There’s a map floating around the city’s coffee shops and local haunts, a hand-drawn guide to the city, printed on glossy stock and adorned with ads for small businesses. Like many maps, this one features a key letting tourists and recent transplants know things like the map’s scale, cardinal directions, and so on. The key is placed directly atop a neighborhood called Valley, totally obstructing it from view.
Valley is located in northwestern Providence bounded to the north by Chalkstone Ave., to the east by Dean St., to the south by Harris and Atwells Aves., and to the west by Academy Ave. In their own way, the makers of that map were onto something: nowadays, the neighborhood feels like the key to the Creative Capital.
Enter “Open Valley,” a new open-studios event on Saturday, May 2 from the maker-community hub, 50 Sims, highlighting the amazing artists, artisans, nonprofits, and small businesses who call Valley home. If you’ve never been to an open studio event, the idea is simple: people open their doors, you walk in, and encounter…something. A workshop, a sale, a display of recent projects, or maybe just a friendly person to chat with. Don’t know much about art? No problem. No prior knowledge is required. Come curious; be open.
So what’s happening during “Open Valley,” exactly?
The first thing to know is that this isn’t a single-building event. It’s a whole bunch of buildings spread over about a quarter-square-mile of space. Across an afternoon of self-directed discovery, visitors can walk the Woonasquatucket River Greenway Bike Path (a truly awesome project and reason to visit on its own), browse contemporary studios and galleries, wander historic mill buildings, and learn how organizations like The Steel Yard, Teatro ECAS Theatre, Wilbury Theatre Group, Partnership for Creative Industrial Space, LitArts RI, and 50 Sims make Valley so vibrant. Visitors will encounter screen printers, ceramicists, fashion designers, glass artists, retail shops, distillers, roasters, and just about everything else under the sun—rain or shine.
Open Valley logo, map, and hand-drawn artwork by Jules Kang Sharpe.
Buttonwoods Brewery, Screaming Unicorn, Ja Patty, The Industrious Spirits Company, and New Harvest Coffee Roasters will be there handling food and drink, and the Welcome Center at 50 Sims offers an opportunity to chat up representatives from WaterFire Arts Center, FirstWorks, Awesome Foundation Rhode Island, and more.
And, visitors: I encourage you to really think about Valley while exploring—not just the art and the studios, but the infrastructure, the environment, public health, ableism, and access broadly. What are you seeing, not seeing, and why?
Think about how the arts and entertainment sector is the fourth largest economic driver in our state, just behind construction. And, in turn, think about the importance of advocating for artists, arts funding, and affordable creative spaces. Take notes, share feedback!
“Open Valley” is going to be a lot of fun, but it’s also an opportunity to visit and revisit ideas around how exactly we want to structure a society. To learn, grow, and develop together. Or, you know, just look. Both are equally important.
See you on May 2!
Correction: An earlier version of this article included a business that has since closed.
Ben Sisto is a local artist who, via his organization, OPEN, freelances on behalf of 50 Sims, the driving force behind Open Valley. OPEN itself is a gallery space located inside 50 Sims. Ben was born in Providence in 1980, moved away for a while, and is now back living on the East Side.
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