Community-Building by Tomorrow's Creative Thinkers

The most recent issue of the National Endowment for the Arts' quarterly magazine gave center stage to the Providence arts organizations whose major stakeholders are children and youth. Through features on Community MusicWorks, New Urban Arts, and AS220 Youth, the article looks at how programming that emphasizes relationships-building between young people and local artists can engage participants and community members in a transformational discovery of place.

The exchange of ideas among the like-minded members of the Providence Youth Arts Collaborative (PYAC) - comprised of the above mentioned organizations as well as Everett Dance Theatre, The Manton Avenue Project, and Providence CityArts for Youth - fosters a significant support system for the organizations' missions. Six independent organizations that are each approaching the arts in their own way and through varying mediums, PYAC members are collectively committed to using art to empower young people and help them tap into the genius of their creative selves.

Arts organizations are deeply integrated into Providence's sense of place and development. At the end of the article, Lynne McCormack, director of the Department of Art, Culture + Tourism, summed up what it means for the city to have so many high-quality arts organizations serving Providence's young people by saying: "We're just so proud of these organizations and the contributions they are making to the development of our city's youth. They've literally changed the course of young peoples' lives by providing access to exceptional arts learning experiences and cultivating meaningful relationships with artists and mentors."

Read the full article on the NEA's website.