ANNUAL REPORT 2017 / 2018

FirstWorks builds the vitality of our Rhode Island community with world-class performing arts and education programs.

CURATION EDUCATION

Artistic Icons Series

PVDFest

FrontierSeries

Arts Learning

for Students

Arts Learningfor the

Community

ArtsLearning

for Teachers

Catherine Taylor, Normand Benoit & Kathleen Pletcher

FirstWorks has grown into one of the key cultural organizations in Providence. I’m proud of the great things we’ve done and the great things we’re going to do.

Normand Benoit, Board President 2009–2018

OUR HIGHEST NUMBER OF ARTS LEARNING STUDENT MATINEES

$270,000 AWARDED FROM THE

RHODE ISLAND FOUNDATION LARGEST COMMITMENT TO DATE

We Deliver Firsts!

Catherine Terry Taylor named new Board President

Taylor succeeds outgoing Board President Normand G. Benoit, a former partner at Partridge Snow & Hahn, who served for the past nine years. During his tenure, Benoit guided the organization through the implementation of three strategic plans, and established FirstWorks’ role as a Founding Partner of PVDFest.

Core ProgramsEngaging new audiences, stakeholders, and partners with the highest level of artistic excellence

Providing first educational experiences for children statewide

Bringing artists to Rhode Island for the first time and presenting new works

Strategic Plan 2018–2021

Our objective is to become the cultural nexus for a state that celebrates the arts as essential to its success.

Kathleen Pletcher, Founder & Executive Artistic Director

FirstWorks has demonstrated that it can harness the power of the arts to meaningfully impact our community.Rhode Island Foundation

FirstWorks’ signature strengths – sustained partnerships and innovative strategies – have propelled our growth as the only First Night festival in the country to become a year-round arts organization.

FirstWorks is positioned to continue its central role in leveraging the arts to lift Rhode Island.

FIRSTWORKS ARTS LEARNING PROGRAM REACH

FirstWorks Arts Learning

reaches over 32 schools across

Rhode Island

Our new 3-year strategic plan will enable FirstWorks to...

Create new access to the performing arts

Become a leader of arts engagement practice

Forge new partnerships

Utilize technology to mobilize and engage audiences

The Inaugural Frontier Series & New Partnerships

2017/2018 SeasonFirstWorks’ inaugural Frontier Series established a vehicle for bringing international artistry to smaller performance venues.

A theme of female resilience unified the Series, which opened with Qyrq Qyz / Forty-Girls, an epic tale of Central Asian Amazons told through music and film. This partnership with the Aga Khan Music Initiative featured a 50-person community dinner, a panel discussion and tours of RISD Museum’s collection of Central Asian textiles.

Betsayda Machado: The Voice of Venezuela and her band brought audiences to their feet with Afro-Soul music, filling RISD Auditorium with dancing. The genre-defying shadow puppetry and cinematic projection of Manual Cinema captivated audiences at Moses Brown School’s Woodman Center, including over 500 public school students hosted for a special matinee.

The Frontier Series complemented FirstWorks’ existing Artistic Icons Series, which this year featured

22 Grammy award-winning Chick Corea and legendary drummer Steve Gadd, as well as The Gershwin Big Band, a performance celebrating the legacy of musical masters George and Ira Gershwin and produced by members of their family.

LEFT TO RIGHTChick Corea & Steve Gadd; Qyrq Qyz / Forty Girls;The Gershwin Big Band; Betsayda Machado: The Voice of Venezuela; Manual Cinema

Leave it to FirstWorks to once again find artistic talent that inspires, teaches and entertains in new and different ways.

Donald Fowler, Warwick Beacon

4,818 students served, (grades K–12) including 196 differently-abled students

Seven student matinees, a new record for FirstWorks

52 world-class artists participated in our program

Arts LearningFirstWorks concluded our season with eight in-school workshops led by award-winning Israeli choreographer Rachel Erdos.

Matinee performances included two special in-school musical assemblies that reached over 1,500 students – one featuring Jazz at Lincoln Center musicians and the other by Ranky Tanky, a South Carolina Gullah jazz ensemble.

FirstWorks events have had a profound impact on me – especially getting to play with Jazz at Lincoln Center. They are the best of the best.

