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An ensemble play: R.I. arts organizations join together to call for state support • Rhode Island Current
A production photo from Trinity Repertory Company’s spring 2024 staging of August Wilson’s 1985 play ‘Fences.’ Trinity Rep is one of three organizations that would benefit from a capital improvement bond proposed by Rhode Island House leadership. But the Providence theater says operating costs are still a major concern. (Marisa Lenardson/Courtesy of Trinity Repertory Company)
Big things come in small packages, the cliché goes.
But a proposed funding package for Rhode Island’s arts and culture economy is even smaller than advocates hoped.
The Rhode Island House’s proposed version of the fiscal 2025 budget was released Friday, May 31, and includes a $10 million bond initiative for arts and culture funding. If the bond makes it to the ballot and voters say yes, then the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA) and three nonprofits would share the windfall. Newport Contemporary Ballet, Trinity Repertory Company and the Tomaquag Museum would receive $2 million apiece. RISCA would distribute the remaining $4 million through matching grants for arts-related capital improvement projects, like renovations and historic preservation.
But the costs of being creative aren’t just making facilities newer and shinier. Capital improvement does nothing to address arts organizations’ operating expenses in a post-pandemic economy, arts advocates contend.
“None of this operational stuff has been addressed,” said Lynne McCormack, executive director of RISCA. “It seems like there’s just a deaf ear everywhere about it, and it’s really quite concerning.”
The state budget for RISCA has not changed in 10 years, McCormack said, even as overall state spending grew more than 50%. Most recent nourishment to the arts council’s budget, she said, has come from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), like a $1 million grant awarded in April.
McCormack joined the RI Coalition for the Arts — an assembly of the state’s art advocates and industry leaders — on Smith Hill May 28 to rally around the Creative Futures Fund, a separate bill introduced by Providence Democrats Sen. Jake Bissaillon and Rep. Scott Slater in their respective chambers. The bipartite bill puts a higher price tag on the arts: $14.5 million toward 13 nonprofit organizations and another $3.2 million for RISCA grants, with another $300,000 for RISCA administrative fees, for a whopping total of $18 million. Currently, the bills, which would use funding from the state’s share of federal pandemic aid, linger in committee.
McCormack said she’s happy with the proposed cultural facilities bond since it will continue a program that’s run successfully since 2014. “It’s really helped renovate a lot of buildings that nobody else would touch,” she said, but added “It’s definitely not the fix for what the coalition is asking for.”
David Beauchesne, executive director of the Rhode Island Philharmonic and Music School, helped form the coalition. What the coalition wants, he said, is a return to the pandemic’s unusual generosity for the creative sector. Coalition members know how to go about stabilizing their organizations, Beauchesne said. But they need the funds to do it.
“Soon as the shutdown ended, the state government seemed to go back to picking which sectors of the economy mattered and which don’t,” Beauchesne said in a phone interview. “I’m not trying to say this should be arts versus other [sectors of the economy]. That’s not it at all. We just want to be treated equally for the jobs we make and the role that we play.”
The arts and culture economy — which includes performing arts, music and visual art — comprised about 3.3% of Rhode Island’s gross domestic product (GDP) and supported 18,481 jobs, according to 2022 data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
“For context,” a RISCA annual report offers, “the construction industries are 3.4% of the state’s GDP.”
Despite its prominence in both the local economy (and, of course, state marketing materials), Beauchesne said operating support for the arts has long been scant both federally and statewide, with investments prioritized for more profitable industries. That all changed with federal pandemic aid.
“It was the first time we were measured for our output,” Beauchesne said. “Our worth wasn’t determined by what sector we were in.”
A different economy a decade ago
Past bond initiatives for arts development have performed well in the Ocean State. The most extensive in recent memory was in 2014, when $30 million to benefit nine organizations received 60% of the vote. A much smaller bond of $7 million for the same purposes was approved in the 2021 special election, once again by 60% of voters.
The 2014 bond may have been a high point of arts funding in Rhode Island, Beauchesne thought. Asked if the state lives up its capital’s moniker of “The Creative Capital,” Beauchesne sighed before answering.
