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Providence Commemoration Lab

A collaboration of the Providence Department of Art, Culture and Tourism and the Rhode Island Historical Society. Funded in part by the Mellon Foundation and the American Rescue Plan.

A group of Filipinx dancers stand in brightly colored traditional dresses in front of Alice Ruggles' "The Hiker," which is draped in a banig woven from found materials.
Photo by Matthew TW Huang. "Diasporic Threads," by Mark Bhen Alan, PVDFest 2022

Welcome to the Providence Commemoration Lab

Funded by the Mellon Foundation and the American Rescue Plan, The Providence Commemoration Lab is a program co-administered by The Department of Art, Culture and Tourism (ACT) and the Rhode Island Historical Society (RIHS). The Lab sites and stages new, temporary projects on public property that invite unexpected ways of understanding commemoration as a communal process of historical redress and spatial reclamation.

ACT and RIHS are commissioning nine creative practitioners to interrogate the ways that Providence residents construct and share memory and culture at three distinct sites: Columbus Square, Roger Williams Park, and Public Street.

Nine, twelve-month (one-year) artist residencies will begin in spring 2024. The total budget for the Providence Commemoration Lab is 1.4 million dollars to be spent down over two years.

Project Timeline

Prelude – Development (summer 2023-winter 2024)

Phase I – Research (spring 2024)

Phase II – Engagement (summer 2024)

Phase III – Design (fall 2024)

Phase IV – Permissions (winter/spring 2025)

Phase V – Manifestation (summer 2025)

Phase VI – Completion (fall 2025)

For a more detailed Project Timeline click here.

A group of Filipinx dancers stand in brightly colored traditional dresses in front of Alice Ruggles' "The Hiker," which is draped in a banig woven from found materials.
Photo by Matthew TW Huang. "Diasporic Threads," by Mark Bhen Alan, PVDFest 2022

Welcome to the Providence Commemoration Lab

Funded by the Mellon Foundation and the American Rescue Plan, The Providence Commemoration Lab is a program co-administered by The Department of Art, Culture and Tourism (ACT) and the Rhode Island Historical Society (RIHS). The Lab sites and stages new, temporary projects on public property that invite unexpected ways of understanding commemoration as a communal process of historical redress and spatial reclamation.

ACT and RIHS are commissioning nine creative practitioners to interrogate the ways that Providence residents construct and share memory and culture at three distinct sites: Columbus Square, Roger Williams Park, and Public Street.

Nine, twelve-month (one-year) artist residencies will begin in spring 2024. The total budget for the Providence Commemoration Lab is 1.4 million dollars to be spent down over two years.

Project Timeline

Prelude – Development (summer 2023-winter 2024)

Phase I – Research (spring 2024)

Phase II – Engagement (summer 2024)

Phase III – Design (fall 2024)

Phase IV – Permissions (winter/spring 2025)

Phase V – Manifestation (summer 2025)

Phase VI – Completion (fall 2025)

For a more detailed Project Timeline click here.

A group of Filipinx dancers stand in brightly colored traditional dresses in front of Alice Ruggles' "The Hiker," which is draped in a banig woven from found materials.
Photo by Matthew TW Huang. "Diasporic Threads," by Mark Bhen Alan, PVDFest 2022

Welcome to the Providence Commemoration Lab

Funded by the Mellon Foundation and the American Rescue Plan, The Providence Commemoration Lab is a program co-administered by The Department of Art, Culture and Tourism (ACT) and the Rhode Island Historical Society (RIHS). The Lab sites and stages new, temporary projects on public property that invite unexpected ways of understanding commemoration as a communal process of historical redress and spatial reclamation.

ACT and RIHS are commissioning nine creative practitioners to interrogate the ways that Providence residents construct and share memory and culture at three distinct sites: Columbus Square, Roger Williams Park, and Public Street.

Nine, twelve-month (one-year) artist residencies will begin in spring 2024. The total budget for the Providence Commemoration Lab is 1.4 million dollars to be spent down over two years.

Project Timeline

Prelude – Development (summer 2023-winter 2024)

Phase I – Research (spring 2024)

Phase II – Engagement (summer 2024)

Phase III – Design (fall 2024)

Phase IV – Permissions (winter/spring 2025)

Phase V – Manifestation (summer 2025)

Phase VI – Completion (fall 2025)

For a more detailed Project Timeline click here.