‘South County Art Association Presents: Diaspora, An Open Juried All-Media Exhibition’ at the Atrium Gallery at One Capitol Hill, Oct. 28 – Jan. 25, 2023

Opening reception is on Nov. 3, 5 p.m., at One Capitol Hill, Providence

The Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA) announced today the all-media exhibit, South County Art Association presents Diaspora, An Open Juried All Media Exhibition on display, Oct. 28-Jan. 25, RISCA’s Atrium Gallery at One Capitol Hill on the main floor of the state’s Administration Building in Providence.

The opening reception in the gallery, One Capitol Hill, Providence, will be on Thursday, Nov. 3, at 5 p.m. It’s open to the public.

The exhibit examines the theme of diaspora with artworks expressing inclusion, exclusion, identity, diversity, and how it relates to cultural identities. This exhibit features 30 Rhode Island artists and their 38 artworks selected by Juror Bob Dilworth.

Accompanying the artworks are narratives written by the artists explaining their inspiration for creating the art piece. Some pieces tell individual stories of how ancestry and heritage played into their cultural identity. Other artworks speak to the bigger theme of the migration of cultural identities challenging the ideas of an established world.

“With diaspora as the theme, these works are a particularly strong examples of how art raises consciousness levels and awakens us to consider issues of equity, inclusion and diversity.”

Lynne McCormack, Executive Director of RISCA

The exhibition was curated by Bob Dilworth and the featured artists include: Alison Rice, Beth Einstein Casagrande, Brooke Waldron, Casey Hayward, Catherine Mansell, Cathy Russo, Christine Ashley, Cindy Horovitz Wilson, David Lee Black, Dianne DeTommaso, Jillian Barber, John Kotula, Kim Pinksaw, Linda Peduzzi, Lisa Lyman Adams, Lynne Moulton, Marian Goldsmith, Marilyn McShane Levine, Mary Belden Brown, Maryann Stenson, Michelle Henning, Paula Childs, Paula Guida, Paula Imbergamo, Peter Elsworth, Rick Catallozzi, Russell Flagg, Stephen Cook, Stephen Wood and Todd Kenney.

Exhibit details

What:  South County Art Association presents Diaspora, an Open Juried All-Media Exhibition
When:  On Display Oct. 25- Jan. 15, 2023 / Open to the public, weekdays, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., excluding holidays
Where: The Atrium Gallery at One Capitol Hill is on the first floor of the state administration building in Providence.     

Mark your calendar for the opening reception on Nov. 3 at 5 p.m. at the gallery.

AATE’s first hybrid conference is in Providence

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Providence, and RI writ-large, is a rich theater community. From large touring Broadway productions in the heart of downtown, to community based bilingual theaters and cultural showcases, we have so much to offer. More and more Providence is considered a better option than Boston or New York because of its unique cultural pool. Rhode Island’s Southeast Asian community, Latinx and Afro-Caribbean communities have thriving theater and performance organizations.

So, in celebration of all of this, RISCA is thrilled to announce that we are hosting The American Alliance for Theatre and Education (AATE) upcoming 35th annual, and first-ever hybrid, conference Arriba el Telón (Raise the Curtain)  at the Rhode Island Convention Center, July 28-31, 2022. This incredible national organization has chosen to convene its membership here to highlight our multi-lingual theaters and showcase our statewide commitment to theater education and insight into theater education as a means of conveying intergenerational knowledge and histories.

As a nonprofit organization, AATE works to ensure that every young person experiences quality theater arts in their lives provided by proficient, talented artists and educators. Based in Washington, D.C, AATE has made waves in sparking conversations throughout numerous specializations, especially artists, scholars and educators. Through this cross-fertilization of ideas, AATE has created a space for art to enhance education and vice versa. Rooted in social justice and youth agency, AATE works to emphasize how critical thinking/collaborative skills apply to all fields in the 21st century workforce. The AATE conference features workshops where people can learn alongside and from one another. From playwrights, applied theater artists, K-12 educators, social justice activists, actors, directors, social workers and more.

RISCA is thrilled that the conference will highlight local organizations and their excellent work. Stand out conference moments will be an all-conference keynote from Francis Parra, of Teatro ECAS, and a free live performance of La Mancha on the State House lawn as part of Teatro en el verano.

We thank the following individuals and organizations for their support and contributions to the conference:

  • Teatro ECAS, Francis Parra and Yvonne Beauregard
  • The Village Theater, Elvys Ruiz
  • The Wilbury Theatre Group, Max Ponticelli
  • Rhode Island Theatre Education Association, Stephanie Spaziano
  • Providence Performing Arts Center, Dana Brazil
  • Southside Cultural Center, Silaphone Nhongvongsouthy
  • Mat Bevilaqua, BEVROS

See the full conference schedule, click here.

The conference will run from Thursday, July 28, to  Sunday, July 31.

Registration is still open; online registration closes July 22. Click here to register. Tiered Registration (Select the tier that fits your budget): $100 (virtual) $150, $200, $250, $300.

For additional information, please visit www.aate.com/2022.

