Save the date for the Alliance of Artists Communities 20th annual conference! October 20-23, 2010 in Providence
Join arts leaders, artists, funders, politicians, and more from around the country and across the globe in support of today’s artists – visual artists, writers, composers, choreographers, filmmakers, performance artists, and more.
Explore one of the country's most artist-centered cities, home of the Alliance of Artists Communities.
Explore some of Providence's most innovative organizations supporting visual artists, writers, musicians, performance artists, filmmakers, craftspeople, community activists, and more. This is a city where small is grand, alternative is the norm, and collaboration is key. Discover for yourself one of the most thriving arts scenes in the U.S.
Begun with $800 and a bold manifesto in 1982, AS220 is a thriving nonprofit community arts space in downtown Providence supporting an artist-in-residence program, live-work space, galleries, community workshops, the city's most eclectic performance space, a bar and restaurant, resource center, job training programs, and more. Their mission is to provide an unjuried and uncensored forum for the arts. Part incubator and part bazaar, AS220 builds new audiences and infrastructure for artists of all disciplines to stimulate the cultural mulch in Rhode Island. www.as220.org
FIREHOUSE NO.13 is a forward thinking urban project appealing to experimental artists and creative innovators. Established in an old firehouse, FH13 connects visual artists, musicians, designers, and entrepreneurs. Dedicated to sheltering exciting, innovative, and contemporary creative works, FH13 offers an artist-in-residence program, exhibition and performance space, and opportunities for collaboration and exchange. www.firehouse13.org
The Steel Yard is committed to cultivating an environment of experimentation and a community strengthened by creative networks. The Steel Yard offers arts and technical training programs designed to increase opportunities for cultural and artistic expression, career-oriented training, and small business incubation. Located at the historic Providence Steel and Iron site, along the Woonasquatucket River in the heart of Providence's industrial Valley neighborhood, the 5,612-sq-ft industrial shop features a ceramics studio and residency program, glass studio, metal working and welding shop, blacksmithing shop, jewelry studio, outdoor work and exhibition space, and more. www.thesteelyard.org
Why We Love Providence
Providence is home to more artists per capita than any city in the country. It is home to seven colleges, including an Ivy League university (Brown University) and one of the top art schools in the world (RISD). Founded in 1636 by Roger Williams on the principles of civil liberties, religious freedom, and tolerance, Providence still embodies this "live and let live" spirit.
Providence is a quirky mix of world-class artists, lively politics, gorgeous 18th and 19th century architecture, renowned restaurants, fierce loyalties, diverse cultures, and a creative entrepreneurial energy that runs throughout the city. It's a place where marching bands, puppets, business leaders, roller derby girls, and passers-by can all be found swept up in a street festival; where the multi-sensory art installation Waterfire draws tens of thousands downtown nearly every weekend June through October; where theater, live music, performance art, printmaking, and contemporary crafts thrive on collaboration; and where the creative talents of Kara Walker, H.P. Lovecraft, the Farrelly brothers, Edgar Allen Poe, The Family Guy's Seth McFarland, and Shepard Fairey have been nurtured.
Ranked one of "America's Favorite Cities" by Travel + Leisure magazine in 2009, Providence is proud to host the Alliance of Artists Communities' 20th annual conference! Join us in 2010...
Click on the video to find out why others love Providence, too!
Conference Tracks
BOARD TRACK: The conference will include content that addresses the needs of board members, including being an advocate and ambassador for your organization, fundraising for artist-centered organizations, building community support, and governance issues specific to artist communities and residency programs. For those board members who can only attend a portion of the conference, a full day of board-related content will be planned for Thursday, October 21.
DEVELOPMENT TRACK: Fundraising is hard enough. Fundraising for organizations that serve individual artists and the creative process is especially challenging. The Development Track will feature conversations from funders, workshops with fundraising experts, and sessions that focus on peers sharing what's worked for them. From capital campaigns to grass-roots giving, we'll incorportate development-centered content throughout the conference.
ARTIST RESIDENCIES 101: Whether you're developing a new artist residency program or are a new director of an established program, look for the "101" sessions throughout the conference for some straight-forward nuts-and-bolts of artist residencies, led by peers and other national leaders.
Other tracks will be added in the coming months. Interested in suggesting conference sessions or a conference track? Look for our Call for Content in the Spring.
Words cannot express how much I grew as an artist and administrator at the Alliance conference. I was exposed to so much in so little time and had so much fun in the process, all in the name of sustaining artists and their contribution to our culture. I was surrounded by a group of "art angels" that really understand the value of the role of the artist in society. I was both grateful and inspired to be in their midst. I am richer in every way because of it.
–2009 Conference attendee
Copyright 2009 Alliance of Artists Communities
Contact: 255 S Main Street | Providence RI 02903 | tel 401-351-4320 | fax 401-351-4507 | aac@artistcommunities.org
