The Beacon of Hope installation at the WaterFire Arts Center has concluded its initial phase. We are planning for a permanent memorial to be installed at the WaterFire Arts Center at some point in the Fall or in Spring 2021. Meanwhile, we will be sharing videos, photos, and written memories and reflections on the artwork here on our website in the coming days and weeks. Please stay tuned.
Thanks to all who attended the memorial in person over the last few weeks and special thanks to everyone who assisted with the lighting ceremony over the nearly 100 nights of remembering those lost to COVID-19 in Rhode Island.
WaterFire Providence, like all of us and so many nonprofits and businesses, has been profoundly impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. But even the coronavirus won’t stop us from creating art that celebrates life, binds our community together, and honors our heroes working on the front lines to keep us all safe.
The WaterFire Beacon of Hope is a dynamic art installation where a single brazier illuminates the Main Hall of the WaterFire Arts Center representing a beacon of hope looking forward to the time when we can all gather together again in the heart of our capital. Once again we will experience WaterFire with our city filled with vibrant joy and discovery and our exhibitions and events again enlivening the WaterFire Arts Center.
Surrounding the solitary brazier is a field of luminaria, each memorializing a Rhode Island soul lost to COVID-19.
WaterFire’s own future is also significantly threatened by the coronavirus. Sponsorship of the WaterFire event downtown and event rental fees from the WaterFire Arts Center represent our main income. With physical distancing orders remaining in place for the foreseeable future, these sources of funding have effectively disappeared. Your donation will make the Beacon of Hope shine brighter and support WaterFire Providence through this very challenging period so we can rejoin you once again.
More on the WaterFire Beacon of Hope:
- Become a part of the installation by adding a star to the night, Wish Upon a Star donation
- Reimagining Ritual: Spiritual Leaders Bring Light into the Darkness, a guest post by Ashley Rappa and video by Ian Barnard from Leadership Rhode Island
- A Humble but Meaningful Remembrance: A Night at the Beacon of Hope, a post by our staff member Melanie Steinbrecher and community member Reverend Kurt Walker sharing reflections of their Beacon of Hope participation
- A collection of live recordings on our Vimeo channel of Beacon of Hope Luminaria Lighting Ceremonies
- A collection of articles and press releases
Your donation will make the Beacon of Hope shine brighter and support WaterFire Providence through this very challenging period.
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Thank you for creating the Beacon of Hope. What a wonderful memorial for those who lost their lives to Covid-19!
Thank you for your support.
I lost my dad on April 17th due to Coronavirus. Less than a week later my uncle lost his life from this horrible situation. God bless u dad and uncle Al. You will never be forgotten.
Hi Jason, we’re very sorry for your loss. Our thoughts go out to you and your family.
Jason. I feel your pain. I lost my dad on May 6th. My heart is broken.
I would like to thank you for your thoughtfulness. Will there be any way for families to donate to add the name of the deceased to the display? In the future, perhaps a permanent plaque from the donations of the families?
Thanks,
Judy
Hi Judy, you can use the donation form linked on this page to make a dedication. All of the dedications will be shown on the website and will be permanently archived in some form (to be decided) when this installation has completed its run.
It was my great honor and privilege to work with too many of these lives lost to Covid19. I am a frontline worker at Orchard View Manor and I want you all to know that we worked tirelessly and sometimes 1CNA aka me and 1 nurse per unit w up to 5 dying a day per unit. CNAs now have to put the deceased in the body bag, our friends, our chosen family and it’s been hard. Knowing the relief it would bring to y’all is what got us through and please know NOBODY died alone or scared unless they were sleeping and then alone maybe but no one was scared and if they were I sat w them and talked them trough it…PPE came down and all. Eye to eye I let them know they weren’t alone and they get me because the virus is keeping their families away and it’s not their choices, it’s a pandemic. I hope you all find peace and comfort in knowing we didn’t leave anyone scared of alone. May each person rest in eternal greatness
Thank you Tina Louise! You are a hero for all of us.
Wonderful playlist
Thank you so much
What a wonderful tribute, and an example for the rest of the country.
Can you advise regarding which visit times are least crowded? I hope to see it, but am avoiding gatherings.
Hi Mary, thanks for supporting WaterFire Providence. Honestly, there is never a crowd at the Arts Center these days. Each night there have only around 6-8 visitors coming to view the Beacon of Hope and in the Main Hall, there is plenty of room for physical distancing. You should feel quite comfortable coming in at any time.