Providence CityArts: Helping youth ‘find their voice’
“CityArts has given me opportunities to do new things, to look forward to my future…and to find out who I want to be. And it has given me a place to go after school – a place to hang out instead of watching tv or being outside. I love being here. CityArts has seen me grow up and it will keep on seeing me grow up.” – Vanessa, CityArts young artist, at age 13
Vanessa is just one of hundreds of eight to 14-year-olds who each year “find their voice” through CityArts, a community arts organization that provides a myriad of afterschool, in-school, and summer arts programs taught by professionals. On a recent afternoon at CityArts, fashion design, sculpture, painting, garden arts, and dance were just a few of the activities that engaged budding young artists.
“Through our work with the Highlander Charter School (which shares a building with CityArts) and through PASA (Providence After School Alliance), CityArts builds bridges for students and families to help make connections between art and student learning. We’re using the arts to expand students’ learning and their learning skills,” explains Barbara Wong, CityArts’ executive director.
Begun 18 years ago as Street Arts, a community organization that provided a summer art camp for children in the Broad Street neighborhood, CityArts has expanded to serve more than 500 young people year-round.
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Our teaching artists make a difference,” Barbara states, sharing stories of students who have benefited from the organization’s programs. One is Henrietta, then a student at Roger Williams Middle School who had moved here a year earlier from Liberia. A shy, soft-spoken girl who initially never talked at school, she credits her year-long participation in Girlz Express with dramatically improving her grades. She says, “My CityArts teacher showed me that I can use my voice to make good things happen in my life. Now I answer questions in class and show my teachers what I know. I found my voice at CityArts.”
Adrienne Gagnon, education director at CityArts, continues with the story of Jazzmin who attended art and nature classes, learning about – then making clay tiles and sculptures of – plants, animals, birds, fish, and insects. When her fourth grade science class studied butterflies, she was the only student to know what a chrysalis is. “I love that she felt like a star that day,” Gagnon exclaims.
The CityArts open enrollment program enables any eight to 14-year-old Providence resident to attend Monday though Friday afterschool programming at CityArts at no cost; 77 students currently are enrolled. CityArts also offers afterschool classes through PASA AfterZones at Providence public middle schools. The teaching staff of 18 professional visual and/or performing artists and arts educators also provides residency programs at Highlander School, as well as at the Learning Community in Central Falls.
“The elementary and middle school years are when you can start to shape kids, to help them create healthy habits, and to better equip them to make good decisions,” Barbara notes.
“And in addition to skills and habits, we’re helping kids come to an understanding about themselves and the community. Art is so powerful for self-expression and self-exploration,” Adrienne continues.
“The schools and CityArts have a common goal of supporting kids. We’re providing additional resources to help them thrive in school,” Barbara says of CityArts’ offerings in visual art and design, performing arts, and creative writing.
“The Rhode Island Foundation has been there for us from the very beginning and has been instrumental in taking us to the next stage where we’ve become stronger and serve our communities better,” she acknowledges.
Daniel Kertzner, grant programs officer at the Foundation, notes, “CityArts is an excellent example of an organization that links arts instruction to learning across the curriculum in and out of the school day. Their work is closely aligned with our sector focus on arts education and learning in schools and community settings. And the young people they serve discover that art is a valuable tool for self-expression.”
Learn more at Providence CityArts.org.
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