On November 5, business and civic leaders from Rhode Island will meet with their counterparts from Florence and the Region of Tuscany at Firenze Fiera, Florence’s convention center, for the first Rhode Island–Region of Tuscany Economic Partnership Forum.
What makes the forum unusual is how it came about. Rather than a traditional trade mission, the initiative grew out of decades of cultural relationships developed through Splendor of Florence, an arts festival founded in Providence in 1999 by Joyce Acciaioli Rudge.
The Economic Partnership Forum is part of Splendor of Florence: Rising from the Arno, a week-long program taking place from November 1 to 8 in Florence to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the devastating 1966 flood of the Arno River.
The flood nearly destroyed some of Florence’s greatest artistic treasures and severely damaged its museums, churches and libraries. Volunteers from around the world, known as the Mud Angels, came to help rescue the city’s cultural heritage. Rhode Island played an important role in the international response, establishing connections with Florence that have endured for six decades.
Splendor of Florence helped establish a formal Friendship Pact between Providence and Florence in 1999. Since then, the festival has brought together artists, musicians, cultural institutions and civic leaders from both sides of the Atlantic, creating relationships that are now opening doors for business and economic cooperation. Following its debut in Providence, the festival presented programs in Philadelphia and New York City before returning to Providence in 2024.
“When I founded Splendor of Florence, it was about artists, artisans and the arts, bringing the beauty of Florence to Providence and introducing Florentines to what Rhode Island had to offer culturally,” said Joyce Acciaioli Rudge, founder of Splendor of Florence. “What I didn’t anticipate was that those relationships, built over decades of concerts, exhibitions and exchanges, would become the foundation for something much bigger. Cultural ties aren’t separate from economic ones; they are often how the relationships get built in the first place.”
The November 5 forum will pair Rhode Island business and civic leaders with counterparts from Florence and Tuscany in economic development, tourism and conventions, healthcare, philanthropy, and arts and culture. Discussions will focus on potential partnerships, encouraging Italian companies to explore opportunities in Rhode Island and opening the door for Rhode Island businesses and institutions to develop relationships in Tuscany.
Rhode Island participants represent the Partnership for Rhode Island, GoProvidence, the Rhode Island Convention Center Authority, Bradley Hospital, the Rhode Island Foundation and the Rhode Island Philharmonic.
“At the heart of economic development are relationships, and there is nothing more valuable than bringing people together to share ideas, build connections and explore new opportunities,” said Liz Catucci, executive director of the Partnership for Rhode Island. “Rhode Island and Italy share a rich history and strong cultural ties, with more than 200,000 Rhode Islanders of Italian descent. The Friendship Pact between Providence and Florence gives us a wonderful foundation to build upon. This forum is about taking those relationships to the next level, creating meaningful partnerships, opening doors for Rhode Island businesses and showcasing all that our state has to offer. I’m excited about the opportunities ahead and what we can accomplish together.”
In addition to the forum, the week-long program includes concerts, archival film footage of the Mud Angels, firsthand accounts from witnesses to the flood, art restoration tours, a photography exhibition and an educational program bringing together American and Florentine university students to examine the events of 1966 and efforts to protect Florence from future flooding.
This forum offers an example of how cultural relationships, developed over decades, can create opportunities for economic cooperation between cities and regions.
