schedule updates for sowing place markets

ACT’s Sowing Place collaborative with the Southside Cultural Center of Rhode Island, the West Elmwood Housing Development Corporation, and the African Alliance of Rhode Island and funded by the Kresge Foundation’s FreshLo Inniative is producing art-filled markets across the City all summer long. See below for a schedule of events – more to be added soon!

June 27, 2018, 2PM – 6PM – Sankofa World Market at Knight Memorial Library,  275 Elmwood Ave.

NO SANKOFA MARKET ON JULY 4

July 7, 2018, 11AM – 3PM – Sankofa at Southlight at the Southside Cultural Center, 393 Broad St. (parking off Bridgham between Trinity Square and Cranston St.)

July 11, 2018, 2PM – 6PM – Sankofa World Market at Knight Memorial Library,  275 Elmwood Ave.

July 18, 2018, 2PM – 6PM – Sankofa World Market at Knight Memorial Library,  275 Elmwood Ave.

July 25, 2018, 2PM – 6PM – Sankofa World Market at Knight Memorial Library,  275 Elmwood Ave.

August 1, 2018, 2PM – 6PM – Sankofa World Market at Knight Memorial Library,  275 Elmwood Ave.

August 3, 2018, 3:30PM – 7PM- AARI Pop-Up Market on the edge of Roger Williams Park at Miller and Broad Streets

August 4, 2018, 11AM – 3PM- Sankofa at Southlight at the Southside Cultural Center, 393 Broad St. (parking off Bridgham between Trinity Square and Cranston St.)

August 8, 2018, 2PM – 6PM – Sankofa World Market at Knight Memorial Library,  275 Elmwood Ave.

August 15, 2018, 2PM – 6PM – Sankofa World Market at Knight Memorial Library,  275 Elmwood Ave.

August 22, 2018, 2PM – 6PM – Sankofa World Market at Knight Memorial Library,  275 Elmwood Ave.

August 29, 2018, 2PM – 6PM – Sankofa World Market at Knight Memorial Library,  275 Elmwood Ave.

September 1, 2018, 11AM – 3PM – Sankofa at Southlight at the Southside Cultural Center, 393 Broad St. (parking off Bridgham between Trinity Square and Cranston St.)

September 5, 2018, 2PM – 6PM – Sankofa World Market at Knight Memorial Library,  275 Elmwood Ave.

September 12, 2018, 2PM – 6PM – Sankofa World Market at Knight Memorial Library,  275 Elmwood Ave.

September 14, 2018, 3:30PM – 7PM- AARI Pop-Up Market at Davey Lopes Recreation Center (227 Dudley Street)

September 19, 2018, 2PM – 6PM – Sankofa World Market at Knight Memorial Library,  275 Elmwood Ave.

September 26, 2018, 2PM – 6PM – Sankofa World Market at Knight Memorial Library,  275 Elmwood Ave.

October 3, 2018, 2PM – 6PM – Sankofa World Market at Knight Memorial Library,  275 Elmwood Ave.

October 6, 2018, 11AM – 3PM – Sankofa at Southlight at the Southside Cultural Center, 393 Broad St. (parking off Bridgham between Trinity Square and Cranston St.)

October 10, 2018, 2PM – 6PM – Sankofa World Market at Knight Memorial Library,  275 Elmwood Ave.

October 19, 2018, 3:30PM – 7PM – AARI Pop Up Market at Columbus Square (24 Reservoir Ave)

October 17, 2018, 2PM – 6PM – Sankofa World Market at Knight Memorial Library,  275 Elmwood Ave.

October 24 2018, 2PM – 6PM – Sankofa World Market at Knight Memorial Library,  275 Elmwood Ave.

October 31 2018, 2PM – 6PM – Sankofa World Market at Knight Memorial Library,  275 Elmwood Ave.

providence’s cultural scene sees numerous transitions and new hires

This month ACT celebrates some of its friends and colleagues who have made new hires, or transitioned in their careers this spring. Our talented creative workforce is the core of our capacity to innovate, collaborate, and cultivate a thriving cultural scene. Help us welcome them into their new roles!

girls rock ri hires reza clifton as co-director

Born and raised in Providence, Reza Clifton has a rich and varied biography with a consistent focus on creating outlets for underrepresented creative voices. She is known to many through her fifteen years of radio broadcasting, which has included time at WRIU, Brown Student Radio, and Rhode Island Public Radio. A prolific poet, essayist and storyteller, she has created and curated
forums in print and online media, as well as produced podcasts, performance art presentations and gallery space exhibitions. Through this work, she has established herself as a leading force in the New England art and music scene. Clifton also brings extensive experience as an educator, and the position at GRR! will allow her to match her scholarly and community advocacy experience with her background creating curriculum and working with students. Clifton has worked as a teaching artist, high school, English teacher, middle school creative writing instructor, and as a digital media and multimedia storytelling teacher in schools, community settings and conferences locally and nationally. She is also regularly called upon for public speaking engagements and workshops; sites who have invited her to do such work include RI State Council on the Arts (RISCA), Brown University, the University of Rhode Island, and Families USA (a national health consumer agency) – to name just a few. She is currently enrolled in a Teacher Certification Prep and Masters in Urban Teaching program at Providence College.

