Voting YES on 5 Supports The Arts
Invest in your creative community when you vote YES on Question 5: the Cultural Arts and State Preservation Grant Programs Bond Measure.
Approval of Question 5 will authorize the state of Rhode Island to issue $10 million in bonds supporting preservation, renovation, and capital projects for arts and culture organizations. The bonds include $2 million for Trinity Rep’s Lederer Theater Center; $2 million for the Tomaquag Museum; $2 million for Newport Contemporary Ballet’s Center for Arts, Dance & Education; and $4 million to be distributed by the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts towards capital improvement and renovation projects at non-profit arts and culture organizations throughout the state.
Creating Jobs and Boosting the Economy
When voters overwhelmingly approved similar bond initiatives in 2014 and 2021, initial investments sparked a groundswell of construction and renovation activity across the state. The projects engaged more than 490 Rhode Island companies from all 39 cities and towns.
This bond is an investment not only in Rhode Island’s vibrant arts community, but Rhode Island’s economy. It will create jobs, invigorate our state’s cultural institutions, and benefit all Rhode Islanders, from Westerly to Woonsocket. By voting YES on 5 in the upcoming election, we can put Rhode Islanders to work to transform our state’s cultural assets.
Transforming Trinity Rep
Trinity Rep will use the $2 million from this bond measure toward a major renovation and expansion of our historic home, the Lederer Theater Center. Built in 1917, the 65,000-square-foot building needs extensive renovations to transform a World War I-era vaudeville theater into an accessible, 21st-century educational and community center.
Renovations have been in the planning phase since 2017. They will not only enhance our artistic capability, but expand our flexibility to host even more diverse programs, events, classes, and gatherings that are accessible to a broader community. Through increased physical accessibility, new revenue opportunities, added community and educational space, and new audience amenities, the project will be transformative for Trinity Rep – and your creative community.
How You Can Help
Vote
Check your voter registration and make plans to vote by mail (ballot request deadline: October 15), vote early (October 16 – November 4), or vote on election day (November 5). Click here for more information about voting in Rhode Island.
Spread the Word
Share with fellow Rhode Islanders why you are voting YES on 5.
