The AS220 Membership Drive concluded yesterday, and everyone who purchased or renewed a membership during the drive was entered to win a print of the Providence mural by acclaimed artist Shepard Fairey.
Congrats to our winning member, Robert Chatham!

If you missed the drive, no sweat - you can still buy an AS220 Membership ($50 a year) or AS220 Super-Membership ($220 a year) online, in the AS220 Bar, or by check.

Thanks to everyone who joined and renewed this year - we look forward to seeing you around AS220!

Individual artistic practice can transform individuals. Bring those individuals together, with shared space, programs and experiences, and the transformation expands. The arts animate our communities, bring people together to share common experiences, stimulate our imaginations and help us foster a rich and varied quality of life.

The public value of the arts is an ongoing debate. There are those who believe that intrinsic benefits of the arts experience, such as aesthetic pleasure and captivation, have only private, personal value. Many believe, us among them, that both individuals and communities benefit from the arts.

On May 24th, AS220 and Providence Department of Art, Culture + Tourism will host the Pell Lecture, an annual lecture honoring the late Claiborne Pell, who represented Rhode Island in the United States Senate from 1961-1997. He is best remembered for being a champion of education, the arts and humanities.

The panel will discuss the role of arts and culture as a tool for revitalizing communities, looking at the structure and dynamics of community arts infrastructure.

The 2012 Senator Pell Lecture on Arts & Humanities, hosted by Mayor Angel Taveras, presented by AS220 and the City of Providence, with Special Guests:
Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD, Colin P. Kane, Manya K. Rubenstein, representatives from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the City of Providence, Moderated by Marc Joel Levitt

School@95 continues to offer affordable and fun drop-in dance and fitness classes this May, adding yoga classes to the mix. Plus a special one day only opportunity to dance with Melody Ruffin Ward! Check out the video of her work above and scroll down for the full this month's full schedule of classes.

Modern Dance Masterclass with Melody Ruffin Ward
Saturday, May 19th 2012, 11am-12:30pm
$10-$15 sliding scale

This one day masterclass is an exciting opportunity to dance with RI-based dancer/choreographer Melody Ruffin Ward.
The class will focused on intermediate/advanced modern dance technique anchored in Melody's love of spacious phrasing.

Poet Tim Seibles describes Melody Ruffin Ward's work in choreography and dance as having "the physical capacity to articulate the delights and lyrical mysteries of being human." A graduate of Spelman College with a B.A. in English and Education, with an M.F.A. from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Ward currently teaches at Roger Williams University as an Associate Professor with the school's Dance and Performance Studies program. Ward is the founder of "The Turning House Project," which grew from her reflections on interacting in the world as an artist, and she  is currently involved with The Bell House as a guest artist (www.bellhousearts.org).

Melody reflects, "My work is focused on movement that is gestural and based in a love for spacious phrases that are rooted in the earth. I love the conversations that happen with bodies in classroom settings. In this space I think of it as me and the dancers in a lab finding answers in our bodies while being transformed physically."

Weekly dance, yoga, and kickboxing classes at 95 Empire

Mondays, 5:45-7:15pm
Gentle Flow Yoga with Jamie Arnold, RYT
$8

Join dancer and certified Kripalu Yoga guide Jamie Arnold for her gentle flow yoga classes every Monday at the 95 Empire Dance Studio.  Relax your mind, focus your breath, reduce your stress - find your own dance through this guided experience. Create an intention for yourself through the fluidity of your movements. Cultivate love and inner peace as you move through your practice. Allow your inner self to be revealed.
Jamie Arnold : Jamie is a certified and licensed Kripalu Yoga guide and dancer working out of Warwick RI and a graduate of Rhode Island College with a B.A. in Dance Performance, where she was a member of the College's Dance Company. Jamie attended the American Dance Festival in Durham, NC and was in residency at The Dragon's Egg Studio in Ledyard, CT and has performed in Trisha Brown's Floor of the Forest at the ICA in Boston and with Between Movement Contemporary Dance Company.
http://tranquilyoga.org

Mondays, 7:30-9pm
Advanced Modern Dance with Jessica Howard
$13/$60 for 6 classes