Tony Ashton, graduate of JMW, Pawtucket

FirstWorks offers kids another view of what’s out there in the world, and allows them to potentially think about what’s possible for their own futures.Charlene Tuttle, 2019 RI Teacher of the Year. Lawn School, Jamestown

A Creative Conversation with jazz legend Chick Corea and drummer Steve Gadd allowed 60 students to submit questions

Over 1,250 Rhode Island students attended the American Rhapsody: The Gershwin

Songbook Arts Learning matinee

Two Arts Learning matinees with Manual Cinema Lula Del Ray

reached 935 Students

Students at the Young Woods Elementary School enjoyed an

interactive session with Ranky Tanky

FirstWorks curated spectacles, national and international headliners, dancers and musicians to dazzle festival-goers around every corner.

Australia’s Sway Poles acrobats dangled and swung from 10-foot “ship masts.” Squonk Opera delighted with chamber rock music atop double-decker bike stages. BUIKA, the outspoken queen of Flamenco fusion from Spain, sang to a crowd of hundreds.

FirstWorks commissioned Pakistani painter and master artist Haider

Ali to decorate a vehicle in the traditional truck art style of South Asia, a project partially funded by RI’s Pakistani-American community. The finished product was displayed downtown throughout the festival.

A partner of FirstWorks since our beginning in 2004, Pilobolus lit up the city at PVDFest with its radiant “Umbrella Project,” guiding festival-goers through choreography with multicolored LED umbrellas.

PVDFest Founding Partner

100,000ATTENDEES

LEFT TO RIGHTPilobolus “Umbrella Project”; BUIKA; Pakistan Truck Art; Australia’s Sway Poles

We’re so proud to partner with FirstWorks on PVDFest, our signature event celebrating the creative community and spurring the creative economy.

Mayor Jorge O. Elorza

Business & Foundation SupportCreative Partners $25,000+AnonymousCarter Family Charitable TrustNational Endowment for the Arts The Providence Journal Providence Tourism CouncilRhode Island Foundation

Presenting Partners $15,000 – $24,999City of ProvidenceJune Rockwell Levy FoundationNational Grid FoundationNew England Foundation for the ArtsProvidence Journal Legacy FundTextron Charitable Trust

Community Partners $10,000 – $14,999Cox CommunicationsRhode Island State Council for the ArtsThe VETS Foundation

Gold Partners $5,000 – $9,999AAA Northeast Amica Companies FoundationCornish AssociatesFidelity InvestmentsIGTMcLaughlin & MoranMoses Brown SchoolPoder WPMZ 1110 AMProvidence CollegeProvidence Monthly Rhode Island School of Design, Liberal Arts DepartmentRhode Island School of Design, Office of the Provost

Silver Partners $2,500 – $4,999Bank Rhode IslandEnterprise Holdings FoundationLocke Lord LLPMurray Charitable FoundationNavigant Credit UnionNeighborhood Health Plan of Rhode IslandNordson Corporation Foundation Partridge Snow & Hahn LLP

Regency Plaza / Chestnut Hill RealtyThe Washington Trust Company

Bronze Partners $1,000 – $2,499B Street FoundationBeacon Mutual Insurance CompanyJohn Clarke TrustDelta Dental of Rhode IslandDexter DonationDunkin DonutsMid Atlantic Arts FoundationOcean State Charities TrustProvidence Rotary Charities FoundationThe Providence Shelter Restivo MonacelliRhode Island MonthlyRhode Island Council for the Humanities Sodexo Educational ServicesStrategicPoint Advisors

For gifts under $999 visit www.first-works.org

Total Revenue FY18 $1,528,200

Total Expenses FY18$1,519,400

Finances

Corporate 2%

Government 19%

Sponsorship15%

Earned Revenue24%

Partnership15%

Individual 7%

Foundation 18%

Program74%

Institutional Advancement 11%

General Administration 15%

FirstWorks received its 21st grant from the

National Endowment for the Arts

National Grid Foundation supported FirstWorks’ new

environmental program for Rhode Island youth

Our Technology Infrastructure Project

received $70,000 from an anonymous donor

Individual DonorsCurator’s Circle MembersRobert J. AllioAshley & Peter Barrett Tina & Greg Benik Nancy & Norm Benoit Sylvia Brown Roberta Butler & Abbott IkelerChristine CanapariElizabeth Debs Laura Donahue Alison & Larry Eichler Ellie Ferguson Katharine Flynn Janet Hasson Jean L. Keith Sally Lapides Wendy MacGaw & Howard Ben Tré Lisa & Paul Mc Gartoll Kara & David Milner Adelita S. Orefice Janice & Rob Panoff Richard Ratcliffe Dedee Shattuck Jane & Deming Sherman Sara R. (Sally) Strachan Catherine & Robert Taylor