“I would say there are moments where the state has partnered effectively with us,” he said. “The 2014 Cultural Facilities Bond is probably the most significant. But in general, I would say the investment that has generated Rhode Island’s creative capital has largely been private.”
Even when state government does show some love toward the arts, it’s not unconditional. Beauchesne highlighted that the proposed pool of capital grants requires a match, which isn’t viable for all organizations.
Even organizations that can afford to match are still feeling the strain from heavy lifting they did during the pandemic to continue serving audiences. Trinity Rep is one of two organizations represented in both the proposed bond and the Creative Futures fund. Executive Director Kate Liberman said the bond money would support ongoing structural improvements at the theater. That includes a 1,000-square-foot addition and replacing an elevator.
The addition would allow the theater to consolidate all its offices into one building and no longer have to lease space across the street. The Chace Theater would also see “a major renovation, not just a facelift,” Liberman said, one which would impact seating and the stage.
Liberman said the $2 million would cover “just a small portion” of the estimated $35 million project cost.
“There were sort of two asks on the table to our legislators in the State House,” she said. “And, ultimately, clearly, our House leadership chose to go in one direction, but the need is still there.”
While Liberman said she was grateful for the possible bond funds, operating troubles remain. The Providence theater’s subscriber base is still around half of what it was in 2019, when there were 4,688 subscribers. The theatrical season now consists of five plays, rather than eight. And 75% of the staff has been hired in the last three years, including Liberman. Attendance numbers are better, she said, but the budget is “not yet anywhere near” as stable as it was in 2019.
“The travel industry is back to 2019 or better right now. We’ve all been waiting to get on an airplane and go on vacation. But folks have kind of forgotten what had been a habitual theater-going habit,” Liberman said, and said museums and philharmonics have endured the same losses.
People are apparently eager to grumble and huff as they wait in airport lines. But how could art consumption return to prior levels?
Liberman laughed.
“If you can answer that for me, that would be great,” she said.
The future’s not free
Operating costs might be one way to uplift the arts economy beyond brick-and-mortar efforts. What about supporting the people who may lead tomorrow’s creative economy?
That’s apparently an even bigger ask, Kristen Williams, the executive director of Woonsocket’s Riverzedge Arts in Woonsocket, told Rhode Island Current. The nonprofit offers a fusion of arts education and workforce training to local youth. They get paid wages during their training so they can experience what it’s like to be a working (and, yes, tax-paying) creative person while honing the skills to make them employable. The program takes its blueprint from the Boston-based Artists for Humanity.
“We want to make sure that they have supportive first jobs, and that they have sort of wraparound services that they wouldn’t get at something like Dunkin’ Donuts,” she said.
Riverzedge, Williams said, depends on three already underfunded buckets: arts, afterschool programs and workforce development. Learn365, Gov. Dan McKee’s learning initiative, “is not an adequate substitute,” for afterschool programs, Williams said, and workforce development, when available, tends to focus on technical education and trades.
Woonsocket is one of four cities with highly-concentrated youth poverty, according to Rhode Island KIDS COUNT: 31% of youth there live in poverty and 11% live in extreme poverty. For Williams, that only underlines the importance of an organization like Riverzedge. Properly funded, Williams said arts programs like Riverzedge can address economic and racial inequities in access to arts education — a privilege often limited for kids from low-income backgrounds, who may feel the pressure to enter fields traditionally considered more lucrative.
“[Kids] need to be able to creatively solve problems, and not just quit when they run into a wall,” Williams said. “That’s what the arts do. I know because that’s what I did. And now I run an organization with a very difficult funding model, and I make it work.”
Wrestling with limited funding is another learning experience — it’s something visual artists encounter regularly when trying to make a living within the commercial gallery system. While performing artists can recoup an organization’s money via ticket sales, physical artworks depend on a commodity-based market, which hardly guarantees pay.
Small or individual artist grants working outside institutions can be won from RISCA and are valued from $500 to $3,000. These can help subsidize gallery exhibitions for artists. Organizations like the Interlace Grant Fund also help fund individual and small projects. But Rhode Island has yet to see intensive programs like Creative Futures New York, which paid $65,000 with benefits to participating artists.
