WaterFire
Location
WaterFire is an innovative, multidisciplinary arts installation that takes place on the rivers of downtown Providence. The artwork is presented with the help of a dedicated team of volunteers to inspire Providence and its visitors, revitalize the urban experience, foster community engagement, and creatively transform the city.
About You
Section 1: You
First Name
Mary
Last Name
Tinti
Website URL
Organization
WaterFire Providence
Country
United States, RI
Section 2: Your Organization
Organization Name
WaterFire Providence
Organization Website
Organization Phone
401-273-1155
Organization Address
101 Regent Ave, Providence RI 02908
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
Organization Country
United States, RI
Your idea
Name Your Project
WaterFire
Country and state your work focuses on
United States, RI
Describe Your Idea
WaterFire is an innovative, multidisciplinary arts installation that takes place on the rivers of downtown Providence. The artwork is presented with the help of a dedicated team of volunteers to inspire Providence and its visitors, revitalize the urban experience, foster community engagement, and creatively transform the city.
Website URL
Innovation
What makes your idea unique?
WaterFire centers on a series of 100 bonfires that blaze just above the surface of three rivers that pass through the middle of downtown Providence. The string of fires illuminates nearly two-thirds of a mile of urban public spaces and parks, and residents and visitors gather to stroll along the river while listening to a memorable selection of classical and world music. WaterFire is a unique experience that surrounds its audience and impacts all five senses. The crackling flames, the fragrant scent of blazing cedar and pine, the dancing firelight on the arched bridges, the silhouettes of the volunteer fire-tenders floating by in their torch-lit vessels, the extraordinary music, and the various performers and numerous vendors that take part in WaterFire—all combine to create a beautiful and stimulating experience.
Public in every sense of the word, WaterFire takes place in the streets and parks of downtown Providence and is entirely free for all to attend. The power of WaterFire to attract millions of visitors is eloquent testimony to the importance of public art and to its capacity to restore our urban and social landscape. Simultaneously an art installation, a performance work, an urban festival, a civic ritual and a spiritual communal ceremony, WaterFire is an unparalleled community arts event.
Do you have a patent for this idea?
Impact
This Entry is about (Issues)
What impact have you had?
WaterFire’s impact is both widespread and profound. During the 2004 season an independent consultant measured WaterFire’s attendance and determined that WaterFire Providence attracted over 1.1 million visitors to Providence. Each evening thousands of new visitors to Rhode Island were astonished by WaterFire as they joined local citizens to witness the lighting of the celebratory bonfires. WaterFire has an incredibly positive effect on downtown Providence, transforming an all-too-often empty neighborhood into a lively and active community, introducing art and music into the heart of our city, increasing public safety, and promoting economic revitalization.
Those who visit WaterFire often experience a very deep emotional connection to the event and go on to share the story of their WaterFire moment with friends and family. So WaterFire is perhaps most unique for the way it invites every single visitor to connect with this incredible installation and come away with a highly personal memory.
Problem
WaterFire’s problem-solving story begins with its creator and Artistic Director, Barnaby Evans, who challenged himself to find an artistic means through which to transform downtown Providence (once desolate on evenings and weekends) into a vibrant and exciting community gathering place. In doing so, Evans also wanted to create a public art installation that could be something to everyone - one that would rely on the spirit and talent of local volunteers; use the basic, primal elements of fire and water in visually arresting ways; and present a soundtrack of innovative juxtapositions of outstanding world music so that the audience could engage in an extraordinary multi-sensory arts experience. Evan’s envisioned an event that was completely free and egalitarian. Evan’s also saw WaterFire as a means through which to support and collaborate with artists, musicians, and performers and give them a fantastic venue at which to showcase their live works.
Actions
WaterFire has a long history (15 seasons to be exact!) of innovative collaborations with local and national artists, dancers, actors, musicians, cultural organizations, and performing groups; and we pride ourselves on exposing the public to aspects of the arts which they might not otherwise experience. Whereas most arts groups’ primary support comes from admissions income, sales commissions, or membership fees, WaterFire has none of these major revenue streams. As a result, the number and scale of our presentations, and the cultural and artistic outreach and collaborations we facilitate, directly depend upon support from granting organizations and the financial generosity of our donors and sponsors. This reliance (and our desire to keep WaterFire a free event) is our single greatest challenge. And we are consistently trying to find new ways to encourage the public to donate to WaterFire and get the message out that we need their donations to keep the fires burning.