This modern dance based class embraces technique, improvisation and composition skills. Participants learn to embody a state of presence and grace. We will focus on moving with efficiency while testing endurance and increasing stamina. This dance practice moves in and out of the floor, upside down to right side up, and from the inside out.
Jessica Howard: Jessica is a freelance performing artist, dance educator and yoga instructor and the founder and Artistic Director of The Heron Studio in Fall River. She dances with Lorraine Chapman, the Company, and is on the teaching roster for ACT at St. Andrew's School.
http://jessicahoward.syi.me/

Tuesdays, 9:30-11am
Modern Dance for Grown Ass People with Peter Deffet
$13/$60 for 6 classes

This modern dance class is for everyone from the absolute beginner to the experienced dancer.  Class begins with a gentle awakening and opening of the body moving into sequential extension of the spine, loosening of the hips and shoulders and strengthening of the limbs through technique, finishing with choreography to tone body and mind.
Peter Deffet: Peter is a multi-disciplinary performing artist and arts educator residing in Rhode Island.  His works of dance, theater, music and puppetry have been seen in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and NYC.  His most recent projects include his ongoing appointment as Guest Artist at Connecticut College, where he has directed and choreographed HAIR (2009), The Rocky Horror Show (2010) and The Threepenny Opera (2011).

Tuesdays, 5:30-6:30pm
Drop-In Kickboxing with Cristina DiChiera
$6

Cristina began doing cardio-kickboxing workouts 15 years ago and has taught independently and at the YMCA for 5 years.  Her high-energy classes incorporate kickboxing moves, aerobic activity, pilates core strength exercises, and yoga-inspired warm-ups and cool-downs. Groove Armada, Posatronix, Mary J Blige, and Le Tigre make this class a ton of fun.  All fitness levels are welcome - ways to do each exercise at varying levels of intensity are demonstrated.  Participants must wear gym shoes and a yoga mat and water bottle are recommended.
Cristina DiChiera: Cristina began doing cardio-kickboxing workouts 15 years ago and has taught independently and at the YMCA for 5 years.  During the day she works at the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts and in the evenings she gets most of her exercise by chasing around her very energetic 4 year old daughter.

Wednesdays, 12-1pm
Lunchtime Vinyasa Yoga with Julie Shore $5

A one hour beginner Vinyasa yoga that focuses on the foundations of classical Vinyasa flow, emphasizing movement and breath as synchronized experience. Attention to fundamental asana (postures) will prepare students for their flow sequence and is designed to help beginners develop their own practice.
Julie Shore: is an experienced and dedicated yoga practitioner. A California native she has been practicing since childhood. She is currently completing her apprenticeship with Tom Gillette at Eyes of the World Yoga Studio. Yoga has been the grounding force in Julie's life and she is eager to share her practice and passion with her students.

Wednesdays, 6:30-8pm Modern Dance For Every Level with Jamie Arnold and Stephanie Turner $13/$60 for 6 classes

Class begins with a warm-up that incorporates yoga and breathwork with gentle movements of the spine before moving on to phrase material. A series of short phrases will then be explored, where students are encouraged to play and experiment with how his/her individual body prefers to move through the demonstrated movements. The phrases include elements like directional changes, movement through space, spirals, rotation, lines, momentum, energy and floorwork. Movement may carry over from previous classes and blend into the dance material. Each phrase that is developed will lead to a rich and colorful dance toward the end of class.
Jamie Arnold: Jamie is a certified and licensed Kripalu Yoga guide and dancer working out of Warwick RI and graduate of Rhode Island College with a B.A. in Dance Performance, where she was a member of the Rhode Island College Dance Company. Jamie attended the American Dance Festival in Durham, NC and was in residency at The Dragon's Egg Studio in Ledyard, CT and has performed in Trisha Brown's Floor of the Forest at the ICA in Boston and Between Movement Contemporary Dance Company.

Thursdays, 6:30-8pm
Jazz Dance for Every Level with Peter Deffet
$13/$60 for 6 classes

Peter Deffet's Jazz Dance Classes explore the connection between music and movement. Techniques focus on fluidity and percussion in the body, while choreography focuses on a range of jazz styles, inspired by classic show choreography from Fame to Chicago to more contemporary inspirations like Janet Jackson.
Peter Deffet: Peter is a multi-disciplinary performing artist and arts educator residing in Rhode Island.  His works of dance, theater, music and puppetry have been seen in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and NYC.  His most recent projects include his ongoing appointment as Guest Artist at Connecticut College, where he has directed and choreographed HAIR (2009), The Rocky Horror Show (2010) and The Threepenny Opera (2011).