The undervaluation of fine arts could be one reason why full-time employment is important to Williams. When she joined Riverzedge four years ago, she pushed back against an organizational preference for part-time positions.
“The gig economy: It doesn’t work,” Williams said. “Ten years ago it was like this sexy idea. What it does is keeps artists poor, and it keeps contractors poor.”
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As if the aftermath of her explosion at the Studio 54 party wasn’t enough to deal with, Liz also now has to figure out what to do with the six bunches of bananas that Gary accidentally ordered when he meant to order six individual bananas. But until they’re ripe enough to make banana bread, she’ll focus on the other issue. “I came across as a bitter, drunken, witch,” she tells Dolores — three words that I have to imagine also appear on the show’s casting notice.
Meanwhile, Ashley takes some of the other women to her favorite beach, and Alicia, who is used to her country club, is terrified. “This is not my vibe, I’m freaking out,” she whispers as she’s forced to carry her chair, bag, and snacks. The snacks in question are something called “pizza chips,” which appears to just be bread with sauce on it? Alicia, being the brain behind Pizza Mamma, tries to break down the science to us, saying that cheese can’t sit out in the sun, but she need not explain. She had me at pizza chips.
She also had me when she revealed that Rulla apparently met Brian while he was married to Alicia’s high school Spanish teacher. “I don’t know if this is true, Brian cheated on his first wife, my Spanish teacher,” she says with her hands over her heart, “with Rulla. I hope that’s not true because I really did like my Spanish teacher.” Yet again, I’m obsessed with how deep the ties between these women go. A game of six degrees of separation hates to see them coming. I also love Alicia starting a declarative sentence with, “I don’t know if this is true,” but she should say it in Spanish next time.
And speaking of those deep ties, we already know that there was some connection between Jo-Ellen’s sister and Jo-Ellen’s husband while they were in high school, before Jo-Ellen swooped in. But now we’re finally getting to meet Jen, who is basically subbing for Jo-Ellen at the house while she’s on a work trip. “She perpetuates this fun little game of flirting with my husband,” Jo-Ellen explains, but assures us that nothing is going on. That being said, Jen does joke that they’re like an old married couple and Jo-Ellen tells us that Jen wants his sperm to have a baby…but apart from that I guess everything is totally normal! I’m putting together a list of side characters who should be in the running to hold clams in future seasons, and so far Jen and Alicia’s Spanish teacher are leading the pack.
But when it comes to side characters, the real stars are of course Alicia’s aunts, who are thankfully back on our screens for a backyard barbecue with some of the ladies. And what better group to speak frankly to Rulla about her situation with Brian? The second Rulla alludes to bumps in the road, this beautiful coven of scorned divorcées pounce, encouraging Rulla to leave him. “Do you want to spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder?” one of them asks her, and later in her confessional Rulla even admits that those words stayed with her. I feel like we’re seeing something real with Rulla and she’s finally letting the glossy veneer slip. But the best commentary comes from Alicia’s mother, who says, “I just hope and pray that you somehow hurt him…I’m gonna pray you get him back.” Forget the usual Bravo aftershows, I want a show that’s just all of Alicia’s aunts watching and commentating on each week’s episode. The ratings will be higher than the MASH finale.
As for Liz and Kelsey’s simmering conflict, the pair finally meet up to clear the air by the water where Liz’s boat is docked. I’ve seen similar meetings play out just like this on The Sopranos, so I had to keep reminding myself that Kelsey was safe because surely Bravo would never broadcast a woman being murdered. Then again, this would be the show to break that glass ceiling. As it turns out, I had no reason to fear because the sit-down goes incredibly smoothly. Liz explains that it felt like Kelsey was co-signing the rumors by bringing them up, and Kelsey says her instinct for Liz to keep her distance from Dino actually had more to do with her own history. She explains that ten years ago she and Dino hooked up but it didn’t go well, and now his presence is a reminder of a time in her life that she’s trying to forget. She even says she has PTSD over it and now avoids him like the plague, but respects that Liz has a meaningful friendship with him. I still have a lot of questions about this, but ultimately Liz and Kelsey clear the air and reconcile.
