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AS220 is dedicated to providing a forum for artists to perform and showcase their art unjuried and also reaches out into the community to provide the same priviledges to Rhode Island youth. Through the Statewide Arts Mission (SAM), AS220 and the Corporation for National Service formed an alliance of nonprofit organizations specializing in different artistic venues to target low-income and at-risk youth whom otherwise would not have the opportunity to positively and creatively express themselves. Since its inception in 1997, SAM has involved 16 nonprofit arts organizations that have been able to reach thousands of youth residing in Rhode Island.
The AmeriCorps*VISTA at AS220 coordinates and recruits community volunteers, supports the AS220 mission and provides technical support to AS220 and the SAM program sites. The AmeriCorps*VISTA Leader also serves at AS220 and assists the AS220 staff to provide an unjuried art forum to the community of Rhode Island as well as advocate and supervise as many as 22 AmeriCorps*VISTAs at the SAM sites. The AmeriCorps*VISTA Leader coordinates and supports events with the AmeriCorps*VISTAs and SAM program sites to continue to expand the arts and increase youth involvement throughout Rhode Island.
AS220's Broad Street Studio introduces a steady stream of new voices to AS220's mission and programs by reaching out to the youth of Rhode Island. The Broad Street Studio's venues, showcases and classes provide an open forum where youth may express themselves artistically. Through afterschool workshops, performance showcases, the Hip-Hop experience of Elementary Night and The Muzine (a magazine full of writing and artwork by youth), Broad Street Studio creates a safe environment in which youth can build communities through self-expression.
There are several AmeriCorps*VISTAs at Broad Street Studio to which their duties vary from running the Broad Street Studio Press, which publishes work by Rhode Island youth, to coordinating events between the Rhode Island Training School, AS220 and other organizations. AmeriCorps*VISTAs also assist the Broad Street Studio staff and facilitate several open house events throughout the year to showcase the talent on Broad Street.
Started in 1992 as a joint effort of two community strongholds, St. Michael's Church and the Elmwood Community Center, CityArts is both a community arts center and a place of hope and sanctuary for youth and their families. Free, accessible, and quality arts programs for Providence youth ages 8-14 are our primary focus. Currently, CityArts serves approximately 300 youth on-site annually in afterschool and summer programming. CityArts also provides afterschool support to Providence Public Schools. Our programs are visual arts based, and are complemented by music, dance, theatre, and creative writing.
The CityArts AmeriCorps*VISTA conducts demographic research and aids in the development of outreach programs.
The mission of Community MusicWorks is to create a cohesive urban community through music education and performance that transforms the lives of children, families and musicians. Sebastian Ruth founded Community MusicWorks in 1997 with the conviction that musicians have an important public role to play in creating and transforming communities. Now in their sixth year, Community MusicWorks is a community-based organization that offers programs that build relationships between urban families and professional musicians in the South Side, West End, Elmwood, and Olneyville neighborhoods of Providence.
The AmeriCorps*VISTA member assists Community MusicWorks in its effort to
build programs and organizational capacity. Visit their website to view
information about instrumental lessons, community workshops and other music
opportunities.
English for Action (EFA) was founded in 1999 by Olneyville residents and Brown University students to address the increasing demand for ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) courses in Providence, and at the same time, create a socially conscious model for teaching English to immigrants. The children of English for Action students and other local youth, ages 9-18, work with mentors from Brown and RISD to engage in educational activities and discussions that foster their development into leaders in their schools and neighborhoods. Through YouthPower, children also collaborate with their parents to create multimedia projects that involve the use of photography, film, radio documentaries, and computer design programs as language learning tools.
Everett Dance Theatre and the Carriage House Stage and School's mission is to create, perform, teach, and build community through the arts with a special emphasis on providing professional level training to low-income, inner-city youth who have limited access to the arts. The company serves the community of Providence both at its facility and through outreach programming at Providence public schools, recreation centers, and other community settings. Everett Dance Theatre sponsors an ongoing series of after school and weekend classes and workshops for local youth and adults. Dance forms as diverse as Ballet, Breakdancing, Polynesian and Acrobatics are featured as well as improvisational theater.
The goals of the Everett VISTA are: to increase the number of youth benefiting from Everett's free after-school art programming and the number of low-income youth given the opportunity to develop as professional artists; to provide for low-income youth high quality educational performances; and to increase visibility in the community and increase support from the community due to that increased visibility.
