FirstWorks

Just two weeks until FirstWorks’ 20th Anniversary Celebration, May 2 at Ballroom at the Providence G! Make sure to get your tickets (link in comments).


📸 Becky Bass photo credit: Erin X. Smithers

It has been 20 years since FirstWorks was born as a turnaround of Providence's First Night! Look how far we’ve come…
Celebrate this milestone anniversary with us May 2nd at Ballroom at the Providence G, and all year long.


📸 Etienne Charles, FirstWorks Summer Beats 2021
Photo credit Erin X. Smithers

Calling all Craft Vendors 📣
Join our craft vendor market at this year's PVDFest! The application portal closes May 31st (link in comments)

Calling all Craft Vendors 📣

Join our craft vendor market at this year's PVDFest! Our application portal closes May 31st! See you downtown.

Calling all artists and performers! 📣

Hey, Creative Capital... we want you! ✨ This is your chance to be on one of our festival stages this year at PVDFest.

Interested? Apply on our website: https://pvdfest.com/perform/
Performer application closes May 31st.

It's amazing to look back on 20 years of FirstWorks! Look how far we've come - from a turnaround of First Night in 2004 to 20 seasons of connecting art with audiences through festivals, commissions, community programs and education. Find out more in April's Rhode Island Monthly 📰 and don't miss our 20th Anniversary Celebration on May 2nd!

Thank YOU! Your support of FirstWorks and 401Gives deserves a standing ovation. Still interested in making a gift to FirstWorks in celebration of our 20th Anniversary year? Visit https://firstworks.org to donate anytime!

📷 Photo by Erin X. Smithers

Thank you 🌟 to all who have supported FirstWorks during 401Gives! If you've not had a chance yet to give - there is still time to make a HUGE difference - and, there are some incredible match gifts coming up at 4:01 p.m. from Rhode Island Foundation and starting at 5 p.m. from Hope Global! Find our profile here https://www.401gives.org/organizations/firstworks before Rhode Island's day of giving wraps up at 6 p.m. 🌈

401Gives Donation Match!💰 Starting at 4:01, will be matching $25,000! Let’s make that last 4:01 wave a BIG one! Then at 5PM, Hope Global will be matching the last $1,000 before 401Gives ends at 6PM. Start spreading the word!

¡A partir de las 4:01, igualará 25.000 $! ¡Hagamos que esa última ola de las 4:01 sea GRANDE! Luego, a las 17:00, Hope Global igualará los últimos 1.000 $ antes de que 401Gives finalice a las 18:00. ¡Empieza a correr la voz!

401Gives continues today until 6 PM! Will you lend a helping hand to FirstWorks? Your gift during our milestone 20th anniversary year means so much. Visit: https://www.401gives.org/organizations/firstworks

📷 Photo: Squonk spectacle "Hand to Hand" at PVDFest 2022 - Credit: Erin X. Smithers

Are you ready to be a part of 401Gives? Show your support for FirstWorks on this statewide day of giving! Your gift makes possible programs like FirstWorks' annual Summer Concert Series – Free for families at Roger Williams Park Bandstand! https://www.401gives.org/organizations/firstworks

📷 Photo by Erin X. Smithers

Jumping for joy because 401Gives begins tomorrow! Many community partners have stepped up to offer incredible prize opportunities for Rhode Island's day of giving. The fun begins tomorrow at 6 AM with a generous $25,000 match opportunity from Rhode Island Foundation. View all of the prizes here: https://www.401gives.org/prizes -rules-anchor and make your gift to FirstWorks on April 1-2 here: https://www.401gives.org/organizations/firstworks

📷 Photo: Small Island Big Song 小島大歌 performing a student matinee for over 700 Providence and Pawtucket students at Mount Pleasant High School - Credit: Erin X. Smithers for FirstWorks

Join the PVDFest team! ⭐️ Details below:

Want to be a part of PVDFest? ⭐️ Join the festival team as a Craft Vendor Manager or Food Truck Manager.

