CMW Hosts Community Leaders in a Building Preview

CMW welcomed elected and community leaders to a recent preview event: Senator Jack Reed, Councilwoman Rachel Miller, Mayor Brett Smiley, Lt. Governor Sabina Matos, CMW Board President Ramiro Encizo, CMW Founder & Artistic Director Sebastian Ruth, Congressman Gabe Amo, and Representative Seth Magaziner.

This week, CMW hosted a first look of our dynamic new building and performance space for elected and community leaders. This kickoff marks a new chapter for the organization as we move from a small storefront to a 24,000 square foot center, which will open to the public for the first time at a Grand Opening Celebration on Saturday, September 28.

“Access to music and arts education can be a transformative force in the lives of young people. For nearly 30 years, Community MusicWorks has been bringing music into the lives of Rhode Islanders and fostering connections through lessons and performances,” said U.S. Senator Jack Reed. “This new facility we are celebrating today is a testament to the dedication and hard work of Sebastian and his team, helping Rhode Islanders of all ages develop and hone their love of music and passion for the arts.”

“The Community MusicWorks Center aims to be the heart of a musical community that inspires and connects. This new space will allow young people for generations to gather, make those connections, and develop their craft as musicians,” said CMW Founder and Artistic Director Sebastian Ruth, who in 2010 was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship, also known as the “genius grant,” for his work creating the organization. “We are excited for the building to inspire young people and professional artists in creative endeavors and community building.”

The new space will better serve the growing network of students, alumni, and professional musicians that benefit from CMW programs. From our humble beginnings with 15 students in 1997, the organization now serves approximately 130 students each year, engages world renowned musicians like Yo-Yo Ma and Emanuel Ax, and offers regular public concert performances as the MusicWorks Collective.

“Every child, regardless of their background, should have the opportunity to pursue their passions and interests. As a former teacher, I understand how music can serve as a creative outlet for young people to express themselves, and Community MusicWorks has done incredible work to expand access to music education and the arts for all Rhode Islanders,” said Rep. Seth Magaziner (RI-02).

“As we work to expand opportunities for young people to develop and grow their passion for the arts, I thank Community MusicWorks for their decades of service to Rhode Island,” said Rep. Gabe Amo (RI-01). “Congratulations on their brand-new space that will expand the positive reach in our community, support creative voices, and bolster music education for future generations.”

CMW purchased the lot at 1326 Westminster Street in 2017 and broke ground on the project in spring of 2022. With students slated to begin string lessons on site by mid-September, the new Community MusicWorks Center features teaching and practice rooms, administrative offices, a cafe that will eventually be open to the public, and, for the first time in the organization’s history, a designated performance hall.

“For nearly 30 years, Community MusicWorks has been a cornerstone in shaping the lives of Providence students and families,” said Mayor Brett P. Smiley. “I am grateful that our city has partners like Community MusicWorks who foster a culture or creativity and inclusivity in Providence and utilize music and community to open up new opportunities for every member of our community.”

Funding for the project came from a record $15 million capital campaign, including ARPA funds through the City of Providence, Cultural Facilities Bond funds administered through the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, ARP funds administered through Rhode Island Housing, and New Markets Tax Credits from the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation. The center’s design was conceived through a series of planning charrettes with CMW students, parents, alumni, musicians, and community members, and a thoughtful focus on sustainability. It is only the second building in Rhode Island to use a Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) technique that reduces the need for carbon-emitting steel and concrete.

The public is invited to tour the building and celebrate this milestone at a free community celebration on Saturday, September 28. Doors will open at 2 p.m., followed by a world-premiere by composer Wang Lu, which includes a student procession and performance from the old space to the new at 3 p.m.

Join us!
CMW Center Grand Opening Block Party
Saturday, September 28, 2:00-7:00 pm
1326 Westminster Street, Providence.
Admission is free; Make your reservation here.

We’re grateful to our partners, who helped to bring this project to life:

James Comer
Deputy Executive Director, RIHousing
“RIHousing is proud to have provided critical funding for the Community MusicWorks Center, a multi-use facility that replaces a vacant, blighted piece of property in Providence’s West End. CMW’s Center will act as a community space for the neighborhood and a destination for those living in and around the city, its impact extending far beyond its walls. We are dedicated to continuing to invest in projects like this that, along with building more affordable housing, are integral to community revitalization across Rhode Island.”

Moddie Turay
President and CEO, Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation
“The New Markets Tax Credit Program aims to empower low-income communities by attracting new investments and revitalizing neighborhoods. With its strong presence and longstanding relationships in the West End of Providence, Community MusicWorks has established itself as a respected local partner. Now, with the space to grow, they can further enhance their role as a good neighbor. CMW embodies the type of organization we seek to support, and we are excited to see them leverage these tax credits to create an inclusive and dynamic environment for creativity.”

Barbara Sokoloff
President, Barabara Sokoloff Associates, Inc.
“We are excited to bring financing to such an innovative, sustainable design.”

Kyna Leski
Principal, 3SIX0 Architecture
“Community MusicWorks shared a quote from Maxine Greene that serves as a guiding principle for their organization: ‘I am what I am not yet.’ Those words were an inspiration for our team as we sought to create a design that evoked an ethos of promise. From the unfinished rawness of exposed mass timber walls, beams and columns, pipes and conduits, to the mix of sheathing and exposed framing of the faceted acoustic panels in the performance hall, our architectural goals were to create a space that the community could call ‘home’ and that left open the opportunity to grow and evolve in unexpected ways.”

Alban Bassuet
Principal, Arup
“We’re proud to help realize CMW’s new home that can better support its vital mission to ensure music education for all. To create a top-notch environment for learning and performance, Arup brought the state-of-the-art acoustics design and venue planning for quality sound insulation and managing the unique properties of mass timber for music and Providence’s first mass timber building.”

Jonsara Ruth
Co-founder and Design Director, Healthy Materials Lab
Associate Professor of Interior Design at Parsons School of Design
“A healthy building is particularly important for children because it is now understood that environmental exposures can be a powerful determinant of health and human development. We are proud to partner with Community MusicWorks and 3SIX0 Architects on the new center, which both prioritizes the health of the community and inspires creativity for students.”

Tom Ardito
Director of the SNEP Watershed Implementation Grants program, a partnership between EPA New England and Restore America’s Estuaries, which funded stormwater management aspects of the building
“With this new Music Center, Community Music Works has established a space that will truly serve this wonderful organization, its constituents and the community. Most remarkable from our perspective is that CMW went beyond the requirements of a great concert and teaching space, to create a building that will be not just a cultural resource, but an environmental asset as well.  The Southeast New England Program is pleased to support this project for its positive impacts on clean water, climate mitigation, and in fostering a sustainable, creative and equitable community in Providence.”

Learn more about the CMW Center here.

Photos by Rebecca Atwood/Atomic Clock