Farewell to Mark and Lauren

For the past two years, AS220 has reaped the benefits of five fulltime workers that we would never have been able to hire without the help of VISTA*Americorps. VISTA is a federally-funded program, often called "the domestic Peace Corps", that trains and pays Members who work at non-profits, building capacity and establishing new programs. AS220's relationship with VISTA continues to grow, and thank goodness for that; it's hard to imagine how the past two years would have gone without the help of VISTA Members Lizzie Araujo, Lauren Brooke, Susan Kavanaugh, Kim Kazan and Mark Pedini.

VISTA Members serve for a maximum of two years, and Mark Pedini's two years are up this August. Mark's balliwick has been AS220 promotional efforts and the third floor residential program. His legacy will live on in the research he's done for our Artist-In-Residence program, the third floor's renewed commitment to cooperative living and the hand-built screenprinting studio in our basement, as well as the beautiful variety of AS220-related posters that will linger on telephone poles around town for years to come. Come September 1st, Mark will be moving to Austin, Texas to pursue his lifelong dream of getting the hell out of Rhode Island.

Lauren Brooke will also be moving on, having accepted an offer she could not refuse from the Rhode Island School of Design. Lauren spent the last year building arts education opportunities for youth at AS220. With Lauren's help, The Muse Union has quickly grown into a movement that will hit the ground running when school reconvenes in September.

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