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Faced with a dire fiscal situation, the City of Providence has cut funding from WaterFire, the city’s award-winning art exhibition and performance. However, due to the popularity of the event, Mayor Angel Taveras was quick to reassure the community that the summer art event will continue to be “as strong as ever.” The new performance, simply called Water, is devoid of fire, music and food, but all are still welcome to watch the water.
“WaterFire was a testament to this vibrant city’s cultural and artistic integrity,” said Taveras in an address to the public last weekend. “Despite our recent budget cuts, friends and families from near and far will still have the opportunity to gather together on Saturday nights for this spectacle and stare at the water.”
The first performance of Water this past Saturday was a resounding success, as thousands of Providence citizens and visitors turned out to watch the reincarnation of a Providence tradition. Instead of lighting the initial flame in the traditional WaterFire manner, University President Christina Paxson kicked off Saturday’s event by half-heartedly splashing water into the air.
Hordes of Brown students attended the event, many of them calling the performance “kind of cool, I guess.” Jacob Silver ’15 added he “didn’t really notice the difference” between WaterFire and its new, stripped-down, rustic descendant.
To the surprise of the Water goers, the most exciting part of Saturday’s event was not staring at the water, but rather a surprise announcement about a spin-off show called “AirDirt” to be performed every Saturday evening this winter. Details about the sure-to-be scintillating event are as yet murky.
“WaterFire was absolutely exquisite and very powerful, but it was a shame that it only lasted for the summer,” explained Donna Schmidt, creator of AirDirt. “We couldn’t think of a better way than AirDirt to continue to showcase the culture of Providence year-round.”
“Literally, we couldn’t think of a better way,” she added.
