Join Us Thursday April 2nd at 7pm for Hats On! New Urban Arts Annual Campaign Event

Join the New Urban Arts Board of Directors and a diverse community of supporters for an evening of music, food and fun while helping support after school arts programming for Providence public high school students. Wear your favorite hat or one of ours!

Come and meet our dynamic young artists, artist mentors, staff, and board of directors; create a hat at one of our hat making stations, win an award for the hat you wear or the hat you make, bid on artwork or an art experience in our silent auction, and see who is recognized for their unwavering commitment to our programs.

So don a hat that protects you from government brainwashing, brings out your alter ego, makes you feel like a movie star, an astronaut, or a Canadian Mounties, or just one that makes you happy.

Wine, beer and tasty treats will be served.

Thursday, April 2, 2009, 7 pm
743 Westminster Street
Providence Rhode Island

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Conversations On Creative Practice Series Kicks Off 2009 Schedule

How do you nurture creativity in the little corners of your world? How do you cultivate your creative practice? This spring, New Urban Arts is hosting its second series of five public Conversations in which unique individuals share how they integrate creativity into their personal and professional lives. We'll have guests talking about graphic design, writing, cooking, books, playgrounds, difficult dialogues, and the other personal rituals that we carve out to transcend everyday lives.

Conversations On Creative Practice on Wednesdays from 6:00-8:00pm located at New Urban Arts, 743 Westminster Street in Providence. Free and Open to the Public.

March 18:  On making the world a better place through Graphic Design.
A Conversation with Arly-Rose Torsone who is the Art Director of Design Providence.

March 25: On Talking about Hard Things
A Conversation with Jane Androski, artist mentor at New Urban Arts who is assistant director of Difficult Dialogues at Clark University.

April 15: On Building a Playground

A Conversation with Kath Connolly, Laurencia Strauss and Sarah Bernstein from The Learning Community, a public charter school in Central Falls where a fourth grader’s letter inspired Lowe’s to fund a new outdoor play space.

April 2: On Books and Prints

A Conversation with Shea’la Finch of Tiny Showcase, Deb Dormody of If ‘N Books, and Jen Corace, local artist and freelance illustrator.

May 27: On Cooking, Eating and Writing

A Conversation with Champe Speidel and Lisa Harrison, the owners of Persimmon in Bristol; Champe, is a well-known Rhode Island chef, and Lisa is a Senior Editor at Rhode Island Monthly.

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Jane Androski On Talking About Hard Things, This Wednesday, March 25, 2009 from 6-8pm.

Join us tomorrow for a conversation with Jane Androski, artist mentor at New Urban Arts who is assistant director of Difficult Dialogues at Clark University.

This conversation will focus on the idea of Dialogue as Creative Practice. Jane will share the ways that dialogue is a thread that weaves through the (seemingly disparate) areas of her work – i.e. the role that dialogue plays in her life as a designer, in her work with the Difficult Dialogues program at Clark (that's the "talking about hard things" part!), as well as how she sees dialogue in her work at New Urban Arts. This will be a participatory conversation, so come prepared to have a dialogue about dialogue!

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Interested in Learning More About New Urban Arts Fellowship Program? Come Tuesday April 7, 2009 Or Wednesday April 8 from 6:00 - 7:30pm

Are you considering applying to become an arts mentoring fellow at New Urban Arts? Attend Informational Sessions held on Tuesday, April 7th or Wednesday April 8th at 743 Westminster Street in Providence. 

New Urban Arts awards fellowships annually to two established artists and educators in a yearlong position to (1) support artist mentors who volunteer to mentor high school students in the arts; (2) share publicly artwork or ideas about community arts practice reflective of New Urban Arts pedagogy, and (3) be an active presence in the New Urban Arts Studio. The fellows jointly curate New Urban Arts Conversations, a public series in which unique individuals share their creative practice. Click here to read the Fellow job description for details on roles and responsibilities.

Fellows receive a financial stipend, studio space and the opportunity to investigate and explore the intersection of creative practice and community practice. Click here for the RFP due May 1, 2009.

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Follow Us On Twitter

Follow New Urban Arts on Twitter---yes, we finally joined the micro-blogging craze.

Have the time and patience to read more than 140 characters? Check out our main blog.

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New Urban Arts Staff Blogs About Creativity, Part One

During New Urban Arts winter staff retreat, we re-read Inspiring the Imaginer in All of Us: A framework for a sustainable creative practice, written by New Urban Arts Founder, Tyler Denemad. Our reflections were recorded to be shared on our blog. Here is what Tamara has to say about creativity. Check it out here.

Next month, read Jason's reflection on creativity.

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Honors, Openings, Fellowships, Projects, and Blogs...New Urban Arts Artist Mentors and Students Are Doing Great Things!

>> Rebecca Volynsky, New Urban Arts Alumna and Boston University CFA Freshman, is the recipient of the March 2009 Honored Artist Award, presented by the Women's Resource Center. Rebecca will have her work displayed in the Women's Resource Center for the month of March.

The Honored Artist Award is given to one outstanding BU visual artist whose work considers the topics of women, gender, or sexuality. Rebecca creates work that revolves around the themes of growth, change, and the female voice. Her work has to do with the act of becoming, or cultivating oneself, into the person one wants to be.

Check out Rebecca's work from March 4, 2009 - March 31, 2009 at the Women's Resource Center, 775 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215 (Basement of the Boston University George Sherman Union)

>> Former Artist Mentor John Jacobson, president of JTJ Investments, a Providence real estate redevelopment firm, was featured in Providence Business News article Five Questions With; John Tabor Jacobson by Kevin Shalvey. JJ recently opened 28 Wolcott, a sustainable mixed-use building in the city’s Promenade district. This interview covers JJ's project and why he thinks Rhode Island should be a national leader in sustainable development. Click here to read the article.

>> Alumnus Adrienne Adeyemi photographs of Nigeria will be on exhibition at Clark University from March 26 through May 17, with an opening event on Thursday, March 26, 2009 from 5-7pm.

A Sense of Belonging: A Photographic Journey through Nigeria is the
culmination of Adrienne's trip to Nigeria in the summer of 2008 (she won a very competitive fellowship from Clark in order to go). As part of the experience, there will be music and sounds that Adrienne recorded during her months in Nigeria.

The event will be held at Clark University Gallery on the second floor of Dana Commons in Worchester, MA.

Adrienne's exhibition is coordinated by Clark University's Difficult Dialogue's Project. To see the full schedule of events, click here.

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