Saturday, 10 - 12:30pm
1st and 3rd of each month
Contact Improv with Shura Baryshnikov and Stephanie Turner
$10/$15
Class 10 - 11am and Open Jam 11 - 1230pm
$15 for both, $10 to join the jam

Contact improvisation is a dance technique in which points of physical contact provide the starting point for exploration through movement improvisation. Class will help you learn the basics of the practice, which includes rolling, falling, being upside down, following a rolling point of contact, supporting and giving weight to a partner. Then you will be ready to join the open jam!

Sundays, 12:30-2pm
Intermediate Ballet with Stephanie Albanese $13/$60 for 6 classes

This ballet class makes classical dance a joy! The class focuses on fundamentals, beginning with a thorough warm up at the barre and progressing to the center for choreographed combinations.  Students build muscle as they refine body alignment and learn weight placement to develop coordination. Stephanie's deep knowledge of her craft combines with a warm, good-humored manner to create a comfortable yet challenging learning environment. This is the perfect class for people who have some prior ballet experience.
Stephanie Albanese: Stephanie is a graduate of The School of American Ballet where she studied with teachers Alexandra Danilova, Helen Dudin, Suki Shorer and Stanley Williams. She danced in a repertory company created by former New York City Ballet member Wilhelmina Frankurt. Stephanie has also danced with choreographers Matthew Brokoff, Marcus Galante, Mary Miller and Felice Lesser and also worked in Cabaret, performing at The Lido in Paris and Jubliee in Las Vegas.

For more information contact education coordinator Leigh Hendrix at hendrix@as220.org

SUNDAY APRIL 29th from 6 - 9 p.m.! free & open to the public.

Diego Gomez, "The Renaissance Tran" for a new millennia, offers a fresh, openly Queer, Left-Coast, ESL, Low-Income, Mestizo outlook to AS220.

Like da Vinci, Diego too was born "illegitimately," but unlike Leonardo, didn't go with dad and have access to scholarly texts, but went with mom, a latch-key kid raised by the Television set.

While Leonardo was designing flying machines, churches & advanced weaponry, Deigo was designing logos for textiles sold at Walmart, collaborating on comic books which were nominated for the Lambda Literary Award for Transgender Fiction & performing as "Trangela Lansbury" & "Trans-Phat" (as Drag Queen & Faux King, respectively) in some of San Francisco's top night clubs.

Aside from being a Performer, Comic Booker, Graphic Designer, Diego is also a Poet, Couturier, 'Zinester, Sculptor, Illustrator, Stencil/Graffiti Artist as well as an avid Crafter. In 2010, inspired by Amy Sedaris, Deigo formed'Crafters under the Influence' group "The Needle X Change."

In 2011, Deigo was honored with being included as 1 of the 11 artists chosen by The San Francisco Bay Guardian for their "Hot Pink List 2011".

And now, in 2012, Diego is the Artist In Residence for AS220 and having the first of many solo shows.

Johnny Adimando and Brian Whitney will be giving an artists' talk on Saturday April 28th at 4 p.m. at the AS220 Project Space. They will discuss their current work and the role of printmaking in their processes. It is free and open to the public.

Last week, we kicked off our annual AS220 Membership Drive.
We kept the crowd-pleasing perks from previous years, and added new benefits and more opportunities to engage with AS220 and its community - creating the greatest AS220 membership yet.

Join or renew your membership by Monday, April 30th and you'll also get a chance to win one of the signed, limited-edition "Providence Industrial" prints by world-renowned artist Shepard Fairey (valued at $75), produced alongside the downtown mural in honor of Free Culture 2010.

AS220 Membership ($50 a year)

• Four passes to shows at the 115 Empire Street Performance Space
• Beer upgrades at the Bar
• 10% off art purchases at our four galleries and online
• An AS220 window decal from AS220 Labs

New Features

• Free admission to Foo Fest, our annual summertime arts & music festival
• Half off fountain drinks at the Bar - yes. every. time.
• Discounts at twenty-one Merchant Member stores (up from 9!)

