AS220

AS220 was founded in 1985 by Umberto Crenca, alongside Susan Clausen and Scott Seabolt as a space for artists and performers to exhibit their work in an uncensored and unjuried venue. Umberto and a group of artists had been frustrated by conditions in the Rhode Island arts community which made access and success difficult for those outside the Rhode Island School of Design and initiatives backed by local government. In response, they wrote a manifesto and formed AS220 with an emphasis on openness and access. AS220 began as an unofficial artists' space at 220 Weybosset Street in downtown Providence, above the Providence Performing Arts Center, incorporating its address into its name. The development of the Empire Street facility is credited in part with the creation of an arts and entertainment District in Providence. In 2015, after serving 30 years as artistic director, Crenca transferred his leadership role to Shey Rivera Ríos . Expansion In 2000, AS220 established the Broad Street Studio. Between 2003 and 2006, they launched a Capital Campaign which raised $2 million to improve the Empire Street Complex, including the creation of the AS220 Bar and Restaurant. In 2005, AS220 purchased the Dreyfus Hotel, a building on the corner of Washington and Mathewson Streets in downtown Providence. It opened in May 2007 upon the completion of renovations and today is home to fourteen residential studios and four work rental studios, the AS220 administrative offices, and its Project Space art gallery. In June 2011, AS220 opened its newly renovated Mercantile Block building at 131 Washington Street in Downtown Providence, which it had purchased in 2008. It houses AS220 Industries, comprising the AS220 Community Printshop, AS220 Labs, and AS220 Media Arts. It also includes live and work artist studios, office space for local non-profits, and street-level retail space for local businesses. Development for the organization served to expand services but also as a sustainability strategy, securing a place for arts and artists in the city. The National Endowment of the Arts described AS220 as the organization "that anchors the downtown arts and entertainment district" and has played a key role in the city's "creative placemaking", a process defined by the NEA as happening when "partners from public, private, non-profit, and community sectors strategically shape the physical and social character of a neighborhood, town, city, or region around arts and cultural activities." ==Programs and facilities==

Performance spaces band Arab on Radar performing in 2010 on stage in 2008 The Main Stage at the Empire Street location showcases 8–12 events each week. It's best known as a music venue, though includes performance art, poetry slams, fashion shows, figure drawing, film screenings, and cultural performances. AS220 was founded on principles of open access, serving as a place for any local artists, creative individuals, and cultural groups. It hosts multiple free workshops each week in creative writing, dance, music, visual arts, and photography. In 1992, AS220 released an eponymous entitled compilation album, with songs mostly recorded at AS220 in order to raise money for the organization. In 2019, AS220 began programming a radio station, WFOO-LP, which was assigned 44 percent of the airtime of the low-power FM facility on ; the other occupants of the frequency are Brown Student and Community Radio's WBRU-LP and Providence Community Radio's WVVX-LP. The stations' transmitter facility, which uses the studio transmitter link tower at the WSBE-TV studios, was constructed in early 2018. === Foo Fest === Every summer, AS220 hosts an annual block party, "Foo Fest" (previously known as the "Fool's Ball"), a 12-hour event including live music from over 20 local and regional bands and a national headliner, interactive art installations, artist booths, the Rhode Island Mini Maker Fair, and Libertalia's anarchist bookfair. Local arts organizations are invited to participate and perform, with past examples including Girls Rock RI and Providence City Arts. Notable performers at Foo Fest include Andrew W.K., Warpaint, Sun Ra, Lightning Bolt, Deerhoof, Psychic TV, Dan Deacon, Ssion, and Big Freedia. ==References==