Benefactor $5,000+Robert J. AllioNancy & Norm BenoitJean L. KeithJanice & Robert PanoffKathleen Pletcher & Jay Coogan

Leader’s Club $2,500–$4,999Elizabeth ChaceLisa & Paul Mc Gartoll

Director’s Forum $1,000–$2,499Kate Blacklock Joyce & Fred ButlerChristine CanapariAlison & Larry EichlerCarla & Russell RicciPaula & Jeremy SagerJane & Deming Sherman Catherine & Robert Taylor

Ground Breaker $500–$999Ashley & Peter BarrettAlan ChilleLaura Donahue Karen & Kevin Hundley Seth Kurn Ehsun Mirza & Saira Hussain Damian PueriniKatie SchindallMary Sherlock

Eye Opener $250–$499Kathy & Tom Bendheim Karen L. Daigle, MD Melissa Darigan & Mark MaleElizabeth Debs Mary-Beth Fafard Nancy Friese & Wesley Goforth Mimi & Robert GrantEthel Tamar Katz & Ed HardyMathew Lopes Mary Lovejoy & John WhistlerRoberta Pearlmutter Isabella Porter

Uncle Don RossEllie Siegel & William H. WarrenJoan SlafskyApril Smithers Barbara & Charles Sturtevant Mark & Julie Van Noppen

Sustainer $100–$249Jenny & Doug BooneHarold BurnsRenee Chicoine & Dan BaudouinMichelle ClaytonMary (Polly) DalyRobert DonaldMohammed Faizan & Afreen Siddiqui Zehra Fatima Natalie Golova Ann & Don GralnekSusan J. Greenhalgh Gerald HammelT.P. Hazard Mary & William HollinsheadImperial 718 FundVivien & Loren Jones

Shahid Kahn Melissa Kearns Asifa Kamran Karim KhanbhaiSally Ann Kingsbury Sandra KruppLinda KushnerNancy & Richard Maddocks Kristi MarsacoBrandon Marshall Blanche Milligan Jeanette Palmer John PartridgeIole Ribizzi-AkhtarJames Roche Judy Rzucidlo Betsy & Joe SantarlasciNishat & Naeem Siddiqi Joan Sorensen Julia Steiny Krystle TadesseAnne Talbot & Warren HeymanMartha Torrance & Tim Tolman For gifts under $99 visit www.first-works.org

Board Frederick K. Butler, Esq. Chairman Emeritus

Catherine Terry Taylor President

Normand G. Benoit, Esq. Past President

Rob Panoff Vice President

Melissa E. Darigan, Esq. Vice President

Alison Eichler Secretary

Kevin S. Hundley, CPA Treasurer

Robert J. Allio Deming E. Sherman, Esq. Board Advisors

Kathleen Pletcher Ex Officio

Tomás ÁvilaAshley BarrettBolaji CampbellChristine CanapariElizabeth DebsLaura DonahueNancy FrieseSiu-Li KhoeWendy MacGawPaul Mc GartollJeanette PalmerBetsy Santarlasci Karen E. Silva, Ed.D, CHESara R. StrachanKrystle Tadesse

Jorge CardenasAlan ChilleHonorary Trustees

StaffKathleen Pletcher Executive Artistic Director

Isabelle Tadmoury Director of Development

Meredith Cutler Marketing Manager

Kathleen McAreavey Education & Community Outreach Manager

Kokila Mendis Grants Manager

Holly Taylor Executive Coordinator

Abigail Dandurand Administrative & Development Coordinator

Donor SpotlightWe are grateful for the pivotal support of Letitia Carter and her late husband John Carter. Letitia’s belief in FirstWorks and her significant gifts enabled our most notable projects – examples include an intergenerational premiere with Sweet Honey in the Rock, Celebrating Ailey (the first appearance in RI of the full Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre), and a world-premiere with live orchestra by Paul Taylor Dance Company. These

types of transformative projects continue to be

supported by special initiative funding

from The Carter Family Charitable Trust. Letitia is particularly committed to seeing racially

and culturally diverse artists on

The Vets stage.

Erin X. Smithers Ehsun Mirza “Malang” Photography

Jason Tranchida / LLAMAproduct Graphic Design

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