Our updated, new grant process provides more accessibility, inclusiveness, equity, transparency

With a newly updated strategic plan that included a revamped vision, mission and values for the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA), the staff, Governor-appointed Arts Council leadership, and members of the arts and culture community joined together to restructure the current grant programs to better reflect us. In keeping with the call to action from the new Strategic Plan, the undertaking with the community involved creating new granting programs that were transformative, relevant, inclusive, open, transparent, and most importantly equitable and accessible.
With these lofty goals and objectives in mind, the staff convened three diverse working groups to jointly create new grant programs and application processes.

The first newly reworked grant programs, geared for arts and culture organizations and individual arts, launched in February. Later in 2022, RISCA staff will lead community working groups to reassess grants in education and healthcare. In addition the apprenticeships and fellowships programs will be updated.

New granting programs for organizations

General Operating Support for Organizations (GOS-O), which has a deadline of April 1 and opens Feb. 15, was restructured with a 36-member working group representing 22 arts and culture organizations throughout Rhode Island. Participating organizations varied in size, communities engaged, and artistic discipline/cultural tradition. They were, AS220, Arts Equity RI (formerly VSA Arts), Chorus of Westerly, City of Providence Department of Art, Culture + Tourism, Community MusicWorks, Eastern Medicine Singers, Hera Gallery, India Association of Rhode Island, Island Moving Company, Kingston Chamber Music Festival, Manton Avenue Project, New Urban Arts, newportFILM, Oasis International, Providence CityArts for Youth, Rhode Island Black Storytellers, Rhode Island Latino Arts, RI Philharmonic Orchestra and Music School, Riverzedge Arts, Sandra Feinstein-Gamm Theatre, Teatro ECAS, and Trinity Repertory Company.

Some of the main features of the newly implemented GOS-O program sets explicit goals for recruitment of Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) organizations and organizations based in unrepresented cities and towns. It will have a three-year grant cycle and organizations will be evaluated by budget size. Applications will now be tiered in relationship to budget size. In addition, there’s new eligibility for fiscally sponsored organizations with budgets under $50,000.

Changes have been made to RISCA’s panel diversity requirements, including explicit BIPOC representation requirements. New evaluation criteria include artistic vibrancy and relevancy, organizational capacity and ingenuity, and commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and access. Organizations that represent historically marginalized communities or constituencies in their mission, programming, staff leadership and board such as BIPOC-centered organizations, organizations that are led by and engage people with disabilities are automatically considered for grant awards 1.5 times higher than their budget cohort.

Previously awards were based on historic funding without a consistent scheme and ranged from approximately $1,500 – $91,000 per year. For the new funding formula, Awards will now be between $3,000 – $40,000 yearly.

Project Grants for Organizations (PGO) is similar in character to its prior iteration, Arts Access. PGO provides grants of up to $3,000 in support of arts and culture projects that are relevant and meaningful to a Rhode Island community or communities. The new features of PGO are the application and budget documents, as well as waiving of the cash match requirement in this grant program for at least the next three fiscal years.

To develop the new application, RISCA assembled a 10 person BIPOC majority Working Group comprised of individuals working or volunteering at arts and culture organizations throughout Rhode Island. Seven of the 10 Working Group members came from organizations with annual budgets under $100,000, including: Arte Latino de Rhode Island, Arts Equity RI, Choral Collective of Newport County, Chorus of Westerly, Esperanza-Hope, Langston Hughes Community Poetry Reading, Providence CityArts for Youth, RI Cape Verdean Heritage Subcommittee, The Collaborative, and the Tomaquag Museum.

In addition to the new application, the PGO Working Group advised RISCA to reframe PGO as the entry-level grant program for organizations, recognizing that for many applicants, a PGO is their first time writing a grant or might be the only grant opportunity they regularly apply to. For that reason, they suggest RISCA provide robust application support both within the application itself, as well as through newly formatted grant workshops, and the continuation of RISCA’s practice of providing one-on-one meetings and drop-in office hours. In partnership with the Individual Artist Program, other new materials including how-to videos and a comic book will be developed over the course of the next year.

New Individual Artist Grant Programs

A working group of 10 artists from around the state, facilitated by Mollie, created four new grant programs for individuals. These four grant programs replace Project Grants for Individuals and the Fellowships — those programs will no longer be offered. These grant programs are focused on supporting artists at multiple stages of their career, and lowering barriers to application. Major changes include the elimination of partial funding; a shortened and streamlined application; and a focus on artist defined success and goals. For all of these grants, an individual must be the applicant, and the projects supported must be artist instigated and organized outside of institutional support and structures.

The Community Engaged Project Grants (CEPG) program provides funding of up to $3,000 for artists or groups of artists to create arts and culture projects that are directly and actively engaged with Rhode Island residents. This grant has its first deadline on April 1, and applications are open now.

The Make Art Grant program provides grants of up to $3,000 for artists to create or continue specific artwork in any discipline. Projects must have specific goals, though completion and public showing of the art is not required. This grant has its first deadline on April 1, and applications are open now.

The Opportunity Grant program provides Rhode Island artists funding of up to $1,000 for concrete opportunities that will support professional growth. This grant will be reviewed monthly, and will open on June 15.

The General Operating Support for Artists (GOSA) program provides grants of $6,000 for each of three consecutive years (total of $18,000) for artists to work towards large, specific, self-identified goals in their art practice. This grant has its first deadline on July 1, and applications will open May 1.