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The Rhode Island Foundation honored Rose Weaver with its 2025 Black History Month Award in recognition of her role as a trailblazer for Black performers in Rhode Island, her creative contributions to the arts, and her years of volunteering and fundraising for multiple nonprofits in the state.

“Rose is a pioneering figure in the world of Rhode Island’s performing arts. Beginning at a time when Black actors were rarely seen, Rose performed brilliantly as an artist and as an inspiring symbol of resilience and excellence,” said David N. Cicilline, the Foundation’s president and CEO.

An actress, singer, writer, and creative consultant, Weaver began her acting career in 1973 at Trinity Rep, as an acting fellow, where she worked her way up to playing leading roles including as Billie Holiday in “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grille,”  Bernice in “The Piano Lesson,” the Witch in “Into the Woods” and Aunt Esther in “Gem of the Ocean,”  as well as performing in “Measure for Measure” with Viola Davis. Weaver taught at Wheaton College, Rhode Island College and the Moses Brown School, as well as presenting workshops on self-esteem at over 20 public schools in the state. Weaver joined Screen Actors Guild in 1977.

“I am profoundly grateful to the Rhode Island Foundation and to the people of Rhode Island for their generous support of my career and community activism over 50 years,” said Weaver.

In addition to her achievements as a performer, Weaver created a directory of Black artists in Rhode Island as a platform to highlight the many local emerging and established Black creatives in the Ocean State, and showcasing the array of talent.

Her many honors include the Rhode Island Pell Award for Excellence in the Arts, induction into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame, the Rhode Island International Film Festival’s Flicker’s Producer’s Circle Award, Rhode Island State Council on the Arts Fellowships in Playwriting, the Lucille Lortel Playwriting Award, the Business Volunteers in the Arts/Rhode Island Individual Achievement Award, the R.I. YWCA Women of Achievement Award, the R.I. Historical Society’s History Maker Award and an Antonio Cirino Memorial Scholarship from the Foundation.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wheaton College and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Brown University. In addition, she holds Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts Degrees from Wheaton College, Marymount Manhattan College and Providence College.

The Rhode Island Foundation is the largest and most comprehensive funder of nonprofit organizations in Rhode Island. Through civic leadership, fundraising and grant-making activities, together with neighbors and partners, the Foundation is helping to create progress that lasts.