Results
WaterFire has launched a series of creative initiatives that invite the public to participate in the artistry of the event and donate to support the installation. All who visit WaterFire are encouraged to light a Luminaria and dedicate that lantern to the person or cause of their choice. The same is true with our Starry, Starry Night Program - where visitors can write their wish on a ribbon and attach it to a beautiful blue WaterFire star, which volunteers suspend above the lawn of Memorial Park for all to enjoy. We also distribute blue glow necklaces (aka Ribbons of Light) at the event in the hopes that people will relish becoming a part of the spectacle. These programs, while moderately successful, have a long way to go and we will continue to test and tweak them so as to maximize audience participation and on-site revenue.
What will it take for your project to be successful over the next three years? Please address each year separately, if possible.
WaterFire is delighted to be celebrating our 15th Anniversary season this year and we are so proud of all that we have accomplished with and for the community. But each year is a struggle financially. Many in the community believe that WaterFire is a city or state run event, rather than a robust independent, non-profit arts installation. While we are grateful for the collaborative support we do receive from both of these entities, we are a separate and unique organization and need to better identify ourselves as such.
Over the next 3 years, we would love to secure the backing of a few WaterFire “angels” – people who are informed about and committed to the WaterFire cause and can help us make sure this amazing multi-cultural arts event live on for future generations to enjoy.
So much of WaterFire’s essence is bound to Providence, to the people of Rhode Island, and to the generous donors and sponsors who have ties to the region. And that is a major part of what makes this installation so successful here. But in order to ensure a bright future, we believe we have to branch out and find some key national sponsors who can elevate WaterFire’s profile and perhaps even help us bring this spectacular community building event to cities throughout the country as a model for all that is possible when the arts are given a chance to restore and enliven our urban landscapes.
Also - we have only just begun to tap into the power of social media. Over the next few years, we hope to continue to grow our fan base and create an online community of WaterFire ambassadors and donors who can help us take this amazing installation to the next level.
(Please also see the response to the question - What are the three most important actions needed to grow your initiative or organization - for these answers are interdependent).
What would prevent your project from being a success?
WaterFire Providence is a beautiful, critically acclaimed, ever-evolving work of public art and a vital Rhode Island tradition whose contributions to our community range far beyond the aesthetic. WaterFire impacts the entire city – helping its economy, its businesses, and its morale; filling the streetscape with excitement and invigorating spectacle; and adding to the safety of downtown Providence while promoting the best of public behavior.
WaterFire is a proven success. And yet because we are trapped in a fundraising model that doesn’t allow us to plan beyond the current season – it is virtually impossible to think about anything but what we are doing in a given year. Our single greatest flaw is that we are unable to map out our event 2 or 3 years from now simply because there are so many variables directly linked with season sponsorships.
We are confident that WaterFire will continue; but we have not yet been able to position ourselves in a way that allows us to think beyond the current year. This frustrating setback gets in the way of our attaining the kind of broad, sweeping, planned-in-advance successes we know we are capable of above and beyond our existing accomplishments.
How many people will your project serve annually?
More than 10,000
What is the average monthly household income in your target community, in US Dollars?
Less than $50
Does your project seek to have an impact on public policy?
Sustainability
What stage is your project in?
Operating for more than 5 years
In what country?
United States, RI
Is your initiative connected to an established organization?
Yes
If yes, provide organization name.
WaterFire Providence
How long has this organization been operating?
More than 5 years
Does your organization have a Board of Directors or an Advisory Board?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with NGOs?
No
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with businesses?
Yes
Does your organization have any non-monetary partnerships with government?
Yes
Please tell us more about how these partnerships are critical to the success of your innovation.
WaterFire accomplishes what many urban projects attempt, but usually fail to achieve — it draws together thousands of people of all ages and from all walks of life to a common ground at the heart of a capital city for interaction and dialog — and transforms them into a community. The intensity of the WaterFire experience succeeds in making visitors aware of the power and richness of art and gives visitors a new sensitivity to their environment and a new commitment to their fellow citizens. All of this happens with the financial help of our donors and sponsors; and the in kind support of great partnering organizations who donate a variety of on-site and behind the scenes services without which WaterFire would not be possible.
What are the three most important actions needed to grow your initiative or organization?
The launching of WaterFire was a “lively experiment” and was begun with a short term planning horizon to see what the response would be. While the past decade of WaterFire has been a remarkable critical, urban, artistic, and popular success, WaterFire’s organizational structure -- including facilities, staff, revenue development, management, Board and governance— still retain a temporary and short-term character with improvised and borrowed equipment, a zero based funding cycle involving annual sponsorships, no endowment, limited earned income, and no owned buildings or facilities. The three most important actions to ensure WaterFire’s organizational growth are: expanding the staffing in our development department to pursue long-term donations and sponsorships, investing in a single building space that can better house all components of WaterFire (staff offices, production workspaces, and equipment storage); and working towards obtaining major grants – be they legislative or national arts funding – to enable us to begin to plan our event years in advance.