as220 hires katie gradowski as industries director and edwige charlot as industries community membership manager

Katie Gradowski is an educator and technologist who believes that everyone should have access to creative learning opportunities. She stumbled happily into the world of maker education in 2009 and has been tinkering with electronics and teaching people to solder ever since. Katie is a founding member of Parts and Crafts, a youth makerspace in Somerville MA and former manager of the Somerville Fab Lab, a digital fabrication space run by the City of Somerville. She has worked extensively on housing equity issues in Somerville including support for eviction defense and a successful campaign to raise the inclusionary zoning percentage to 20%, and was awarded an Unsung Heroine Award in 2018 for her work on housing justice and alternative education. In her spare time Katie likes to cook, watch scifi, read proposed zoning ordinances, and teach herself how to code.

Born and raised in Paris, France of Haitian heritage, Edwige Charlot emigrated to the United States at the age of 9. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in printmaking with honors from the Maine College of Art. Her work has been exhibited in New England, Oregon, New Jersey, and New York. Edwige was awarded the St. Botolph Club Foundation Emerging Artist award in 2013 and a Maine Arts Commission Good Idea Grant in 2011. Edwige has participated in exhibitions that explored issues of race, migration, heritage, and identity, including The Other Side of Shade (2013) and Undoing Racism in the Joanne Waxman Library at the Maine College of Art (2009). In addition to her art practice, she has served as an advisor for the People of Color Fund at the Maine Community Foundation and runs a strategy and design consultancy, Creative Approach co.

rhode island latino arts hires orlando hernandez as performing arts programming coordinator

Orlando Hernández is a tap dancer, actor, writer, and teacher. He has lived in Providence since 2014 and shared his dance work at the Granoff Center at Brown University, AS220, the Providence Public Library, the SPACE Gallery (Portland, ME), and La Casa de Cultura Ruth Hernández Torres (Río Piedras, Puerto Rico), and has appeared in theater productions by Trinity Rep, Arte Latino of New England, Spectrum Theater Ensemble, and Brown/Trinity. He earned a B.A. from Yale University in 2013 where he studied English and Creative Writing. 2018 marks three years of a strong partnership between RILA and Trinity Repertory Theater as we host free community bilingual theater. For four summers, “Shakespeare en El Verano” toured the City of Providence and over 4,000 Rhode Islanders – young and old, Latino & non-Latino – enjoyed productions of Shakespeare’s works in outdoor settings. Continuing this model of free performances, and with the success of the past three bilingual productions, RILA and Trinity Rep seek to expand and further strengthen this partnership in 2019 by engaging with other communities outside of Providence where one finds a large Latino population, such as the City of Central Falls. To that end, RILA is fully committed to strengthening its partnership with Trinity Rep by hiring Hernández as RILA’s Performing Arts Programs Coordinator, whose first task is to assist the two organizations in moving forward with their Teatro Latino | Rhode Island initiative. Activities underway include the translation and co-direction by Hernández of Shakespeare’s La Tempestad | The Tempest during the 2018 Teatro en El Verano season, which will have five performances in the City of Providence during the month of July. Orlando will also be leading weekly script readings and gatherings at La Galería and possible rehearsals at the SCC, all of will provide a forum for Latinos to discuss and help shape the creation of the first bilingual theater company in Rhode Island. Hernández is thrilled at the opportunity to further develop this collaboration, and to continue RILA’s initiatives to promote Latinx, bilingual arts and theater. You can find him at www.orlyhernandez.com.

providence community library appoints cheryl space as library director

The Board of Directors of Providence Community Library (PCL) has appointed Cheryl Space as its new Library Director. The Board voted unanimously to promote Space into the Director role after Jeff Cannell, the previous Director, announced his retirement after two years in the role. Space, who has been Assistant Library Director since October 2017 and Youth Services Coordinator since 2014, stepped into her new position on June 24. Prior to joining PCL as Youth Services Coordinator, in 2014, and becoming Assistant Library Director in 2017, Space was Youth Services Coordinator at Rhode Island Office of Library and Information Services, where she developed Kids Reading Across Rhode Island, a one book/one state book program for grades 3-6  and coordinated the State’s summer reading program. Space holds a Master of Library and Information Science degree from the University of South Carolina and a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Michigan. She is an active member of professional working groups and associations and was a member of Mayor Jorge Elorza’s Summer Learning Taskforce and received Library Journal’s Mover & ShakerAward in the area of literacy and learning in 2006. Space lives in Providence with her husband, Will and daughter, Aster and dog, Radar.