AS220 Super-Membership ($220 a year)

• All the perks of AS220 Membership
• A Timeless Day Planner from AS220 Printshop
• Free 6-month membership at the Providence Athenaeum library

New Features
10% off all classes at the Cottage Industries!

o AS220 Community Printshop
o AS220 Media Arts Lab
o AS220 Labs

Drop by AS220 Labs, 131 Washington Street (via the building's rear entrances on Lucie Way) for a casual, open ended demo of the newest 3D printer from MakerBot Industries, The Replicator.

AS220 Youth invites you to join RI Kids Count for a community presentation of 'Data in Your Backyard' exploring Juvenile Justice in Rhode Island. Discussed will be information that reflects the recent and rapid move towards community-based correction. As a dramatic drop in the number of incarcerated youth has been seen in the state, there has been increased numbers of youth referred to residential placements and probation. While data suggests that community-based corrections benefit youth and improve long-term outcomes, local providers are challenged to provide the intensive services that many of these young people require.

A panel discussion will follow. Probation officers, community providers, youth, and families will come together to discuss their experiences with residential programs, probation, court-mandated treatment, and transitioning back to school or work.

Time: Thursday, May 3rd, from 3pm - 5pm Place: AS220 at 115 Empire Street, first floor

Presented in partnership with RI Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF).

For more information, contact Anne Kugler.

Naruto Generations is a fighting game that is suitable for anyone, especially for anime lovers. It is a multi-player game that gives you a variety of characters to choose from. You can vary because each character has its own unique moves and specials. Not only that but unlike other fighting games, you can move around and you don't have to wait for your turn to attack. The backgrounds are detailed, and look like they were illustrated using a medium such as, water colors.

Naruto Generations is a good game that brings out your competitive edge and allows you to have fun. You can play against each other in a team or, if you just feel like playing by yourself you can just put single player. Don't know how to play? Don't worry, you can practice before you actually fight against another player or the computer. There is also story mode or free mode to choose from; depending on which character you choose, you'll unlock different rewards. Naruto Generations came out of the creators imagination, which also happens to be a Japanese TV show.

-Kenya

For the past few weeks, students in my 3d Modeling class have been working on modeling their own heads in Blender. This started with a collaboration with Scott Lapham's photo class, taking front, side and back photos of our student's heads. These photos were then aligned in Photoshop and imported into Blender as background reference to model from. This week we took a trip over to the Fab Lab where Josh, one of the Fab Lab students did 3d scans with some bleeding edge technology. We had an XBox Kinect hooked up to Josh's laptop and used a program called Reconstructme to generate high poly models of everyone's heads. These models aren't entirely perfect and they're a very high poly count, so in the coming weeks the 3d class will learn a technique called retopology, which involves reorganizing 3d geometry into a cleaner and more manageable mesh. The end goal of this is two-fold. Students will hopefully walk away with their own video game avatar in Unreal Development Kit. They will also be able to return to the Fab Lab and print their heads on the 3d printer and take home their own likenesses immortalized in ABS plastic.

For the last six months, AS220 Youth has been offering IC3 digital literacy classes to high school graduates at the Rhode Island Training School. The classes cover the basic foundations of computers including hardware, software, and networking. We are so proud to congratulate the latest group of students who have passed their certification tests in Microsoft Office! Not only did they pass, but they are the first people to take the exams at the Training School AND they received the highest test scores that we have ever had. Big ups, no doubt.

TAKE A PRACTICE TEST HERE! SEE HOW WELL YOU DO!

Jesen Tenadi, a local artist and printshop key member, is teaching the Youth Studios' screen printing class about drypoint. We have learned how there are many different ways to print more possibilities on printing. We learned the basic methods of dry point on Plexi glass and how much labor and patience you need to have. Something that really impressed me about the class doing something completely new is that we finally get to print in a different style. I would have never Known that you can print such a beautiful picture from just scratches on a piece of Plexi glass. This new collaboration between the Youth Studio and the AS220 Community Printshop has just been pretty spectacular because we are actually seeing how our lives is going to change right after we graduate from the Youth Studio and off to our journey called life with a bigger knowledge on printing.

Oh Yes, it is true! One of the rights of passage of a RI Artist is the annual application for to the Rhode Island State Council of the Arts individual Fellowship award. This award is meant to support the best work of RI artists in the visual, performing and written arts with a first and second place designations. Winning this fellowship provides artists with cash awards that help support their art practice. This year we are proud that Norlan Olivo, Miguel Rosario and James Sawyer will be applying for the Photography fellowship for the first time. Each of these students have worked to produce strong photographic portfolios in AS220's youth photography program called Photo Mem. Their portfolios show more than simply a collection of photographs, they show engaged young people with a point of view, young people who have reflected on their experiences and their community.

