Space For Rent

The space that currently hosts Groundwerx Dance Company's studio and offices will become available to new tenants in June 1999. Perishable Theatre and Groundwerx were AS220's partners in the redevelopment of the current AS220 Complex, which opened in 1993.

We are accepting proposals from prospective tenants through February 26. Our formal Request for Proposals, which includes a full description of the space, is available from the AS220 office and is online at www.as220.org/rfp

New Residents!

January 1st 1999:

Welcome aboard to Erin McKeown, who is a new resident of our third floor studios. Erin's a veteran of Brown's cooperative living spaces and a musician who's actually making a living at her craft (see http://www.netspace.org/tvprecords/ for more info). She first got involved at AS220 via The Pork Chop Lounge and has recently helped put together shows like last fall's Venus Envy.

Erin's taking the spot vacated by longtime resident Rick Massimo, who recently expanded his creative resume by fathering a child. Rick's steady gig as bassist for the Smoking Jackets ensures that we'll still be seeing him around.

February 1st 1999:

Long-time resident and musician Matt Everett has relinquished his studio in favor of an apartment in the Armory. Matt was a great co-oper and a boon to the AS220 community. We wish him well! AS220 Gallery director Chris Kilduff has decided to separate church and state and move out of his 3rd floor studio. He will most assuredly remain a presence in the building.

In place of the departing are new residents Nichole Galipeau and Tim Barsky. Nichole is a UNH graduate in journalism and aspires to hone her creative writing AS220 is happy to support her in this endeavor. Nichole is the latest member of AS220/VISTA phenomenon (see September 1998), having just started a year of national service at the library. Tim Barsky is a recent graduate of Brown University. He joins former BACH (Brown Authority on Co-op Housing) Co-opers Erin McKeown, Matt Obert and Spogga in what some perceive as a migration from the hill. Tim is an accomplished story teller and musician influenced by many non-western traditions. He is currently employed by the Providence Black Repertory Company.

Focus 1999

The Community Darkroom is planning a major project for this summer, Focus 1999. Here are the basics on the project:

Here's the basic dope on Focus 1999:

Focus 1999 will introduce Providence youth to the basics of black and white photography through a large-scale photo documentary project. Teams of youth will spend the summer months capturing the Providence cityscape as we approach the millenium. With the recent boom of development, Providence's industrial past is making way for a new vision of the city. Before the city's renaissance is complete, Focus 1999 will engage the city's youth in archiving and celebrating this transition.

By participating in Focus 1999, students will expand their interaction with Providence's communities and neighborhoods and gain exposure to the realities of contemporary city planning. Students will work closely with professional photographers in planning and executing the project, gaining experience in the process of crafting a gallery-quality portfolio. The resulting work will be mounted for public viewing in the Fall and Winter of 1999.

Questions? Scott Lapham can be reached via scott@as220.org or 274-1299

Fool's Ball Season Has Begun

Planning for the 5th annual incarnation of AS220's gala fundraiser has already begun. The first full week of April will be full of special events, culminating in a huge building-wide bash on April 10th. Lizzie Araujo has been knocking herself out booking the week, and she's secured commitments from The Smoking Jackets, Neo-90s, The Eyesores and Erin McKeown for the 10th. Kristen Hirsh wants to come by that week, too, and preview her Spring European tour and The Slip has booked two nights of Fool's Ball hangover parties the week after the main event. The rest of the details aren't pinned down yet, but Ball coordinator Sheri Van Antwerp is nursing a dream of a huge parade on Saturday afternoon. More news to come.

Help Mark Help You!

Nestled in the depths of the AS220 basement is the community Screenprinting studio. For the last year or so Resident VISTA Mark Pedini has down there busily creating promotional materials for AS220. Slowly he has modified the modestly-sized studio to be more user-friendly and accessible to the public, and several artists have used the room to produce their own printed materials. The first three Tuesdays of every month at 6:30, Mark conducts a demonstration on how to use the studio (N.B. Mark used to do these on Thursdays but as of Feb. 15th it'll be Tuesdays).

Despite these efforts, the Screenprinting studio is still quite limited. There has been an interest in expanding the studio to include more effective equipment, and other mediums, such as Etching. The physical space at AS220, however, cannot support this expansion. American Trophy, an East Providence business, has donated a couple of useful items to the cause: a Screenprinting carousel press and a zinc plate cutter. We have nowhere to put them!

What AS220 needs to create a fully functioning community Printshop:

1. A larger space
2. An Etching Press
3. Etching supplies
4. A large industrial sink

New Newsletters

The new edition of our 16 page newsletter arrived on our doorstep January 1st. There's an awful lot of information in there, but we did forget to thank all the people that helped us put it together, so...

Matt Lowe did the lion's share of the layout, and juiced up the blurbs for all the listings. If you ever tried to write 8 different sentences about figure drawing you'll appreciate his work.
Heather Baldwin had perfect timing, poring over the copy and catching a host of goofs immediately before we sent it off to the printer.
Pam Murray captured the awe and majesty of Joe Auger in the photo we used on page 3 and Amy Zimmitti took the self-portrait on page 1. Minister of Propaganda Mark Pedini did the cover along with abbreviated Membership solicitation on page 2.