Big Nazo

Just behind the Downtown post of one of Providence’s most talked-about landmarks, the Haven Brothers Diner-on-wheels, tucked in the shadows of City Hall is a legend-in-the-making. Here, an old watch hospital has been transformed into a fascinating studio workshop for the performance art group BiG NazO. Walk by it and you may be startled by an array of fantastical creatures of all shapes and sizes staring you down through the window displays. Walk through the door and you find yourself immersed in an alternate reality. Imagine the set for the intergalactic bar scene from Star Wars, add the warm energy and eclectic originality of the staff, and there you have it: an incubator for the kind of visionary creativity that sets Providence apart from Anywhere, USA.

A brainchild of the RISD instructor Erminio Pinque, BiG NazO is a unique kind of entertainment company that fuses age-old art forms of puppetry, mask-making, and public theater with innovation in craftsmanship, interactive media, and cultural education. The troup has toured throughout the US and abroad, transforming familiar environments and delighting kids of all ages with its performance art and musical acts. But those who poke their head into the visitor-friendly Studio at 25 Fulton Street have a unique opportunity to experience magic in the making. Inside, find the artists and student interns hard at work pouring silicone, rehearsing, filming, painting, and trying out their newest crazy creations—a unique creative environment well worth checking out next time you have a minute. Who knows, you just might be the next big fish or a giant monster.