Applications close April 8th. Apply now online at pvdfest.com/
Credit: Matthew Huang

Remembering Noche Flamenca wowing our Artistic Icons Series audience nine years ago today 🤯 at The Vets in 2015! We welcome back Soledad Barrio and Noche Flamenca to perform at our 20th Anniversary Celebration, coming up at Ballroom at the Providence G on May 2nd. Tickets and info: https://bit.ly/FIRSTWORKSAT20

📷 Photo: Erin X. Smithers

We’re smiling because we are so excited to be part of 401Gives again this year! You can support FirstWorks' mission to connect art with audiences by visiting https://401gives.org and donating on April 1st. https://www.401gives.org/organizations/firstworks

📷 Photo: Pilobolus' Umbrella Project at PVDFest 2018
Photo credit Erin X. Smithers

✨Wow✨ What a stunning set of images depicting a truly powerful performance! Thank you to all of the artists of Small Island Big Song 小島大歌 for sharing your music, your stories and images from your homelands with our audiences here in Providence, “Our (Rhode) Island.” The hundreds of students who were touched by your residency workshops and matinee were delighted to learn from you. Our audience at The Strand was enraptured. Gracious thanks to our friends from Tomaquag Museum Indigenous Empowerment Center and to guest artist Nkéke Waupianoohom Harris for sharing your song with us on Narragansett land.

📷 Photos by Erin X. Smithers for FirstWorks

Tickets are still available to tonight's performance of FirstWorks presents Small Island Big Song at The Strand Ballroom & Theatre! Here are venue policies to know before you go:

Over 700 students from ten area schools came together at Mt. Pleasant High School for a FirstWorks matinee performance by Small Island Big Song 小島大歌. Kids and teachers from Fogarty and D'Abate Elementary, West Broadway Middle School, PVD Prep, Sophia Academy, The MET School, TAPA, JMW School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Mt. Pleasant and Hope High Schools clapped to the beat of music, dance and images from the islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

We welcome audiences to The Strand Ballroom & Theatre tonight for an inspiring concert performance! Doors open at 6:30 PM, concert at 7:30.

Photos by Erin X. Smithers for FirstWorks

Thanks for being a part of FirstWorks @20, Rob Duguay Culture Beat!

As Part of FirstWorks’ 20th Anniversary, Small Island Big Song Comes to The Strand This year marks 20 years of FirstWorks being a vital arts entity in Providence by presenting and curating live events, furthering arts…

It's been a thrilling school day matinee with Small Island Big Song this morning at Mt. Pleasant High School! Check our stories for some short video highlights ✨

Thanks to the wonderful students, teachers and staff from our hosts, Mt. Pleasant, and Hope Street High School, TAPA, The Met School, Jacqueline M. Walsh School for Performing and Visual Arts, Sophia Academy, Fogarty Elementary, PVD Prep, West Broadway Middle School and D'Abate Elementary. You are the best audience!
. .

FirstWorks’ Kathleen Pletcher and Small Island Big Song 小島大歌 co-producer BaoBao Chen joined host Brendan Kirby - WPRI today on The Rhode Show! Watch the interview (link in comments)

Small Island Big Song 小島大歌 is music, film, live project featuring over a hundred musicians across 16 island nations of the Pacific and Indian Oceans. This morning on The Rhode Show we welcomed Bab Bao Chen (all the way from Taiwan) and Kathleen Pletcher from FirstWorks as they explained how you can see this live at The Strand Ballroom & Theatre on Friday as part of the FirstWorks 20th Anniversary celebration.

Our five-day residency with Small Island Big Song 小島大歌 kicked-off with wonderful events for students in the Narragansett School System. Shown here, elementary school students learned Mauritian Sega and West Papua dance from leading artists Mathieu Joseph and Sam Roem. We think they've got some great moves!

You are invited to FirstWorks’ 20th Anniversary Celebration! Raise a glass to FirstWorks and raise your pulse to the passionate dance and music of flamenco legends Soledad Barrio and Noche Flamenca, who the New York Times hailed as "A soul-stirring tour-de-force."

Hear from FirstWorks Founder and Artistic Director Kathleen Pletcher in the latest issues of Providence Monthly and Hey Rhody magazine!

Read the interview: https://issuu.com/providencemedia/docs/pm_0324_issuu/46

Ken Abrams of What's Up Newp caught up with Small Island Big Song 小島大歌 co-producer, BaoBao Chen in advance of the international performance collective's FirstWorks residency and performance next month. Read the interview:

What's Up Interview: BaoBao Chen of 'Small Island, Big Song,' coming to The Strand in PVD March 15 “The ocean doesn’t separate us; the ocean unites us.” Small Island Big Song is a unique music, film, and performing arts project bridging together the islands of the Pacific […]