2018 Senator Claiborne Pell Lecture in the Arts and Humanities

The City of Providence Department of Art, Culture + Tourism presents the 2018 Senator Claiborne Pell Lecture in the Arts and Humanities titled Planning is Not Enough: Collective Action and Accountability in the Creative Sector.

In 2019 The Department of Art, Culture + Tourism will update Providence’s cultural plan. The 2018 Senator Claiborne Pell Lecture on Arts and Humanities will offer diverse perspectives on collective leadership as the City’s creative sector prepares to take on bold revisions. The Pell keynote address will be given by Nina Sanchez (Enrich Chicago) and will be followed by a panel discussion with Howie Sneider (The Steel Yard/Valley Arts District), Daniel Schliefer (New Urban Arts/PYAC) and Elena Patiño (RISCA/NALAC/Expansion Arts) and moderated by Valerie Tutson (RIBS).

The City of Providence and its partners host the annual Senator Claiborne Pell Lecture on Arts and Humanities to honor the late Claiborne Pell (1918-2009), who represented the State of Rhode Island in the United States Senate from 1961-1997. Senator Pell was a lead sponsor of the “Basic Educational Opportunity Grants” program in 1973, renamed Pell Grants in 1980; they have been critical mechanisms for providing financial aid to college students in the United States. He also played a pivotal role in the founding of the National Endowments for the Arts and Humanities.

Established in 2009, the Pell Lecture seeds critical conversations that build from Senator Pell’s vision for our nation, inviting Providence to come together to celebrate and share its communal histories of art, culture, and creativity. Topics have spotlighted key aspects of the six community-wide goals outlined in Creative Providence: A Cultural Plan for the Creative Sector. Past guest speakers have included Carlton Turner, David Byrne, Donna Walker Kuhne, Maria Rosario-Jackson, Jason Schupbach, Arlene Goldbard, and Jeffreen Hayes.