NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I. (WPRI) — A North Kingstown native had a hand in making sure all of the events leading up to and after President Joe Biden’s inauguration were properly lit.
Ben Green, a lighting designer, said the events took weeks of planning, preparations and rehearsals.
“[It was] really kind of exciting to work on something at that level, which I never dreamed I would,” Green said.
Green said helped light the COVID-19 Memorial and the Celebration of America. He said he felt safe while working in the nation’s capital.
“In the end it ended up being very safe, Green said. “Probably the safest place to be in the country while we were there. But we were all a little uneasy. I think it made the end product that much more gratifying.”
While this week was monumental for Green himself, it was also just as exciting for the North Kingstown community. Green’s passion for tech work, he said, started a very long time ago.
Norma Caiazza, the musical director at North Kingstown High School, said she remembers working with Green while he was a student at Wickford Middle School.
She said she noticed a spark then, and over the years it’s only grown.
“There’s a rare student that you see that early on in their career, they’re just so driven,” she said.
Green started as a studio operator and then worked his way up, inspiring the cultivation of ‘The Studio Crew,” which is a team of students who are in charge of the tech side of school productions in North Kingstown.
It’s a reflection that lights up the life of the community Green was once a part of.
“To do something like that, at this time in our lives in our country, the pride just runs so deep,” Caiazza said.
For Green though, it’s just another day on the job.
Green has won numerous awards in his career, and his next project is taking him to Tampa where he will be lighting the Super Bowl LV Halftime Show.
