Doors Open Rhode Island is a nonprofit organization committed to inspiring pride and investment in our communities through connecting the public to the great places and spaces of Rhode Island. Together we’ll explore Rhode Island through a series of public programs planned throughout the year, culminating in an annual free, weekend festival. 

In partnership with organizations across the state, the festival will provide behind-the-scenes access to places you walk by everyday and places you’ve never heard of. It will pilot in Providence with 50 sites and 5,000 attendees, and within three years grow into a statewide festival with 150 sites and 20,000 attendees. Doors Open Rhode Island will join a worldwide family of popular Doors Open programs that provide special public access to the hidden gems of our cities, for free.

I’m always exploring, looking up, and making new discoveries wherever I go.  One such adventure brought me inside the clock tower of the Cathedral of St. John. My guide Chris, who maintains the vacant building, helped me climb rickety old ladders higher and higher up the tower. He wanted to show me something.  After catching our breath he reached over to open a tiny wooden door. Perfectly framed in front of us, was the Rhode Island State House covered in a blanket of snow. I was peering out from the face of the clock onto the best view of Providence.

Learning the secrets of our cities fosters a sense of wonder, curiosity and pride in where we live. It’s through being welcomed inside the hidden gems of our communities, meeting their caretakers and learning their stories, that we become connected to people and place. We take care of what we know and love. With Doors Open Rhode Island, I’m giving people the keys to our cities, to build community and celebrate the hidden treasures that make Rhode Island so special.