Congrats Norlan, Miguel and James!

Once hearing that the dish of the day was greek salad with pan seared Tilapia ( a mild white fish) two of our students turned their noses up saying "No Fish!". Nicole Sanchez said " I thought it would be nasty, cause I never tried it (it being fish)". Kassy Cardona said " I thought it would just be ok but not great." This kind of skepticism is common at the start of cooking class, but this does not deter our master chef Ricardo Ferrer (aka Dingo). He routinely changes hearts and minds with his flavorful cooking.

What did Nicole have to say about the fish? " I liked it a lot!" When asked if she would recommend it to a friend she definitively said "YUP!". Kassy said " I didn't think I 'd go for seconds, cause the salad had olives and I don't like olives. There were other weird ingredients, like mustard in the salad dressing and capers on the fish, but I would give this meal an eight or a nine out of ten. I would cook this at home, I hope I don't burn it!" Well......it doesn't get much better than that. My stomach can't wait for our next cooking class.

ZUOLOGY HIP HOP SHOWCASE hosted by DJ ShureLive is poppin off next *THURSDAY April 26TH from 7-10PM (doors open at 6PM) *

AS220 Youth 115 Empire Street Downtown Providence

This show is going to be LIVE! We have a Live Band, MC Battles, Dance Cyphers, Live Beat Construction and featured performances by Milez Grimez, Chris DaGreat, Fa Raw, and many others like Project 401, the Boys and Girls Club of Pawtucket, 2Legit Dance Crew and more!!!!

For more information about this show or if you'de like to enter the MC Battle, hit me up!!

Anjel@as220.org

This week we tried something a little different at the training school. We played Candyland. And it was awesome. Up to this point we've been trying different things like designing characters and 2d sprites on paper for video games. But once I finally realized the location we were working at didn't have access to enough laptops, the video game plan got scrapped. The backup plan was to redesign a deck of cards. The interesting thing about modern playing cards is that they're derived from Tarot cards. So the idea was to take their own symbols of power for the four suits, design the numbers, the royalty, and the pattern on the back of the cards. They would have ended up with everything they needed for their own custom deck of cards. I thought it was a cool project but I'm not a kid in the training school. That plan eventually failed as well.

Race to the End Game. That's what this exercise is called. Its a little less incendiary than Race Game. 2-4 players get from Point A to Point B, just like Candyland. It seemed like a good idea when I was looking at it in Wal-Mart. Back in the studio it slowly started to sink in I might just get laughed out of the RITS. The tension built.

All of those nerves were for nothing. This is the power of games and why game design is worth teaching and learning. Something as simple as Candyland provided a momentary escape from the quotidian. One kid said it was stupid and didn't want to play. Eventually even he joined in and got as competitive as the rest of them. I don't think Candyland was ever played with so many F bombs.

There was a point to all of this. I wanted to get them to design their own Race to the End Game. So we brainstormed, drew and made lists until we ran out of time. Some of them worked alone, while others actually teamed up and collaborated. Hasbro had better watch out because these kids are good. We'll see how the rest of the plan comes together.

-Matt

This past week, AS220 Labs sent two instructors up to Haystack's Fab Lab, providing their community with professional training in digital fabrication and technology. Students and teachers from the Deer Isle-Stonington Schools are joined by the Isle au Haut Island Institute Fellow and Haystack staff for continued training in the fab lab--Deer isle village site.

The workshop involved using digital fabrication technology, a laser cutter and a vinyl cutter. Using graphic design tools, such as Inkscape and Illustrator, students learned how to design for digital fabrication and rapid prototyping. Projects included a wooden puzzle set, a fold-up paper box, pins and badges, signs and stickers, printmaking pates, press fit boxes, and other items. Check out photos of the projects in the slideshow below. 

This training is the 2nd workshop in a series of digital fabrication and technology trainings that AS220 will be hosting at Haystack, open and and available to the community of Deer Isle, ME. Future workshops will include the CNC Router, 3D Printer, and electronics. 

AS220 Labs is home to one of the original Fab Labs in the world, and provides training and consulting to start up Fab Labs around the world.