SouthLight creates a new urban lawn, open performance venue and signage for the community and partners of the Southside Cultural Center of Rhode Island. As part of the Illuminating Trinity ArtPlace America grant, the project is the realization of the vision of Southside residents and stakeholders. The space, which serves as a new “front door” to SCCRI, will be celebrated at the SouthLight Opening Festival on Friday, September 23, open to the entire community.
The venue, designed and built by a team of RISD students and faculty, has a reconfigured greenhouse structure and translucent white walls and roof. At night the pavilion will glow. During events, each wall can open up entirely, turning the venue into a canopy with a natural garden backdrop. The venue and lawn will be available for public and private events and performances (seasonally, spring through fall) via SCCRI. In addition to its community benefits, SouthLight will be an added source of revenue for SCCRI once they begin renting out the venue to the general public.
SCCRI houses partners of community performers, artists and musicians. Their programming is directed toward culturally enriching the neighborhood, educating youth in performing arts, and hosting community performances of comedy, dance, singing and creative hands-on arts. The partners belong to a large range of diverse backgrounds: The Laotian Community Center, Cambodian Society of Rhode Island, Providence Improv Guild, Rhode Island Black Storytellers, Rhode Island Latino Arts, and the Wilbury Theatre Group.