Alex Simmons: What it means to be part of a community
Alex Simmons (left) rocks the Black Box while Aidan Simmons screams. Photo by Liz Tierney.
I had the pleasure of hosting Alex Simmons as an intern at AS220 for two semesters when he was a student at The Met High School in 2024-2025. Simmons family history with AS220 runs deep. Alex's father has been booking shows here since the '80s (including the often-talked about Bikini Kill show), and his siblings have played countless shows in numerous bands here over the years.
Alex's enthusiasm to meet new people, learn new things, and experience new art - and be inspired by it all - reminded me of language from one of AS220's core values: building community. It says "We believe there is magic and power in bringing people from different backgrounds, experiences, abilities, identities and perspectives together." Far from a one-way transactional relationship, we learned as much from Alex as he hopefully did from us during his internship. Read more about his takeaways from this experience below!
Does Alex's story inspire you? Make a donation to AS220's Year End Appeal now and help us continue to be able to bring people together and build community with all Rhode Islanders. Thank you!
"Throughout my childhood, my Dad regularly booked shows at AS220’s Main Stage, so I was around 10-11 years old when I started coming. It was not my first time coming to AS220, but going to see Infest with my Dad in 2019 was the start of the domino effect."
"While interning with Dave, the scope of what I was allowed and encouraged to pursue within AS220 was something really special, from the beginning I felt like a part of the community and I think with that I felt a sense of needing to pull my weight in said community. AS220 helped me open up my perspective of what it means to be a part of a community, the responsibilities that we all carry as being a part of something bigger.""My hope for AS220 is for the people who come in and out to take a second and appreciate what they have. AS220 has been such a foundation for Rhode Island and it is a hope of mine for others to appreciate the amazing space we have."
Alex Simmons shows the scale of Gunnar Norquist's artwork