March 28, 2024

Providence Stormwater Innovation Center to Host Rain Harvest Arts Festival

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A Community Celebration of Water, Science, and Art
Roger Williams Park, 1000 Elmwood Avenue, Providence, RI
October 15, 2022*; 10:00 am to 2:00 pm
Festival Information at Boathouse Lawn
Free and Open to the Public

Providence, R.I. (September 7, 2022) – Join a celebration of water, science, and art at the third annual Rain Harvest Arts Festival hosted by the Providence Stormwater Innovation Center, City of Providence Parks Department, and Rogers Williams Park Conservancy. This free community event in Roger Williams Park celebrates the City of Providence Parks Department’s investment in over 40 projects to clean polluted stormwater runoff before it enters the ponds in the park. Their significant efforts to improve water quality in Providence have inspired the festival, which will highlight the importance of clean water in our communities and the impact it has on our lives.

Performances by the ERB (Extraordinary Rendition Band) of Providence, the Providence Drum Troupe, artist and educator Vatic Astahili Tayari Kuumba (V.A.T.K.), and spoken word poet Sussy Santana will engage and entertain audiences throughout the festival.

Environmental scientists, educators, and stormwater experts will share their knowledge and encourage public participation with tours of stormwater projects, hands-on workshops, demonstrations, water experiments, bird walks, and more!

These science-based programs and workshops will be led by experts from the Audubon Society of Rhode Island, The Nature Conservancy, Save the Bay, Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council, US Fish and Wildlife, Narragansett Bay Commission, Groundwork RI, Eastern RI Conservation District, URI Watershed Watch, Rogers Williams Park Museum of Natural History, Bike RI, Horsley Witten, and others.

Food Trucks will be available near the Boat House for dining convenience in the park.

For more information and a complete schedule of the Rain Harvest Arts Festival performances, workshops, and tours, please visit:
https://www.stormwaterinnovation.org/rainharvestartsfestival 

* The festival rain date will be Sunday, October 16, 2022.

The Rain Harvest Arts Festival is sponsored by Rhode Island Department of Transportation, Horsley Witten Group, Roger Williams Park Conservancy.

About the Artists:

The Extraordinary Rendition Band (ERB) is a proudly diverse group of activist musicians based in Providence, Rhode Island that specializes in creating spontaneous moments of raucous musical joy. www.extraordinatoryrenditionband.com 

Providence Drum Troupe was born from the pandemic. A diverse group of dynamic musicians, educators, therapists, and artists who create live interactive performances to activate public spaces, conduct educational workshops and provide music therapy sessions with positive interactive energy, demonstrating that living in harmony with one another is not an antiquated notion. www.providencedrumtroupe.com 

Sussy Santana is a poet. Her work explores healing and the bi-cultural identity through text and performance. Santana has published three poetry collections: Pelo Bueno y otros poemas (2010), RADIO ESL an audio book (2012), and the Poemas Domésticos (2018). Her poems have been featured in multiple anthologies and literary magazines.

Vatic Astahili Tayari Kuumba [V.A.T.K] (he/him) is an artist, writer, and educator. Vatic is an Arts Facilitator for One Square World, a racial and climate justice organization, where he applies creativity as an essential tool for policy design, civic engagement, and popular education. Vatic is co-director and lead writer for MoralDocs (2021), an abolitionist transmedia project and virtual reality film. He was a collaborator on the creation of the City of Providence’s Climate Justice Plan and the Environmental Racism Resolution passed by Providence City Council in 2020, as part of the Racial and Environmental Justice Committee (REJC) in Providence. Vatic was Artist-in-Residence for the State Association of Arts Agencies in 2019.

About the Providence Stormwater Innovation Center:
Roger Williams Park is home to the Providence Stormwater Innovation Center (PSIC). The Innovation Center has been developed by a partnership between the City of Providence Parks Department, Audubon Society of Rhode Island, The Nature Conservancy, the University of Rhode Island Cooperative Extension and the University of New Hampshire Stormwater Center.

The goal of the PSIC is to demonstrate to communities throughout Rhode Island and Southeast New England strategies for improving urban water quality and associated wildlife habitat through innovative green stormwater practices. A wide range of green infrastructure has already been implemented in Roger Williams Park to reduce stormwater contaminants from entering the ponds and degrading water quality. The Stormwater Innovation Center provides hands-on training for municipal staff, engineers, construction companies, and scientists to learn from the successes and failures of their design, implementation, and maintenance

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