Photograph: AS220 Youth, Christian Licato
A Place To Call Home
Written by Ines SawirisIn the midst of a global culture war, where the gatekeepers of major institutions are being held accountable for their perpetuation of unsustainable power dynamics alongside an endless list of corruption scandals, the clash between museums and society is audible. Perhaps not audible enough though, as reputable museums continue to hide behind a facade of ‘neutrality,’ serving
only the beneficiaries of the status quo while upholding social and structural inequalities. Now, a new tide of art spaces are attempting to redefine the role of the institution within society.
The non-profit organization, AS220, has been experimenting with urgent issues in the arts, centering their practice around people, community, accessibility, and equality in downtown Providence, a city that has battled with its own ethical issues around ownership and agency within its cultural institutions. Spread over three newly-renovated historic buildings, it provides an open, non-juried space for exhibitions, performances, workshops, a residency and youth program, a restaurant, and a live/studio work space for the Rhode Island creative community. This work began in 1985 with founder Umberto Cuenca when AS220 was merely an amalgamation of ideas written in their “NEW CHALLENGES” manifesto, and an $800-a-month rent space on 220 Weybosset Street.
The project was quick to outgrow itself, and by 1992, relying on tax breaks normally used by commercial developers, alongside support from the mayor’s office, they were able to buy out a 21,000 square foot building on Empire Street as part of a government gentrification scheme of the downtown area. Interesting that this community and equality driven organization owes its beginnings to a part of Providence’s history that stood for their missions’ very antithesis; under the same scheme, Black and Latinx communities were displaced from their benefit street homes in order to restore the colonial buildings they inhabited into tourism-worthy sites.
It was only a means to an end after all, as AS220 has certainly made responding to the communities’ needs, socially and creatively, an essential pillar of their mission. Their residency program enables artists to live and work in the heart of the city at an affordable rate, while making them the largest providers of affordable housing in the Providence area; 80% of their housing is designated below market value. Their youth program is also heavily community-oriented, offering programs to a public charter high school that serves pregnant and parenting young adults, as well as the state’s juvenile detention facility where additionally, they provide a pathway for incarcerated youth to further pursue their creative interest at AS220’s studio upon their release.
In alleviating financial constraints and providing creative educational opportunities to all sectors of the providence community, AS220 are tackling the issue of inaccessibility in the arts using uncontested methods. However, they are offering yet another solution, the idea of being a non-juried art space, where anyone can show their work or perform their music, with no criteria other than an availability basis. It is a huge leap away from most institutions who pride themselves on being strict purveyors of culture. There is an inherent danger in allowing a small elitist minority to control the output of culture, however, is abolishing all standards of judging art the best solution?
Friday mic-night at AS220’s Main Stage is a local destination for aspiring singers, where anyone can perform as long as it’s an original piece. The first song is announced, it’s called ‘Leave me Alone Honey, I’m tired.” ‘It’s a song about impotence,’ he adds. The rest of the show follows a similar tune, confessions on stage of intimate details over slightly clumsy lyrics and instrumentals, to an audience of less than a handful of people. However, I discover through some small-talk outside that it still manages to attract a cult-like crowd of performers; some having attended for over ten years, and others having traveled from Massachusetts just to perform at the event. Perhaps this perfectly encapsulates the outcome of non-juried art spaces. The appeal is for the artist and maker, more than it is the viewer.
AS220 provides a striking example of the impact arts organizations can make on communities when openness, accessibility, creativity, and community, are prioritized over repression, exclusivity, and greed. In doing so, it sacrifices some artistic vigor, yet perhaps that’s not of obsolete importance. Doesn’t the notion of subjectivity destroy the idea of ‘good’ or ‘bad’ art anyway?
In alleviating financial constraints and providing creative educational opportunities to all sectors of the providence community, AS220 are tackling the issue of inaccessibility in the arts using uncontested methods. However, they are offering yet another solution, the idea of being a non-juried art space, where anyone can show their work or perform their music, with no criteria other than an availability basis. It is a huge leap away from most institutions who pride themselves on being strict purveyors of culture. There is an inherent danger in allowing a small elitist minority to control the output of culture, however, is abolishing all standards of judging art the best solution?
Friday mic-night at AS220’s Main Stage is a local destination for aspiring singers, where anyone can perform as long as it’s an original piece. The first song is announced, it’s called ‘Leave me Alone Honey, I’m tired.” ‘It’s a song about impotence,’ he adds. The rest of the show follows a similar tune, confessions on stage of intimate details over slightly clumsy lyrics and instrumentals, to an audience of less than a handful of people. However, I discover through some small-talk outside that it still manages to attract a cult-like crowd of performers; some having attended for over ten years, and others having traveled from Massachusetts just to perform at the event. Perhaps this perfectly encapsulates the outcome of non-juried art spaces. The appeal is for the artist and maker, more than it is the viewer.
AS220 provides a striking example of the impact arts organizations can make on communities when openness, accessibility, creativity, and community, are prioritized over repression, exclusivity, and greed. In doing so, it sacrifices some artistic vigor, yet perhaps that’s not of obsolete importance. Doesn’t the notion of subjectivity destroy the idea of ‘good’ or ‘bad’ art anyway?