AS220 & New Urban Arts Make Shortlist for 2013 ArtPlace Grants

Congratulations to AS220 and New Urban Arts for being among the 104 finalist for the 2013 ArtPlace’s Creative Placemaking grants. The finalists for this years grants include groups from 72 communities in 33 states and the District of Columbia and were chosen from 1,225 letters of inquiry from across the country.

Last year both WaterFire Providence and Community MusicWorks were fortunate to receive ArtPlace grants. WaterFire Providence received a $454,000 grant to develop the following programs in 2013:

Public arts incubator – We will create new public art elements and will also partner with a range of artists and cultural organizations across Providence to collaborate on new art installations and experiments with innovative placemaking techniques.
Creative placemaking learning lab – We will collect and share the latest and best practices from WaterFire, Providence and around the United States and globe. We plan on developing a series of workshops, symposiums or even a conference as well as online resources that will feature some public art and creative placemaking

Both AS220 and New Urban Arts are located in the Downtown/Federal Hill area of Providence that was recently named by ArtPlace as one of the top ArtPlaces in the country. AS220 was founded in 1985 on the principle that freedom of expression is crucial for the development of strong communities and individual spirits. New Urban Arts is a nationally-recognized community arts studio for high school students and emerging artists in Providence, Rhode Island.

WaterFire wishes both AS220 and New Urban Arts the best of luck in securing an ArtPlace Creative Placemaking grant in 2013, their work helps to make Providence a vibrant and culturally rich place to live and work.

For the full list of finalists please check out ArtPlace’s blog.

About the author

Tim Blankenship

Director of Special Projects at WaterFire | + posts by author

Tim Blankenship, newly appointed Director of Special Projects, is a 22-year veteran of WaterFire and a steadfast advocate for the organization’s mission to unite the community through shared artistic experiences. Having worked across multiple departments, including a decade in production and recent years with the creative services team, Tim brings unmatched institutional knowledge to his new role. He will focus on strengthening internal systems and supporting the creation of new visitor experiences at both the downtown installation and the WaterFire Arts Center.