‘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
Mayor Brett Smiley will be asking for an increase in the PILOT base rate and a new authority to take over the Crook Point Bridge
This weekend, visit the animals at the Roger Williams Park Zoo in a snowy habitat, check out the P-Bruins’ retro jerseys, learn about Rhode Island’s wild coast, or catch a documentary about John Prine. Plus: The Marian Anderson String Quartet plays a concert at RISD to honor Martin Luther King, Jr.
The film celebrates the life and music of legendary songwriter John Prine – featuring interviews, archival footage, and a star-studded lineup of performances by artists like Bonnie Raitt, Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, and Gillian Welch and David Rawlings
Loui’s Family Restaurant, an eccentric greasy spoon in the shadow of Brown University, was a melting pot of Ivy League students, artists, cops, truck drivers and anyone else who might be hungry for a 5 a.m. meal
The Warwick Republican says a desire to ‘be part of the solution’ — for her kids and aging grandmother — led her to the Statehouse
Cigarette butts and beverage bottles decreased in quantity, while foam and plastic pieces are on the rise, new Save the Bay report finds