Antonio Levada is planning a fashion show on the front lawn of the Rhode Island State House.
It’s a centerpiece of the second annual New England Extravaganza, a fashion and art expo that organizers say is “dedicated to creating meaningful opportunities for emerging creatives throughout the region, including individuals from underrepresented communities and people with disabilities.”
Models will walk a runway on the Francis Street side of the building, near the Providence Place Mall and Station Park, Levada said.
The New England Extravaganza: Volume II is scheduled to kick off at 3 p.m. on Saturday. Levada, director of the expo, spoke with Ocean State Media’s Luis Hernandez about what to expect from the art expo.
Interview highlights
On last year’s event
Antonio Levada: Rhode Island is a melting pot, and the event was trying to encapsulate that in a moment. So we had a little bit of everything – there was a little bit of fashion, music, small businesses – we have live artists doing painting.
On the Rhode Island State House as the backdrop to a fashion show
Levada: Models will be walking down the runway and meet in the center facing the Providence Place Mall. And even if you're behind a couple people in the back, you’ll be able to get a good view of the show. We're spacing things out so everybody will be able to get a glimpse of the action.
On how the world-renowned Rhode Island School of Design connects to the local art scene
Levada: I will say that it's more of a temporary fix to a problem that needs a longer solution, in the sense that we get people that come from all around the world, great artists that will come to Rhode Island just because of RISD. And the positive side about that is some of those people will end up staying here. And so that is a big plus. But as far as RISD's involvement…they're focused mostly on their students.
But I do feel like the resources, tools and connections RISD has definitely could do a better job of involving the local community, not just their student base.
On how the show can ‘create meaningful opportunities for emerging creatives throughout the region, including individuals from underrepresented communities and people with disabilities’
Levada: From three to five, the full focus is a small business marketplace where we have small businesses and entrepreneurs and we give them direct access to a crowd of consumers that is ready to support them. A majority of our vendors are minorities, are underrepresented communities. Our models are not your traditional models. It doesn't matter what their background is, what their ethnicity is, and we also have space for the disabled community.