And thank god, because then they’re able to go rail biking in peace. All of the women split up into groups to cycle their way three miles down an old railroad track, with drinks in hand of course. “Rullala, how you doing back there?” Alicia asks as they ride, which made me scream out in delight upon once again getting to hear my new favorite word: “Rullala.” It’s my mantra. I say it no fewer than 50 times a day. It’s a greeting, it’s a prayer, it’s a way of life. Better yet, when the camera cuts to Rulla, she finally wins me over. Mid-cycle she’s shaking a cocktail shaker and pouring her tequila into a wine glass. Leave Brian and his bullshit at home, this is the woman that I want to see on my screen.
I’m even more enamored with her once they get to their location and she’s horrified to discover Alicia’s financial situation. She’s telling the ladies about not feeling valued given that her husband won’t put her name on the house or business, and Rulla, being a financial planner, springs into action. Seeing this smart, powerful side of her, especially as she’s trying to empower Alicia, is a great look and is far more compelling than watching her meekly defend her cheating husband. It gives a glimpse at what an independent Rulla might look like on this show in a couple of seasons.
But she’s not the only one supporting Alicia — Kelsey steps up to play Billy in a role-play so Alicia can practice airing her grievances. Sidebar: everyone talks about these women looking alike, but the real problem is that all of their partners have such similar names. Alicia’s is Billy, Kelsey’s boyfriend’s is Bill, Rulla’s is Brian, Jo-Ellen’s is Gary, Liz’s is Gerry, Ashley’s is Jared, and thankfully Rosie’s is just Rich. But oh my god, how am I supposed to keep that all straight? Anyway, the little role-play Alicia does ends up being heartbreaking, as she gets emotional saying that he makes her feel worthless in their relationship. But the fact that we’re talking about this so much feels promising, and I hope we get to see Alicia ultimately bring all of these feelings to Billy. And if he doesn’t listen, I hope her aunts attack him.
The conversation then turns to how Liz has been gelling with newbie Ashley, and they joke about how Ashley is a little scared of her. When the Studio 54 party comes up, Liz says that that wasn’t her finest moment and wasn’t a good representation of what she’s really like. “Alicia, you said she’s always like that,” Rosie says, throwing Alicia right under the bus. “Don’t flip that shit, don’t do that to me, don’t put shit in my mouth,” Alicia fires back, as Dolores looks on like a proud mother. “She twisted my words, you’re a fucking troll,” Alicia yells, saying that Rosie fucked her. It’s a line-o-rama of iconic outbursts, one after another: “Welcome to Rhode Island, bitch, this is how we roll,” then, “Fucking thirsty bitch, so thirsty its scary,” and finally, “I need to get out of here cause I’m gonna end up killing her.” Our first death threat!
But the craziest part of this comes when Alicia and Rosie step away from the group for a moment. It’s allegedly to sidebar, but I was convinced it was so Alicia could murder her with fewer witnesses. Alicia tells her that if she apologizes everything will be good, Rosie apologies, and then things are good. “Did she just hug her?” someone asks from the circle, shocked. The series has had a lot of incredible moments thus far, but this one is what is most promising about its longevity as a Housewives show. The secret sauce of these shows is resilience — the ability to be as angry at someone as humanly possible, and move on like nothing happened so they can do it all over again. Long, drawn-out grudges make for bad television (as RHOBH proves), so this cast’s ability to reconcile and move on will be the thing that makes it great.
New East Bay Bike Path bridges are open and ready for bikes
What’s it like to ride over the new East Bay Bike Path bridges? We sent a reporter to try them out.
I’ve long thought bike paths are among Rhode Island’s premier attractions, up there with the beaches, the mansions and the bay.
We like to knock government, but credit where it’s due, the state has done an amazing job building out an incredible pedaling network.
It’s clearly a priority.
At least I thought it was.
But they’ve just dropped the ball on what should have been a beautiful new stretch.
The plan was to finish a mile-long connector from the East Providence end of the Henderson Bridge all the way to the East Bay Bike Path.
There was even $25 million set aside to get it done.
Except WPRI recently reported that it’s now been canceled.
