‘This is an important moment’: Providence launches new cultural plan

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Providence’s Department of Art, Culture and Tourism on Wednesday launched a new cultural plan.

The plan, announced at the city’s annual Pell Lecture on Arts and Humanities, outlines strategies and recommendations for improving arts, culture, and creativity in the capital city.

PVDx2031: A Cultural Plan for Culture Shift is a blueprint for public policy, private initiative, and strategic investments in Providence’s creative life, said the city.

“It brings me great pride to know that we prioritize art and our local arts community, and that’s precisely what we’re doing today,” said Mayor Brett Smiley.

The Department of Art, Culture and Tourism said PVDx2031 was created over the course of two years by arts and culture practitioners with the help of surveys, virtual planning studios, and organized focus groups.

“The new Cultural Plan for the City of Providence reflects all of this deep work that is part of nurturing sustainable and just cities,” Shey ‘Rí Acu’ Rivera Ríos, who’s an artist, said in part in a release Wednesday.

Parts of the plan has already been implemented by supporting teaching-artists and funding Providence’s creative nonprofits, said the Department of Art, Culture and Tourism.

“This plan is a transformative policy, a labor of love and intentional work. This is an important moment,” said Rivera.

For more information about PVDx2031, visit artculturetourism.com.