This year, PPS’s Festival of Historic Houses goes MODERN – and stretches to an entire week of programs that explore modernism in Providence in the period 1950 to 1990.
Join us on Sunday, October 5 for the opening of the Festival of Modern Design with a morning walking tour of the modern, postmodern and contemporary architecture of Pratt Street.
That evening, the Festival’s keynote address will be given by the design historian and curator Donald Albrecht. Albrecht curated the traveling exhibition Designing Home: Jews and Midcentury Modernism (2014) and will speak about how Jewish designers, architects, patrons, and merchants shaped modernism in America.
Programs that week include a panel on collecting modern furniture and decorative arts; programs on the history of urban renewal in Providence; a panel conversation on the work of Providence greats Ira Rakatansky, Bill Warner and Friedrich St Florian; and field trips to a modern furniture gallery in Pawtucket and to RISD Museum’s modern decorative arts collection. The kickoff party will be Thursday, October 9 at a modernist home of note — information will be forthcoming soon but you will want to save the date now!
The Festival culminates in PPS’s signature open house event on Saturday, October 11 when modernist homes in the Wayland and Blackstone neighborhoods and on College Hill will be open to the public. PPS is excited that our Festival of Modern Design will participate in Docomomo’s Tour Day on October 11, joining this nation-wide celebration of modernism with programs organized by architecture and preservation groups across the country.
Registration for the Festival opens soon!
Readers of our weekly newsletter, the Providence Post, will be the first to know when registration opens – sign up to receive it if you don’t already by writing to info@ppsri.org with the subject line “Subscribe!”
The Festival of Modern Design benefits PPS’s year-round efforts to document, interpret, preserve and advocate for Providence’s architectural landmarks and beloved places. Thank you for being part of the work we do.