{"id":7383,"date":"2018-05-23T12:55:53","date_gmt":"2018-05-23T16:55:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/?p=7383"},"modified":"2018-06-02T00:07:35","modified_gmt":"2018-06-02T04:07:35","slug":"as220","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/2018\/05\/23\/as220\/","title":{"rendered":"Providence’s Landmark Alternative Arts Space AS220 Aims To Raise $5 Million To Improve Its Core Empire Street Building"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last Wednesday night, at the University of Rhode Island\u2019s Paff Auditorium in Providence, leaders of AS220 launched the public part of their \u201cAll Access\u201d campaign<\/a> \u201cto comprehensively renovate and upgrade downtown Providence’s flagship arts complex.\u201d<\/p>\n

The landmark alternative arts center is aiming to raise $5 million to improve the 21,000 square foot building at 115 Empire St. that the nonprofit bought in 1992 and moved into the following year. So far they have raised $3.1 million, leaving $1.9 million left to their goal, AS220 Artistic Director Shey Rivera says.<\/p>\n

\"AS220<\/a>
AS220 co-founder Bert Crenca speaks at the “All Access” campaign launch at URI Providence, May 16, 2018. (Allam Mella)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Twenty-five years after occupying the Empire Street building, it\u2019s home to AS220\u2019s Main Stage (which hosts some 400 events annually), the Black Box Theatre, three galleries, the AS220 Youth after-school program, a dance studio, the Paul Krot Community Darkroom, 20 live-work studios for artists, and AS220 Foo(d) restaurant and the Bar @ AS220.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe building gets so much use that it needs to be refreshed and renovated,\u201d Rivera says. \u201c\u2026We\u2019re going back to our roots to strengthen what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Let me note here that I\u2019m honored to be personally connected with AS220. Last August, my partner Kari Percival and I were artists-in-residence for AS220\u2019s annual Foo Fest street fair shenanigans. And Kari has designed graphics that the institution is using on pins and T-shirts to help support their current fund-raising.)<\/p>\n

\"How<\/a>
How AS220’s Empire Street building will be refurbished by the “All Access” campaign. (Courtesy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n

Speaking of fund-raising … Help Wonderland keep producing our great coverage of local arts, cultures and activisms (and our great festivals) by contributing to Wonderland on Patreon<\/a>. And sign up for our free, weekly newsletter<\/a> so that you don’t miss any of our reporting.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

AS220 was launched by a group of artist friends in 1985 as a cooperative gallery and performance space above the Providence Performing Arts Center at 220 Weybosset St. They called their alternative space AS220.<\/p>\n

AS220 expanded when they moved to Empire Street in 1992. At the time, downtown was often seen as a dicey neighborhood. But as the retail core grew in allure and value, AS220 has been able to keep alternative arts in the heart of it because they owned their building.<\/p>\n

Then in 2005, AS220 bought, renovated and reopened the Dreyfus building at 95 Mathewson St. and then in 2008 the abutting Mercantile Block at 131 Washington St. AS220\u2019s main offices moved to Mathewson Street, but the heart of what\u2019s grown to be a cultural empire remains on Empire Street.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really fast growth,\u201d Rivera says. \u201c\u2026This is a return to home so we can build up and be much stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AS220<\/a>
AS220 Artistic Director Shey Rivera (left) and Managing Director Shauna Duffy speak at the “All Access” campaign launch at URI Providence, May 16, 2018. (Allam Mella)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The \u201cAll Access\u201d project aims to install an elevator to make the building fully accessible \u201cfor the first time in the building\u2019s history\u201d and create a gender-neutral bathroom. \u201cWe\u2019re making sure we\u2019re there to support the many different kinds of people living in the city,\u201d Rivera says. \u201cAccess tied to equity and justice are super important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additionally AS220 plans to:
\n\u2022 Improve the common living facilities on the third floor.
\n\u2022 Create a secure stage loading area.
\n\u2022 Reconfigure the AS220 Foo(d) and bar\u2014by moving the kitchen from out in the open in the restaurant into the back of the building to increase capacity.
\n\u2022 Open up the wall between the restaurant and the Black Box Theatre foyer to link the two.
\n\u2022 Make the Aborn Gallery on the second floor publicly accessible.
\n\u2022 Upgrade the theater\u2019s heating, ventilation and air conditioning system.
\n\u2022 Create a \u201cstage right\u201d exit in the theater for \u201cmore effective staging of theater productions.\u201d
\n\u2022 Create new storage for the theater\u2019s risers and seating to increase the flexibility of the space.
\n\u2022 Reduce the sound bleed between the various spaces to make it easier to program them.
\n\u2022 Improve lighting, audio visual and sound equipment in the main stage, gallery and theater.
\n\u2022 Upgrade the green room in the basement to improve the experience for performers.
\n\u2022 Install new security measures and key systems to increase safety.<\/p>\n

The improvements should make the building more energy efficient as well, AS220 says.<\/p>\n

\"AS220<\/a>
AS220 co-founder Bert Crenca chats at AS220’s Empire Street building, during the reception after the “All Access” campaign launch event, May 16, 2018. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The goal is not just to make the building better. They\u2019re also aiming to raise $1 million for an \u201cAccess Fund\u201d to help them \u201ccontinue generating affordable and accessible opportunities that help transform communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rivera says this will include replenishing depleted reserve accounts for the buildings and helping with general operating expenses. Its use is broadly defined\u2014to both plug holes and foster new projects, if I understand it correctly. \u201cWe can\u2019t expand if we don\u2019t have the capacity to manage all those spaces,\u201d Rivera says. The fund will help \u201cto strengthen the culture and the staff that are working hard to make this happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Speaking of fund-raising … Help Wonderland keep producing our great coverage of local arts, cultures and activisms (and our great festivals) by contributing to Wonderland on Patreon<\/a>. And sign up for our free, weekly newsletter<\/a> so that you don’t miss any of our reporting.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
\"Nova<\/a>
Nova One performs on the main stage of AS220’s Empire Street building, at the reception after the “All Access” campaign launch event, May 16, 2018. (Greg Cook)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last Wednesday night, at the University of Rhode Island\u2019s Paff Auditorium in Providence, leaders of AS220 launched the public part of their \u201cAll Access\u201d campaign \u201cto comprehensively renovate and upgrade downtown Providence’s flagship arts complex.\u201d The landmark alternative arts center is aiming to raise $5 million to improve the 21,000 square foot building at 115 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7391,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[100,114],"tags":[251,72],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7383"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7383"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7383\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7511,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7383\/revisions\/7511"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7383"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7383"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7383"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}