The Story
What was the defining moment that led you to this innovation?
WaterFire is a work of art that involves movement, participation and surprise. When visitors encounter WaterFire, they must walk through the installation and use all five of their senses. WaterFire is full of motion—throughout the night the fire tenders stoke the fires, the boats glide past the flames, the rivers flow quietly beneath the braziers, the sparks whirl through the night air, and the flickering flames reflect off the dark surface of the water, animating the architectural fabric of the city of Providence.
The multi-sensory stimulation of WaterFire transforms our perceptions of the urban landscape. WaterFire invites us to slow down and walk through the city; in the process, we reinvent the social fabric and the public spaces of downtown Providence.
The Classical Greek philosophers divided the world into four elements—earth, air, fire, and water. In the Chinese tradition there are five elements—earth, air, fire, and water, plus wood (or paper). In the Indian Buddhist tradition, the world is also composed of five elements—earth, air, fire, and water, plus space. Each of these five elements is paired with one of our five senses: fire is associated with sight; water with taste; earth with smell; and air with touch. The last element, empty space or the void, corresponds with sound and hearing. WaterFire incorporates all of the elements from these traditional systems into a new harmonious whole.
The elements of water and fire are obviously central to the sculpture installation. Water and fire symbolize life, fertility, creativity and inspiration in cultures around the world. At the same time, water and fire can also represent death, loss, and destruction. They are mutually destructive—water will extinguish a flame, just as fire will boil water away to nothing. The delicate and unlikely balance of these two opposing forces creates the magic that lies at the heart of WaterFire.
We all find different pleasures in our individual reveries at WaterFire. As we stroll among the celebrants along the riverbanks, we are joined together in a shared aesthetic encounter reminiscent of an ancient communal ritual. The lighting of the bonfires brings people and light to the dark streets and silent waterways of Providence. Log by log, fire by fire, night by night, and person by person, together we reclaim and rebuild our city. By gathering together at the heart of our downtown we are reaffirming our personal commitment to our community.
Tell us about the social innovator behind this idea.
Barnaby Evans is an artist who works in many media including site-specific sculpture installations, photography, film, garden design, architectural projects, writing and conceptual works. His original training was in the sciences, but he has been working exclusively as an artist for more than twenty-five years.
Evans received his Bachelor’s degree in biology and environmental science from Brown University in 1975. He was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humanities by Brown University and an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts by Rhode Island College, both in 2000. Evans has also received the Aaron Siskind Fellowship in Photography, several fellowships from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, the Silver Prize for Colour Photography at the International Triennial Exhibition (in Switzerland) and Providence’s Renaissance Award in 1997. Evans received the 2003 Kevin Lynch Award from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and WaterFire was honored with the 2003 Rudy S. Bruner Silver Award for Urban Excellence from the Bruner Foundation given to Providence for the renaissance of its downtown.
Evans has lectured at many universities including Brown University, the Rhode Island School of Design, MIT, Harvard, Cornell, McGill, the University of Colorado, University of Arizona, and the University of Barcelona. Evans was the 2003/2004 Artist in Residence at MIT and also taught courses at the Urban Studies Department at MIT on the impact of ephemera on the urban environment.
Evans created WaterFire in its first version in 1994 in Providence as First Fire to celebrate the tenth anniversary of First Night Providence. In June 1996, he created Second Fire for the International Sculpture Conference and the Convergence International Arts Festival in Providence. With hundreds of volunteers and the broad support of the community he established WaterFire as an on-going installation in 1997. Evans has created installations of WaterFire in Columbus, Ohio and in Kansas City, Missouri.
How did you first hear about Changemakers?
Email from Changemakers
If through another, please provide the name of the organization or company
50 words or fewer
 | WF152010 updated this Competition Entry. - 659 days ago |
| WF152010 updated this Competition Entry. - 659 days ago |
| WF152010 updated this Competition Entry. - 659 days ago |
| WF152010 updated this Competition Entry. - 660 days ago |
| WF152010 updated this Competition Entry. - 660 days ago |
| WF152010 updated this Competition Entry. - 660 days ago |
| WF152010 updated this Competition Entry. - 664 days ago |
| WF152010 updated this Competition Entry. - 665 days ago |
| WF152010 said: Thanks so much for this comment/question Alexis! WaterFire's impact on the community can be measured in a myriad of wonderful ways ... about this Competition Entry. - 665 days ago read more > |
| Alexis Ditkowsky said: Hi Mary, It sounds like you put on a very successful event each year and I'd love to hear more about its impact on the community and ... about this Competition Entry. - 690 days ago read more > |
