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In This Issue
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Latest Round of Grants Announced
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Grants to support poetry slams, chamber music
concerts, theatre instruction in youth treatment
facilities, school residencies, performances,
exhibitions, film series, installations and community
arts activities are all part of the latest round of
State Arts Council grant awards.
The Arts Council awarded a total of $236,485 to 84
applicants in this latest round of grants. It received
200 applications from artists, organizations and
schools throughout the state, with requests totaling
$1,004,188. Grants ranged in size from $10,000 to
support the Community Musicworks of Providence
(pictured above) to several smaller grants, including
$2,500 to the Academy Players of East Greenwich, a
community theatre group, and $3,000 to the Laotian
Community Center of RI in Smithfield for a project to
help preserve the Laotian culture.
In announcing the awards, State Arts Council
director Randall Rosenbaum said that the agency
received a large number of applications, and was
able to support a number of exciting projects. "The
arts are an important part of the life of every Rhode
Islander, and our mission is to see that every Rhode
Islander has access to the best our state has to
offer, regardless of where they live or what they can
afford to pay. Through these grants we have
supported activity in practically every part of the
state, where the arts contribute to the quality of
life, the education of our young, and the vitality of
our economy."
The next application deadline is April 1, and
guidelines and application forms can be obtained from
the Arts Council web site. Go to "Quick Links" for a
link to our guidelines and forms. Click below to see a
list of recent grant awards.
See a complete list of grant awards to date (Adobe Acrobat required)....
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Greetings!
Happy Holidays! Welcome to our December
newsletter! In this issue we're announcing our
latest round of grant awards. You can learn
about the January "Scenes of Rhode Island" show,
and lots of other exciting projects and collaborations.
From all of us at the Rhode Island State Council on
the Arts, a happy, healthy and art-ful holiday season.
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Holiday Concerts at the State House
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During the month of December the Rhode Island
State House has been rocking with holiday concerts,
organized by the Rhode Island State Council on the
Arts in cooperation with the Governor's Office. These
concerts feature student musicians from twenty-four
school ensembles from throughout the state. They
are an excellent way to share the musical abilities
and artistic talent of students and arts education
programs in the Ocean State.
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Scenes of Rhode Island 2007
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The Arts Council, in cooperation with Governor
Carcieri's office, will shortly announce the
artists and their work to be included in
the third annual Scenes of Rhode Island show!
The Scenes of Rhode Island show, an initiative of
Governor Donald Carcieri and The Rhode Island State
Council on the Arts, will take place in January 2007,
and will feature two-dimensional representational
works of art depicting scenes from around the Ocean
State. A special reception with Governor and Mrs.
Carcieri, open to all, is scheduled to take place on
Thursday, January 23 from 5:00pm to 7:00pm in the
Atrium Gallery.
The curated show is designed to showcase the
artistic talent of Rhode Island artists and the natural
beauty of the state.
And, if you're still looking for a holiday gift, select
CVS/Pharmacy locations are now carrying the
2007 “Governor’s Best: Scenes of Rhode Island” desk
calendar -- images from last year's competition.
Proceeds from the sale of the calendar benefit the
Healing Arts Program at Lifespan hospitals.
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Currently in the Atrium Gallery
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Through a program funded by RISCA, the artwork of
several refugees studying at the Genesis Center in
Providence are on display in the Atrium Gallery at
One Capitol Hill, a gallery run by the State Arts
Council in the state's main administration building.
Adult literacy learners (Hmong from refugee camps in
Thailand and Somalis from refugee camps in Kenya,
along with women from Liberia) have been
participating in weekly painting workshops since
January 2005, with support from the State Arts
Council. Part of the project involves work with this
group in the process of making art, guiding them in
working with the children at the Genesis Center
childcare program so that they will be able to work
with their own children in making art.
The Atrium Gallery is in One Capitol Hill, the state’s
main administration building. It is located diagonally
across Smith Street from the State House. The
gallery and its monthly art shows are a joint project
of the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts and
the Rhode Island State Department of
Administration. The gallery space is open weekdays
from 8:00am to 5:00pm.
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NEA funds American Masterpiece performance in RI
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Rhode Island celebrated a true "American
Masterpiece" when the Kevin Locke Native Dance
Ensemble performed The Drum Is the Thunder, the
Flute Is the Wind in public performance, and
gave three workshop performances to Rhode Island
schoolchildren including one at the Nuweetooun School, a small school
in Exeter that focuses on Native culture and history.
This program was funded through a national
initiative, American Masterpieces, from the
National Endowment for the Arts, with additional
support from the Rhode Island State Council on the
Arts. American Masterpieces is designed to
introduce Americans to the best of their cultural and
artistic legacy
FirstWorks presented this "American
Master" in collaboration with RISCA.
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NEA funds several Rhode Island projects
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In its first major grant announcement of fiscal year
2007, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
announced $19.4 million in funding to 848 grants.
In Rhode Island, grants were awarded totalling
$53,000, to three arts organizations.
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RISCA - Steelyard Collaboration
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RISCA and The
Steelyard, an arts education center located at
the historic Providence Steel and Iron site, along the
Woonasquatucket River in the heart of Providence's
industrial Valley neighborhood, are collaborating on a
series of apprenticeships in traditional occupational
arts.
This program, funded by a grant from the National Endowment for
the Arts, is designed to foster the sharing of
skills between masters and apprentices in
occupational art forms like blacksmithing, welding,
glass and bronze casting and ceramics.
We received several applications in blacksmithing,
timber framing, lost wax casting, stain glass, and
ceramics; four master artists received funding and
will share their skills with apprentices at the
Steelyard. Each one of these projects is culminating
with a public component at various locations around
the state. An announcement regarding awards will
be made shortly.
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Public Art at the New Traffic Tribunal Building
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Portland, ME artist Joe Kievitt is currently
transforming the interior of the new Rhode Island
Traffic Tribunal in Cranston, per Rhode Island's
Allocation for Art for Public Facilities Act or "The 1%
for Art Law." The 1% for Art Law mandates that new
state construction and renovation projects must
include public art in order to foster an
environment "of distinction, enjoyment, and pride for
all citizens."
The Rhode Island State Council on the Arts has
worked with the RI Judiciary to conclude a lengthy
call to artists and review process with the selection
of Mr. Kievitt's proposal for a glass tile mosaic. Mr.
Kievitt's work is influenced by Japanese prints and
depicts the natural world. The selection panel chose
his colorful, graceful forms with confidence that they
would respect the formality of judicial proceedings,
yet lend an air of relief and charm to the Tribunal's
often stressful environment.
The new Traffic Tribunal building is located at 670
New London Avenue in the John O. Pastore
Government Center. The building will be open for
operations in January. Opening events will be
announced soon.
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