The WaterFire Accelerate @ UNFI Café Gallery at the UNFI Café PVD location on 311 Iron Horse Way. The exhibition will open on Monday, March 27, 2023, at 12:00 p.m. and will be open daily during the café’s operating hours Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. throughout the year.
“WaterFire is excited to work with UNFI to create another opportunity for our Accelerate cohort to exhibit and sell their art while also adding another accessible art experience for the Valley neighborhood.” says Peter Mello, Managing Director + coCEO. Barnaby Evans, founder and Executive Artistic Director + coCEO, adds that the collaboration is a “wonderful extension of our larger mission to bring art to the community.”
The gallery will showcase WaterFire Accelerate artists past and present including Denzel Amoah ‘23, Julio Berroa ‘22, Justin DeGraide ‘23, Sydney Sousa ‘22, and Elijah Trice ‘23. There will be a variety of mediums represented throughout the exhibition including photography, 3D media design, paintings with oil and acrylic, as well as some mixed-media pieces. To reflect the ongoing partnership between UNFI and WaterFire Providence this exhibition will be continuously rotating throughout the year with all work being available to purchase through the WaterFire website.
UNFI Café PVD General Manager, David Scanlan, emphasized the importance of being a good neighbor by saying, “UNFI is excited to partner with our neighbors in the Valley, WaterFire Providence, and their WaterFire Accelerate program to support local artists and display their work at the café. This collaboration is an example of UNFI’s commitment to supporting the communities it serves and giving back to local artists.”
WaterFire Accelerate is a year-long professional development program for emerging artists under 30 that is specifically designed to provide access to resources that will further participants’ creative careers. WaterFire Accelerate engages young artists in areas outside the traditional art school experience through a series of meetings, workshops, site visits, and discussions. Professionals in the field share their experiences and learnings in open discussions where topics involving best practices, self-representation, marketing, finance and taxes, and technology surrounding art are explored. Each cohort represents the Providence community and is diverse in both the makeup of participants and their chosen mediums
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.
