>>> What do you get when you mix lemonade, a marching band, and the largest mural in New Urban Arts' history?
>>> Art Party, a memorable closure to the ninth year of programs!
>>> Special thanks to Stacy Higgins, New Roots Providence, and RISD!
>>> To learn about opportunities for high school students this summer at New Urban Arts, visit our website and look under What's New.
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During April and May, John Jacobson, an artist mentor at New Urban Arts, initiated a mural project in which youth and artist mentors collaborated to create a series of large-scale paintings. Often, artwork surrounds the single vision of an artist. These murals allowed young people to explore what happens when multiple people contribute to the art making process. By mounting a new canvas in our studio at the start of each week and allowing it to unfold based on the various contributions of students, artist mentors, volunteers, and visitors, the collection served an unexpected purpose as documentation of studio life at New Urban Arts. Six murals were created through the process, and now they are being mounted as one piece at the Atrium Gallery at One Capitol Hill.
The opening, is so special to us, it needs a marching band... And luckily, Providence has the best street marching band. For more information about the "What Cheer" marching band, visit www.providencestreetband.com.
The opening also features great new work by our friends at Providence CityArts and Island Arts in Newport.
To view a video documentation of the Collaborative Mural Project, visit our YouTube site.
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A record 261 people visited our year-end Art Party to celebrate another wonderful year, to say thank you to our tireless volunteers, and to wish the best to our latest crew of graduating seniors. Special thanks to Mayor Cicilline for opening the performance at the Art Party and presenting the students, artists, staff, and volunteers of New Urban Arts with a Citation.
The Art Party featured:
an exhibition of new visual artwork,
live unplugged performances of original songs by Adrienne Adeyemi,
readings by poets Sergio Cabrera and Titilayo Adedeji Campbell,
an acknowledgment of thanks to each of our incredible artist mentors,
and a senior send-off of our 11 graduating seniors. A member of our community offered a special tribute to each senior, presented them with a gift of a book chosen for each individual student based on their artistic interests, accompanied by a bookmark made by another New Urban Arts' student. Our friends at College Visions also presented them with a college-bound care package.
To cap off the night, the student-produced fashion show featured over 25 original designs modeled by New Urban Arts' students. Congratulations students and artist mentors on another wonderful year!
To see photos of the event, visit our Flickr site.
To see video, visit our YouTube site.
Two New Urban Arts' students were recently recognized by Central High School for their accomplishments in art and design. Congratulations to Michael Moretti, who received a fine art award from the Central High School Art Department, and Jenna Sanchez who received an award for graphic design. Also, congrats to Leah Eldenman Brier, who was nominated most artistic by her classmates at Classical.
Also, congratulations to recent RISD grads, Sara Berg and Lynne Yarne, for their wonderful work as volunteer artist mentors during the past three years. We will miss you!
And, last but not least, Jean Cozzens, an artist mentor at New Urban Arts, for leading the amazing "New Your City" project at the Fox Point Library. Youngsters created a model of their city out of cardboard and recyclables. The project can be seen at http://www.glaciersofnice.com/newyourcity/ .
... to Stacy Higgins, who arrived at New Urban Arts as a volunteer in January. She offers PR and communications support as part of a scholarship awarded by the University of Rhode Island, where Stacy is finishing up a communications degree. Stacy chose to do her summer internship at New Urban Arts and has several exciting projects lined up. She will be developing a series of student and alumni profiles, providing a more in-depth look at the individual impact of New Urban Arts and developing new ways to engage and inform the New Urban Arts community. Drawing from her background in advertising and established media contacts, she hopes to help strengthen New Urban Arts’ relationship with the media, making sure the achievements of New Urban Arts' students and mentors get the attention they deserve. Thank you Stacy! For more information about volunteering at New Urban Arts, contact us.
New Urban Arts is pleased to announce that we have received an $18,000 capacity-building grant from New Roots Providence. New Roots Providence is a project of the Providence Plan that provides
support to faith-based and community organizations working in the city
of Providence, Rhode Island. This grant will be used for activities that strengthen our organization and increase our ability to serve young people in Providence. For more information about New Roots, visit here.
Special thanks to Paul Connelly and Nathan Andary at RISD for coordinating the donation of left-over art supplies and materials to New Urban Arts and great community arts programs in Providence: Providence CityArts, Everett Dance Theatre, AS220 Broad Street Studio, Community MusicWorks, and Providence Black Repertory Theatre. Recycle bins for art materials were set up in dorm rooms throughout the campus and then made available for use in these great programs. Thank you!
Check out our friends at Tiny Showcase.
Also, students and families at New Urban Arts are thankful 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:
New Roots Providence at the Providence Plan
The Providence Shelter for Colored Children
The Dexter Commission
The Providence After-School Alliance
The City of Providence, Department of Art, Culture, and Tourism
The Honorable Mayor David N. Cicilline
Rhode Island State Council on the Arts
The Rhode Island Foundation
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.