The main fault lies with the Trump administration, which is no friend of bike paths, and moved to kill that $25 million.
But it gets complicated, as government funding always does.
To try to rescue that money, the state DOT reportedly worked with the administration to refunnel it into a road project. Specifically, the $25 million will now be spent helping upgrade the mile-long highway between the Henderson Bridge and North Broadway in East Providence, turning it into a more pleasant boulevard.
That totally sounds worthy.
But it’s insane to throw away the bike path plan.
Especially for a particular reason in this case.
They’d already put a ton of money into starting it.
When state planners designed the new Henderson Bridge between the East Side and East Providence, they included a bike path.
It’s a beauty – well protected from traffic by a barrier, a great asset for safely riding over the Seekonk River.
The plan was to continue it another mile or so along East Providence’s Waterfront Drive, ultimately connecting with the East Bay Bike Path, which runs all the way to Bristol. Which, by the way, is one of the nicest bike paths you’ll find anywhere.
But alas, that connector plan has been canceled.
So the expensive stretch over the Henderson Bridge to East Providence is now a bike path to nowhere. Once the bridge ends, the path on it continues a few hundred yards or so and then, just … ends.
Too bad.
We were so close.
Most of the stories on the issue have been about the complex negotiation to rescue the $25 million by rerouting it to that nearby highway-to-boulevard project. But I don’t want to get lost in the weeds of that bureaucratic process here because it loses sight of the heart of this story.
Which is that an amazing new addition to one of the nation’s best state bike path systems has just been scrapped.
You can knock the Rhode Island government for blowing a lot of things.
The PawSox.
The Washington Bridge.
But they’ve done great with bike paths.
And especially, linking many of them together.
Example: not too many years ago, Providence bikers had to risk dicey traffic on the East Side to get to the more pleasant paths in India Point Park and on the 195 bridge to the East Bay Path.
But the state fixed that by adding an amazing connector that starts behind the Salvation Army building and beautifully winds along the water of the Seekonk River for a mile or so.
That makes a huge difference – and no doubt has avoided some bike-car accidents.
We were close to a comparable stretch on the other side of the river – that’s what the $25 million would have done.
But it’s now apparently dead.
Online commenters aren’t happy about it.
On a Reddit string, “Toadscoper” accused the state of being “complicit” with the feds in rerouting the money from bikes to cars.
And there was this fascinating post from FineLobster 5322, who apparently is a disappointed planner who worked on the project: “Mind you money has already been spent on phase one so rejecting it at this point is wasting money and also against the public interest … but what do I know? I only worked on the project as an engineer … I didn’t get into this to build more highways. I do it … to give back to communities and give them more access to their environment.”
Wow. One can imagine the state planning team is devastated. That’s not a small consideration. Good people go into government to make life better in Rhode Island, and it’s a bad play to take the spirit out of the job by first assigning a great human-scale project and then, after a ton of work, trashing it.
A poster named Homosapiens simply said, “We just accept this?”
Hopefully not.
The first stretch of the path over the Henderson Bridge is done, money already sunk.
What a shame to leave that as a path to nowhere.
It doesn’t have to happen.
Between Governor McKee and our Washington delegation, there’s got to be a way to get this done.
There’s got to be.
mpatinki@providencejournal.com
WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) — Two people are dead and another person seriously hurt after a crash involving two vehicles on the highway in Warwick Saturday.
Rhode Island State Police said the crash happened around 1:34 p.m. on the ramp from Route 113 West to I-95 South.
According to police, a Hyundai SUV that was driving in the middle lane of the highway started to drift to the right, crossed the first lane, and then crossed onto the on-ramp lane. The car struck the guardrail twice before driving through the grass median.
The Hyundai then struck the driver’s side of a Mercedes SUV that was on the ramp, causing the Mercedes to roll over and come to a rest. The impact sent the Hyundai over the guardrail and down an embankment.
The driver of the Hyundai, a 73-year-old man, and his passenger, a 69-year-old woman, were both pronounced dead at the hospital.
A woman who was in the Mercedes was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital in critical condition.
State police said all lanes of traffic were reopened by 4:30 p.m.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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