In this Issue:

New Urban Arts' student artwork adorns the walls of City Hall, this Friday, December 8th in collaboration with the tree lighting ceremony for the City of Providence.

The show features new work by 6 high school students, who have been creating new works with their artist mentor for the past three years. They are exhibiting large-scale self-portraits and a series of collages. The spectacular 32”x48” self-portraits are made from recycled materials such as zippers, cardboard tubing, and old magazines. The collages, the students' tribute to their artist mentor, Charlotte O'Donnell, feature cut-outs of the students and Charlotte, inviting the viewer to find the artist mentor amidst the students. This collaboration gives true meaning to New Urban Arts' mission and their relationship built through artmaking.

The students describe their exhibit, “This artwork is about how we see ourselves. We are cockatoo lovers, Mexican-Americans and former New Yorkers, students of Greek Mythology and Japanese Anime. We like to stand out in a crowd. Above all we love making art at New Urban Arts.” 

Stop by Providence City Hall 5-7 pm, this Friday, December 8th, and be sure to stop indoors and visit the second floor. The tree lighting ceremony, which begins at 5:30 pm on the City Hall steps, will include performances by The Voices of Sophia, a group of students from Sophia Academy, an a cappella performance by Loriana De Crescenzo of Opera Providence, and actors from the Trinity Repertory Company will pay a special visit.  Mayor David N. Cicilline and WPRI New Anchor Karen Adams will co-host the celebration. 

*****

New Urban Arts is pleased to announce a $25,000 grant from the Minerva Foundation to support our 2006-07 nationally recognized arts mentoring programs for Providence high school students and emerging artists. Ellen Twaddell, who sits on the Board of Directors of the Minerva Foundation, served as an artist mentor in creative writing during the 2004-05 school year.  Today, she lives in Beijing, China, where she teaches English, with her partner, Will Fertman, another former artist mentor.

Tyler Denmead comments on the gift, "I have always felt humbled by the commitment of artist mentors to New Urban Arts, who dedicate so much time and energy to make creativity a greater part of life for high school students.  We are thankful that the Minerva Foundation, and our alumna artist mentor, Ellen Twaddel, play an instrumental role in continuing to make that possible.

*****

Recently uploaded on our Flickr photogallery, check out photos from our most recent exhibition, featuring new work by our artist mentors, as well as "Artsgiving," a new Thanksgiving-eve event.

Over 150 people attended the 2006 artist mentor exhibition opening November 17th to celebrate the 16 artists who volunteer at New Urban Arts to share their passion for creativity and the arts with high school students. This year's exhibit featured a walk-in optical distortion chamber, a series of Roller Derby posters, an illustrated story about a little girl going to the zoo, street-scape paintings, portraits, and mysterious photographs to name a few.

The night before Thanksgiving, seniors at New Urban Arts hosted a party in order for students in the studio to get to know one another better. Along with community building games, and of course eating, students made art for another student and anonymously gifted it at the end of the night. The challenge was guessing who made your art! Then students said something they know about that person or if they hadn't met the giver yet, they asked them a question to get to know them better. Congrats to the seniors for starting this new tradition at New Urban Arts!!

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.”  Let Mahatma Gandhi’s words inspire you!  The profits from the production of this paperweight are being donated to New Urban Arts

*****

Stay up to date with www.RezaRitesRI.com, which promotes the voices of Rhode Island's ethnically, socially, and artistically diverse.

Do your holiday shopping at Craftland this year.

We liked this music video by If'n Books.

Subscribe to New Urban Arts' Podcast.

Thank you to the RISD Balls, the RISD basketball team, for their recent donation.

Thank you Sprint Systems of Photography.

Check out our sister organization, 7Arts, in Queens!

How about the comics of former artist mentor, Fay Ryu?

As always, the ever popular Tiny Showcase.

Learn about exciting cultural events in Rhode Island at www.rifutures.org.

And, students and families at New Urban Arts are thankful this year for College Visions.

Special thanks to White Whale Web Services, designers of www.newurbanarts.org.

Thank you to Citizens Bank and NBC10 for naming us a Champion in Action!

Also, proudly supported by:
Providence After School Alliance
New Roots Providence at the Providence Plan
The Providence Shelter for Colored Children
The Dexter Commission
The City of Providence, Department of Art, Culture, and Tourism
The Honorable Mayor David N. Cicilline
Rhode Island State Council on the Arts

And many generous individuals like you.

Feel free to forward this newsletter to your friends. 

About New Urban Arts
New Urban Arts is a nationally recognized arts studio for high school students and emerging artists in Providence, Rhode Island.  Our mission is to build a vital learning community that empowers young people, developing creative practices they can sustain throughout their lives.  We serve 125 high school students and 15 emerging artists through after-school and summer programs each year.