‘Cigarette Surfboard’ screening at URI and other events | Your Weekend 401 guide to Rhode Island

Making surfboards as an environmental statement, a Laotian family’s journey documented in Woonsocket, and a mid-winter party at the Jamestown Art Center. Here’s what’s happening in Rhode Island this coming week

Taylor Lane with Cigarette Surfboards
Taylor Lane with Cigarette Surfboards.
Still from “Cigarette Surfboard” documentary by Ben Judkins
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Taylor Lane with Cigarette Surfboards
Taylor Lane with Cigarette Surfboards.
Still from “Cigarette Surfboard” documentary by Ben Judkins
‘Cigarette Surfboard’ screening at URI and other events | Your Weekend 401 guide to Rhode Island
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Looking for some tips on what to do this weekend and beyond? We’ve got you covered. Here are a few recommendations from Ocean State Media afternoon host Mareva Lindo and Executive Producer of Audio Innovation James Baumgartner.

Cigarette Surfboard

During a 2025 cleanup of trash on Rhode Island beaches, 17.8% of the trash was cigarette waste. It’s a problem around the world and one surfer from California decided to make surfboards using cigarette butts found on the beach. The documentary “Cigarette Surfboard” follows his journey. The filmmaker will be at the screening to answer questions and show off a couple of the surfboards.

  • Where: Corless Auditorium at URI’s Narragansett Bay Campus
  • When: Wednesday, Jan. 28, 6:30 p.m.
  • Website: URI.edu

The Heart of Wattayai

from “The Heart of Wattayai” by Vimala Phongsavanh

“The Heart of Wattayai” by Vimala Phongsavanh features photographs and family keepsakes that trace one Laotian family’s story of loss, strength, and migration.

  • Where: Museum of Work and Culture, Woonsocket
  • When: On display through Feb. 28
  • Website: RIHS.org

JAC Frost ‘26

JAC Frost will feature immersive digital art by Julio Berroa
JAC Frost will feature immersive digital art by Julio Berroa
Jamestown Art Center / Yarrow Thorne

If you’ve got the mid-winter blues and want to go to a party with DJs, signature cocktails and immersive digital art, head to the Jamestown Art Center for JAC Frost ‘26.

  • Where: Jamestown Art Center, Jamestown
  • When: Saturday, Jan. 24, 7:00 - 10:00 p.m.
  • Website: jamestownartcenter.org
Gillette Stadium — rebranded ‘Boston Stadium’ for the tournament — will host multiple marquee matches just 25 miles from Providence, as Rhode Island eyes a potential team basecamp at Bryant University
While she’s optimistic about the future of Rhode Island schools, Education Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green says she’s concerned about potential ICE raids in schools and the impacts of declining enrollment
Can Rhode Island Republicans win back the governor’s office? And a top Providence chef’s lament about the need for more downtown vitality
The Atlanta-based Centurion Foundation said it is hoping to complete its financing in mid-January for a deal to buy Roger Williams Medical Center and Our Lady of Fatima Hospital
Restaurants Oberlin and Gift Horse are staples of the post-lockdown downtown Providence food scene
“La Cuesta Mágica” at Teatro ECAS, the Bristol Christmas Festival, and a conversation about news media in the misinformation age. Plus: Concerts by Ocean State Media favorites Nova One, Hawk in the Nest, Jake Blount, and the Vox Hunters