Banking on a festival?
a dozen times a year in Providence, R.I.
About a dozen times a year, 100 bonfires are set ablaze atop the three rivers that flow through downtown Providence, R.I., bringing thousands of visitors out to listen to music and experience a dramatic nighttime mixture of water and fire. While it won’t be quite as ambitious as Providence’s world-famous WaterFire events, there’s a chance that a river-centered festival could flow into downtown Eau Claire in the near future, thanks in part to a recently announced federal grant received by the Chippewa Valley Museum.
“A signature event should be very reflective of the place where it is. So that’s the intent, to make it something that’s very specific to Eau Claire." – CVM director Susan McLeod
The $150,000, three-year grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services is aimed at enhancing the cultural life of Eau Claire County and creating more ways that people – both locals and visitors – can engage with it. The new project has been dubbed “Thinking, Local” – and yes, the comma is there for a reason: It symbolizes a necessary pause to ponder what makes the Chippewa Valley distinct. The museum hopes to pursue three goals with the grant, says director Susan McLeod: boosting the visibility of area history and culture in print, online, and through mobile devices; improving access to historical and cultural opportunities for all, regardless of income or other barriers; and under the theme “water + culture / understand + celebrate,” creating new recreational and educational resources that include “a distinct expression of local identity” – namely a brand-new riverfront festival.
“A signature event should be very reflective of the place where it is,” explains McLeod. “So that’s the intent, to make it something that’s very specific to Eau Claire.” The goal is to implement the new festival in the third year of the grant, so look for the planning process to gear up soon. (As of this writing, however, receipt of the first installment of the grant has been held up by the partial shutdown of the federal government.)
The museum sought the grant after the conclusion last year of “The Good Life,” a project that produced a report of the same name (which, incidentally, can be found at eauclairegoodlife.org). That project, also funded by an IMLS grant, brought together the museum and a number of partners (including the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library, Clear Vision Eau Claire, the Children’s Museum of Eau Claire, and the Eau Claire Regional Arts Center) to examine the strengths and weaknesses of the county’s cultural life. One theme heard repeatedly throughout that process was making better use of the region’s rivers. So look out, Providence: Eau Claire may soon have a fire of its own – metaphorically speaking, at least.
