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Peter Mello stepping down as leader of WaterFire to take job in Mass.

Updated at 6:30 p.m. on July 31.

By

Katie Castellani

-

07/31/2024

peter mello — PETER MELLO will be leaving his post as managing director and co-CEO of WaterFire Providence at the end of August. PBN FILE PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

PROVIDENCE – Peter Mello will be leaving his post as managing director and co-CEO of WaterFire Providence at the end of August to take a job leading an arts center in Massachusetts. Mello joined WaterFire in 2011 to co-lead the organization with Barnaby Evans, founder, executive director and co-CEO. “The past 13 years have been

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PROVIDENCE – Peter Mello will be leaving his post as managing director and co-CEO of WaterFire Providence at the end of August to take a job leading an arts center in Massachusetts. Mello joined WaterFire in 2011 to co-lead the organization with Barnaby Evans, founder, executive director and co-CEO. “The past 13 years have been the most professionally rewarding of my entire career. It’s been an honor to co-lead with Barnaby during the most transformative period in WaterFire’s 30-year history,” Mello said in a statement. “I also feel so fortunate to have been part of an organization that is committed to creating art that has such profound impacts on Providence and Rhode Island." In September, Mello will become director of the Art Complex Museum in Duxbury, Mass. The announcement Tuesday comes a week after WaterFire said it was reducing the number of events and their duration as the organization’s sponsors are dwindling. But Mello said Wednesday that his decision to leave was not related to the group's financial situation. "I was offered a chance of a lifetime to lead an incredible art museum in Massachusetts," he said to PBN by email. He also said a WaterFire board meeting is scheduled for next week, when the search for his replacement will be discussed. “Peter Mello has been an incredible asset to WaterFire Providence. His efforts in securing major grants, developing the Arts Center and guiding us through the challenges of COVID have been truly remarkable,” said Erica Hope Guatieri, WaterFire board chairwoman. “We are deeply grateful for everything Peter has done for the organization; he will be truly missed.” Throughout Mello’s tenure with WaterFire, the organization secured its largest grant, which served as a catalyst for funding the WaterFire Arts Center. In 2012, the group purchased property at 475 Valley St., Providence, and developed it into an arts center and WaterFire’s permanent home. WaterFire continued throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and presented more than 200 in-person events with the Wilbury Theatre Group with no reports of COVID transmissions. Mello worked with U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., in 2023 to secure WaterFire’s first federal appropriation for workforce development programming. He also helped form and launch development programs for artists and underserved high school students. Under Mello WaterFire’s assets rose from $500,000 in 2011 to approximately $9 million in 2022, and the organization's operating budget grew from $1.7 million in 2011 to $4 million in 2024. Evans said Mello will continue to serve WaterFire in new ways as a volunteer, photographer and supporter. “With Peter joining me as co-director in 2011, WaterFire was able to make great progress on some of our core strategic planning goals to secure a long-term future in Providence,” Evans said. “We will continue to build on our great foundation and momentum. I will miss Peter by my side, his energy, his wise counsel and his dedication to the transformation we bring to Providence.” It is not clear whether WaterFire will search for a new managing director, a representative did not immediately respond to PBN’s request for comment Wednesday. Katie Castellani is a PBN staff writer. You may contact her at Castellani@PBN.com. Updated with additional comment from Peter Mello.