RISD's SouthLight venue opens in Southside

Last Friday, just outside The Southside Cultural Center of Rhode Island (SCCRI), months of work and planning culminated in the opening of SouthLight, an “open performance venue and urban lawn” for Southside residents. SouthLight is the result of a collaboration between RISD architecture students and faculty , SCCRI, the City of Providence Department of Arts, Culture + Tourism, and Local Initiatives Support Corporation RI (LISC).

SouthLight has the feel of a sleek, modern greenhouse, and it can be used for everything from performances to community events to movie screenings. With five large swinging doors, the venue is continuous with the open space around it, which, at its core, is the point. SouthLight is not meant to stand alone as a singular project, but rather to enhance and breathe new life into SCCRI, whose motto is “driven by the community, fueled by the arts.” To truly get the full SouthLight experience, though, you really have to go at night. After dark, the structure lights up, fully embodying its role as a beacon in the Southside community.

It all began two years ago, in February 2014, when RISD visiting professor of architecture Elettra Bordonaro did a public art project that lit up Grace Church Cemetery in the Southside. The project, also called “SouthLight,” involved LED lights and candles throughout the cemetery grounds along with hanging projectors showing videos about the people of Providence. According to one RISD architecture student, the project was seen as a successful event for the community, especially given it was “an effort to get more people into the cemetery, because it’s very desolate right now.” After this, the city was driven to collaborate more with RISD and provide funding for another project. That project became the current SouthLight.

Getting and keeping this project in motion was no easy feat. From Fall 2015 to late Winter 2016, the new SouthLight was being designed for the cemetery. However, the community reaction to working in the cemetery was less than favorable due to the sensitive nature of the space. Instead, SCCRI stepped in and used some of its grant money to finance the project so it could be built right next to the center itself, essentially it’s new “front door.” Additionally, a Kickstarter campaign raised another $5600 for the project.Many months of designing later, and finally the new SouthLight venue was unveiled. The opening was not just an event for SCCRI and RISD staff and students, but a celebration involving much of the Southside community. A program emceed by Marta V. Martínez, the director of Rhode Island Latino Arts, featured guest speakers such as Providence mayor Jorge Elorza and Rhode Island senator Sheldon Whitehouse.Elorza stressed the importance of art in the community, calling SouthLight a “new icon for the Southside.” He spoke about his “vision for a strong and vibrant neighborhood” and celebrated the fact that a city as large as Providence is able to maintain such a strong emphasis on the arts. Elorza looked back on Bordonaro’s installation in the cemetery and referred to the funding of projects such as these as an “investment in the future of this neighborhood.” Elorza seemed to say that art can unite us, even in a city as big and diverse as Providence.Following Elorza, Providence City Council President Luis Aponte spoke, saying, “what surrounds us today is what we all wish for this community…Far too often we minimize the importance of place…but that is what brings us together.” Brian Goldberg, RISD’s Vice President of Strategic Initiatives brought in RISD’s perspective, stating, “Whatever architecture can do, it brings us together.” Goldberg said the project is not meant to be temporary, and there exists a “fundamental interdependence” as members of a community. Particularly through highlighting the art and history of the Southside itself, SouthLight brings a vitally important cultural monument to the area.Finally, in a moment that exemplified the heightened sense of love for the community already in the air, Richardson Ogidan approached the mic. Ogidan is the executive director of SCCRI and is clearly beloved. As “Ain’t No Stopping Us Now” played, Ogidan was met with whoops and shouts, the audience dancing and cheering. Ogidan spoke of coming to Rhode Island in 1972, and the drastic changes that have taken place since then. The work that has been done for affordable housing in the Southside community is significant, and Ogidan made clear his plans for affordable programming in SouthLight. He said of the opening of the venue, “This is just the start…now the real work begins.” Images via and Kyra Goldstein '19