Riverzedge Arts

Launched in 2002, Riverzedge is built on the philosophy that art is a powerful force for social change. Nationally award winning youth programs provide academic enrichment, jobs training, 21st Century skills building, and alternative routes to diploma attainment to teens, and high-end experiential arts learning to K-12 youth throughout the state. Community arts and economic development initiatives convene artists, improve places and provide a platform for people of all ages to explore and express their intelligences and creative abilities through meaningful civic engagement, education, and employment.

Riverzedge Arts formed out of the vision of artists and community leaders concerned about patterns of violence among disaffected youth. With help from South Boston’s Artists for Humanity, Riverzedge launched a social enterprise program for teens in Woonsocket, one of RI’s poorest cities with a high concentration of under resourced families, and acute lack of access to opportunity. Today, 6 programs “help individuals and communities reach their full potential through art, design, and creative problem-solving.” With “place” as a central framework and object of service, “art, design, and creative problem-solving” enable activation of originality, excellence and impact in programming, public art and community building activities:
● Studio Arts & Enterprise engages teens in transformative talent and workforce development year-round in 5 studio labs: Graphic Design, Digital Media, Public Art, Screen Printing and Green Design.
● Expanded Learning Opportunities Woonsocket pairs youth with Industry Mentors to complete career boosting hands-on projects for high school and dual credit.
● Summer of Arts & Service Jobs employ teens/young adults in production of large-scale public art, design and environmental remediation projects in conjunction with city and partner initiatives.
● Youth Empowerment and Leadership Expansions support teen-generated initiatives in areas of their concern. OLAS – Organization of Latin American Students, launched in 2015 as the first school based cultural affinity group in Woonsocket, is one example.
● Mobile Studio takes our best practices for professional-led applied arts learning on the road to deliver traveling, customizable STEM to STEAM classes.
● Woonsocket Creative Placemaking Project convenes artists in partnership with City Planning and Downtown Woonsocket Collaborative to foster revitalization through arts-based activity and investment.

Out of innovative methods and the performance they support, Riverzedge has received national honors. These include a National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award from the President’s Council on the Arts and the Humanities. Most recently Riverzedge was featured as one of 8 best-practice models around the nation for Wallace Foundation research on quality out-of-school time arts programs for urban low-income teens. A video on Riverzedge and report findings can be accessed at wallacefoundation.org/somethingtosay. Other video outputs by and about Riverzedge Arts can be found on our Vimeo page https://vimeo.com/user3642501/videos.