AS220 is excited to announce that AS220 Youth, our youth arts program, will be expanding the educational opportunities that it offers at two campuses beyond downtown Providence.

As one of 16 recipients chosen by the Rhode Island Department of Education to receive funding through the 21st Century Community Learning Centers initiative, AS220 Youth will be offering programming at the Rhode Island Training School, the state’s juvenile detention facility located in Cranston, and Nowell Leadership Academy, a a public charter high school with campuses in Providence and Central Falls that serves pregnant and parenting young adults.

AS220 Youth will receive $260,000 per year for the next five years (contingent on continued federal funding) to provide after-school and summer programs “that reinforce and complement the school day through academic enrichment, a broad array of other enrichment activities, and family engagement.” Proposed work includes education and training in the areas of live arts (music, dance, theatre) and visual arts (apparel design, photography, video, painting); homework help and tutoring, assistance in navigating college access and vocational training programs; paid summer career programs; and “Family Night” events.

AS220 Youth was founded at the Rhode Island Training School since 1998, making for the longest-running partnership between an arts organization and a juvenile detention facility in the U.S. This presence at the Training School provides a pathway for incarcerated youth to further pursue their creative interests at AS220’s downtown Providence studio upon their release. Since 2017, AS220 Youth has worked with Nowell Leadership Academy, providing all of the programming during the school’s quarterly “Art Week”.

“Funding from the 21st Century CLC program will allow us to greatly expand our presence at the RITS and NLA, and better provide creative education, mentoring, and career services to some of the highest-need youth in the state.” says AS220 Youth Director Anjel Newmann.

AS220 Youth will offer approximately 12 class sessions per week for 40 weeks at each site. Programming funded by 21st CCLC will begin at the start of the Fall 2019 school year.