A Castle for the People
Artists, performers and community groups unite for a PVDFest grand finale at the iconic Cranston Street Armory
Part of the mission of PVDFest is to activate Providence’s public spaces and neighborhoods – and that means all neighborhoods. That’s why after the biggest party of the year happens Downtown on Saturday, June 3, the festival will go west for a special grand finale. On Sunday, June 4, artists, performers, and community groups will come together to celebrate Providence’s “castle for the people,” the iconic Cranston Street Armory with music, art, food trucks, and a pop-up parade.
Armory Animated by Art is an exciting collaborative project that will use art-making and performance to enliven this historic building and the adjacent Dexter Street Parade Grounds. This celebratory finale to the City’s signature summer festival begins in the afternoon with mobile, Armory-themed art and ends in the evening with an epic swell of joyful noise. It’s a unique collaboration to generate new ideas for the Armory’s re-use, convened by the Providence Department of Art, Culture + Tourism and FirstWorks, along with poet/performer Christopher Johnson, the West Broadway Neighborhood Association, the Providence Preservation Society, Community MusicWorks, the RISD Museum, the Rhode Island Department of Administration, and the Providence Department of Planning and Development.
"This is a really cool thing for the festival, but it's also part of a larger project to reframe old conversations and reimagine the Armory's future," said FirstWorks Executive Artistic Director Kathleen Pletcher. "It's exciting to combine creative and community thinking in this way. It's really the tip of the iceberg in terms of neighborhood outreach and stakeholder engagement in the future of this historic building."
So what should you expect for the grand finale? Here’s a quick overview:
Art Trucks & Food Trucks
At 1pm, the RISD Museum will roll onto Hollywood Road, directly across from the Armory, with five repurposed box trucks. Each one will be an interactive “mini-Armory” skinned to exaggerate and highlight the unique architectural features of the building. They’ll be on display for engagement throughout the afternoon as a fleet of food trucks peddle their culinary wares along Parade Street.
A Pop-up Parade
At 3pm, Haitian-born, Harlem-based violinist/composer Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) returns to PVDFest for a massive musical spectacle. (Check him out in the highlights from last year’s Fest.) En Masse is a large-scale composition created for up to 500 musicians that is entirely new every time it is performed. This collective musical celebration – a cross between a flash mob and a processional – will feature marching bands, street musicians, and music students from across Rhode Island. What will that look like? Something like this...
A Very Special Anniversary
At 1pm (note time change!), the venerated Providence youth music program Community MusicWorks (CMW) celebrates its 20th anniversary with a special performance featuring CMW students, alumni, and faculty. They’ll join composer Gonzalo Grau, and his salsa band La Clave Secreta, along with Johnny Gandelsman and other special guests, for a reprise of "Fantasia con Guyaba Habanera,” a piece that CMW and Gandelsman premiered at John Hope Settlement House in May 2013. Here’s a look back at that original performance...
A Sunset Encore
Weather permitting, DBR and his friends will return to the stage for an encore sing-along. Audiences will join in song with their neighbors from the West End, Elmwood, Upper South Providence, Federal Hill, and across the city and state, to celebrate 110 years of history, creativity, and community engagement at the Cranston Street Armory. We can’t think of a better way to close out the best weekend of the summer, so grab your family and friends, a blanket and some folding chairs and join us on the Dexter Street Training Ground (aka "Armory Park") on June 4.