JWU Makes Providence A Culinary Destination

by Margaret Rizzuto

Thomas Delle Donne, Assistant Dean at Johnson & Wales University’s College of Food Innovation & Technology (CFIT) sat down recently with the PVD Eye for a conversation about food, technology, chefs, and chemistry–and all that lies between in our city’s vibrant restaurant scene.  We also [...]

A Conversation With Chris Durand, RIPTA’s New CEO

by Barry Schiller and Patricia Raub

Chris Durand, who was appointed RIPTA CEO last November, recently agreed to sit for an interview with The Providence Eye. This is the summary of that conversation.  RIPTA accomplishments: Chris said first that he wants Providence residents to know about RIPTA’s recent accomplishments.  Much of [...]

To Address Housing Shortage, Revolving Fund Sees Repairing, Not Just Building, As Crucial Strategy

by Dana Schneider

In Greek mythology, there is the story of the Hydra—a snakelike monster with nine heads. It is formidable not only for its many snapping jowls, but also for its regenerative abilities. For every head chopped off, it can regrow two from its wound. The current [...]

Music From Junk

by John Sumerlin

Making musical instruments out of recycled or discarded materials, ergo junk, is a worldwide phenomenon. There are entire orchestras in Venezuela and other relatively impoverished cultures, where children use junk instruments to participate in orchestras of their peers, learning to play and concertize together. There [...]

Dual Language Education Offers A Vision for Providence’s Schools

by Diego Arene-Morley

The Boston Globe report on the results of the statewide academic test, the RI Comprehensive Assessment System (RICAS) on October 18, 2024, included one bright spot:  “Students who recently exited multilingual learner (MLL) programs scored higher than the statewide average in both English Language Arts [...]

Toaster’s Collective Bakery Leavens Delicious Bread and Community

by Amber Ma

In the late 2010s, Toni Jonas Silver and Anya Talatinian were talented bakers on the bread team at the formerly beloved, but now defunct Olga’s Bakery on Point Street in Providence. Shortly after Olga’s shut their doors at the end of 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic [...]

Girls and Boys [and Mom]

by Mark Binder

Let’s start with the recommendation: Girls & Boys  now showing at the Gamm Theatre is a powerful one-person show with a stellar performance by Donnla Hughes. Blending (fictional) Moth-like storytelling with a heartrending twist, it is a riveting emotional rollercoaster ride. It’s a limited run, [...]

How is Providence’s Historic Aesthetic Maintained?

by J. Hogue

Providence has 8 historic districts covering over 2,600 documented properties. These designations mean owners who want to make a change to a structure located in one of these districts have to first apply to the Providence Historic District Commission (PHDC) for a Certificate of Appropriateness. [...]

Legacy Laws Are Hurting Providence Public School Students

by Julia Steiny

Failing urban students is a time-honored habit in Rhode Island, first documented exhaustively in the 1993 ProBE report. The equally depressing 2019 Johns Hopkins report also focused on toxic provisions in the Providence teachers’ contract.  But unlike those two reports, the May 2024 legislative commission [...]

New Interactive Art Project Shows Providence Through a Blind Lens

by Lauren Clem

When Daniel Solomon first arrived at Brown University, he noticed students had few opportunities on campus to interact with blind or visually impaired people. The junior from Miami, who was born with ocular albinism and is legally blind, knew public education would be important to [...]