rhode island state council on the arts HIRES Todd trebour AS organizations program director

Prior to joining the staff at RISCA, Todd Trebour was the Program Coordinator for the UMass-Amherst Arts Extension Service (AES), a national arts service organization. Through his work at AES, Todd helps artists, arts students, and arts managers build vibrant careers, businesses, and organizations through courses, trainings, and entrepreneurship programming. Through AES’ Arts Entrepreneurship Initiative, Todd works with arts and culture organizations, local cultural councils, and city planners to bring training programs to artists and cultural leaders on business and marketing topics, including trainings on the public art process and community engagement practices. In addition to co-creating and leading these trainings, he teaches arts management and arts entrepreneurship courses on-campus and online at UMass. Together, Todd and his students have co-developed over 70 marketing and financial management plans for arts and culture organizations around the country. Todd also works with artists and arts and culture organizations in Western Massachusetts to create local and regional internship opportunities for Five College arts students and connects students with these opportunities through cross campus-community programming.

rhode island council for the humanities hires scott raker as operations officer

As RICH Operations Officer, Scott Raker brings his background in arts and culture management to the logistical and strategic development of the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities. Originally from Seattle, Scott came to New England to study at Bowdoin College, receiving a BA in Government and Legal Studies. With a passion for performing arts, he then pursued an MFA in acting from the Brown University/Trinity Repertory Program. He has worked and performed with numerous theater companies in New England and New York, gaining teaching, producing, and administrative experience along the way. Scott’s interest in arts and culture led him to the arts service nonprofit Fractured Atlas, which assists artists nationwide with the business aspects of their work. He became the Director of the Fractured Atlas Insurance Program, which provides accessible and affordable coverage for individual artists and organizations, and managed their visa letter service, which assists international artists applying to enter the U.S. This role provided him with significant experience managing projects, data, budgets, and staffing.

providence revolving fund executive director clark Schoettle retires; PRF hires carrie zaslow as new executive director

A hearty congratulations goes out to Clark Schoettle, Providence Revolving Fund’s Executive Director since 1983. Schoettle, who serves on the City’s Historic District Commission and Design Review Committee, transformed what is now a $12-million community development fund into a force for revitalization. For more on his accomplishments, see here for an article in the Providence Journal from February 2018.

Carrie Zaslow brings a strong background in community development, finance, and deployment of effective and innovative programs through her 11-year tenure at Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), as well as earlier experience at Randolph Savings Bank and the Housing Network of Rhode Island. Said Board of Trustees President Christine M. West, AIA, “Carrie shares our vision of how historic preservation is vital and relevant within the larger realm of responsible community development and positive social impact. The Board feels Carrie has the leadership and skills needed to guide the organization in its ongoing evolution and continue its exceptional record of responsible investment in historic properties.” Carrie has spent much of her career driving investment to low- and moderate-income neighborhoods throughout Rhode Island including the historic neighborhoods that the Providence Revolving Fund (PRF) works within. In her work at LISC, Carrie’s management of the Neighborhood Development Fund has helped result in the development or preservation of 1500 units of affordable housing. Her leadership in the revitalization and creation of the Southside Cultural Center and work with the Commercial Corridors of Excellence program in Woonsocket is in line with the type of historic preservation-based, high-impact investment that the PRF seeks to continue. Carrie is heavily involved in volunteer boards and commissions, including acting chair and 9 years service on the RI Housing Resources Commission, and current Board membership on the New England Foundation on the Arts. She has spoken at numerous national and local conferences on community development, equity, and placemaking.

RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL PRESERVATION & HERITAGE COMMISSION APPOINTS J. Paul Loether as NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

In April of this year Commission Chairman Ruth S. Taylor announced that the Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission has appointed J. Paul Loether of Silver Spring, Maryland to serve as Executive Director. The selection followed a five-month search that evaluated 57 candidates from Rhode Island and nationwide. “Paul Loether is an experienced historian and nationally recognized historic preservation expert who will be an outstanding leader for Rhode Island,” said Ted Sanderson who retired last year
after 33 years as RIHPHC’s executive director. Mr. Loether has 40 years of professional experience working in the field of historic preservation, exercising senior management and leadership at the state and national levels of government. For the last eleven years, he worked at the National Park Service in Washington, DC as Chief of the National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks Program, and he held the title of Keeper of the National Register. Previously he was the director of the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism and State Historic Preservation Officer. He earned an undergraduate degree in history at Trinity College and a graduate degree in Public Policy with a focus on historic preservation. He moved to Rhode Island and begin work in June.