not taken lightly.
The following events at the WaterFire Arts Center are postponed and will be rescheduled (we will be updating this list weekly):
- 3/13 Witches’ Night Out Market
- 3/16 WaterFire Symposium: Lukas Rieppel
- 3/29 PBN Manufacturing Awards
- 3/22 Providence Flea
- 3/26 Millennial RI #ChooseRI Event
- 3/28-3/29 WaterFire Arts & Craft Festival
- 4/2 Pass The Torch Artist Talk: Peoneemoull Pech + Mary Beth Meehan
- 4/4 Robot Block Party
- 4/5 Providence Flea
- 4/9 WaterFire Symposium: Poetry Night
- 4/11 InstameetPVD Shoot
While we are carefully monitoring the rapidly developing situation closely, we are also actively planning our 2020 WaterFire Season, which marks the 25th year since the first WaterFire lighting.
When life returns to normal, we will be here to bring you magical art experiences that you’ve come to expect of us over the last 25 years. Thank you for all of your support.
Wishing you good health,
Barnaby Evans}
Executive Artistic Director, co-CEO
Peter A. Mello
Managing Director, co-CEO
About the author
I've worked at WaterFire Providence since 2003. For the first 9 years of my career, I worked in the Production Shop learning all of the details that go into the physical production of the event. In 2012 transitioned to the role of managing WaterFire's social media and web presence. I now head up WaterFire Providence's digital projects including, web, social, databases, and our physical IT infrastructure.
