PPS Sites and Stories Explored: She Died for Our Convenience

In 2019, as a part of the Sites and Stories Explored Through Scholarship, Art and Community Engagement project, the Providence Preservation Society (PPS) will unveil five original artistic works that explore hidden and layered narratives of several endangered historic sites in Providence. Five artists and artist teams were selected to create new works related to four sites that are featured on PPS’ 2018 Most Endangered Properties list. The works are intended to provoke conversations about the meaning of place, what happens when a site tells more than one story, and what kind of reparative work can ensue when a site erases some of its narratives in favor of others.

She Died for Our Convenience is a one-night-only choral haunting concerning the women who worked from 1898-1960 in the textile mills at the Earnscliffe Woolen Mill/Paragon Worsted Co. on Manton Ave in the Olneyville neighborhood in Providence, RI.

Through group song, mysterious projections, stark lighting, and true stories, on the evening of May 4, 2019 we will listen to the stories of the women who worked in the mills at the very place they worked, endeavoring to sing songs to their unsung labor, while remembering that we are tomorrow’s ghosts.

The performance is May 4, 2019 at 7pm at 25 & 39 Manton Avenue. Park across the street at the mill parking lot. Free.

The project’s creative team includes:
Directors: Jed Hancock-Brainerd & Rebecca Noon
Composer & Choral Director: Chrissy Wolpert
Choral Asst & Associate Artist: Clara Weishahn
Textile & Costume: Priscilla Carrion
Sound, Light & Video: Andy Russ
Fabrication & Space: Emily Shapiro
Historian: Evelyn Sterne

Email Rebecca at info@strangeattractor.org for questions or information. No registration is required.