The International Gallery for Heritage and Culture is a nonprofit
organization which goals are to educate and promote the rich heritage and
culture of Africans and people of African descent, Latin America, the Caribbean,
Asia, South Pacific, Native Americans and recent immigrants; by providing a
gallery and educational resource center which will host exhibitions, promote
visual and performing arts, cultural programs, lectures, forums and
documentaries. The AmeriCorps*VISTA assists the International Gallery in securing ways to
provide stability and quality programs to more than twenty-two sites in
Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls and Woonsocket.
The AmeriCorps*VISTA at New
Urban Arts fills the Communications and Development Coordinator position and
works closely with the Executive Director and Program Director to develop and
communicate the pedagogy and practice of youth empowerment and development
through the arts. The work is focused on enabling youth and artists in Rhode
Island to build partnerships and implement programs that empower and promote
young people as artists and leaders through: technology development, marketing,
graphic and web design, budgeting, donor development, fundraising, grant
writing, volunteer coordination, and overall support and participation in
program development and implementation.
Perishable Theatre is now celebrating their 20th year at the forefront of introducing new voices to the American theater. Nationally recognized as an incubator for the development of new plays, Perishable holds a staunch dedication to cultivating the power of the arts as a community catalyst. For two decades, Perishable has remained actively dedicated to giving a voice to artists who otherwise would not be heard. Perishable's body of work dares audiences of all ages to challenge their assumptions about how we live today.
Perishable Theatre's AmeriCorps*VISTA, Matthew Kandarian, will continue this tradition. Over the next year Matthew will begin to network, establish and support and artist exchange between Perishable Theatre and Providence youth organizations and local high schools. The purpose of this exchange is to create an environment where a self-sustained line of communication and professional relations may thrive. Through programs to bring teens into the theatre at significantly lowered ticket prices and increasing scholarships opportunities for the Theatre Arts School, Perishable Theatre hopes to spark an interest and cultivate dormant artistic abilities within the youth of Providence as well as making downtown theatre more accessible to the community.
The mission of the Training School, as a mandatory educational program within a juvenile correctional facility, is to educate all students with the skills, knowledge and values to succeed in school, work, and the community by providing a safe, consistent, and secure learning environment that meets the needs of each student while challenging all to fulfill their highest potential.
The Arts VISTA at the RITS works alongside teachers as they develop and deliver thematic, standards-based instructional units that incorporate the arts and technology. The overall goal is to raise literacy levels and increase the success rate of residents returning to their home communities. The VISTA researches thematic-based and standards-based instructional units, as well as studies related to arts-based instruction for at-risk youth; gathers material for art work during delivery of the units of instruction; assists teachers in the incorporation of arts in teaching; provides input for student and program assessment; nurtures inventiveness, which develops self-esteem, self-discipline, cooperation, and self-motivation; and participates in teacher planning meetings one to two afternoons monthly.
A second VISTA at the Rhode Island Training School creates bridges between the RITS, AS220, and the Broad Street Studio. Most of this work is done at there training school by teaching poetry, self-expression, hip hop, and language skills, in addition to creating a bi-monthly newsletter about what goes on behind the bars of juvenile delinquency. The VISTA serves on the gender-specific sub-committee that is centered around getting more materials and better facilities to the Rossi House (the women's unit). Much time is spent in Rossi, including an advanced poetry/hip hop class on Mondays. This position also helps facilitate AS220's Friday afternoon art classes held at the RITS and helps to recruit exiting RITS youth for the Broad St. Studio.
Youth In Action (YIA) began in October 1997 with four youth, one adult, and a dream. Our pioneering dream was that with support, youth could run and control their own organization. Empowering youth to strengthen and build communities is the mission that drives YIA. Youth In Action is at the forefront of youth leadership, and our groundbreaking leadership model has received national recognition for its ability to create young leaders who make positive and effective change. A group of 20 multicultural youth (age 14-21) control our Board of Directors, and teens implement all of our community service programs.
The role of the Americorps VISTA is to work closely with the youth to build leadership skills, and to assist the youth-run teams in the development and implementation of their programs. The VISTA will also serve as an adult liaison between Youth In Action and other community organizations.