AS220 is an arts organization in Providence that offers uncensored, unjuried venues for visual and performing arts. It also has live/work apartments for about 50 artists. And, it offers arts programming for youth and adults with print making, music production, theater and more. AS220 is celebrating 40 years this week and they’re bringing back Foo Fest for the first time since 2018. It’s a block party on Empire Street with music, art and a lot more this Saturday, Aug. 9, from 1:00 p.m. to midnight.
Highlights from the interview with Bert Crenca, AS220 founder and former director
The state of the arts community in Providence in the early 1980s, before AS220 was created
Bert Crenca: I think it might have been at one of its lowest points, actually. At a certain point in the eighties, Lupo’s shut down, the Met shut down. There was very little happening. But there was still always as there always is in every community, pockets of activity in the arts and in music. And I think in some ways in the eighties when we first started, there was a kind of desperation. So we all showed up to each other’s things and we kind of supported each other even though we were still competitive in ways. But it was a very funky underground scene.
The first few years of AS220 on Richmond Street
Crenca: We were still not operating completely legally in the building we were in ’cause we were living there and you weren’t supposed to live there. Although we had did get a, a nod from the city. and they understood that what we were doing was generative and important. so. But we realized, both me and my wife too, living above a rock and roll club in a barely heated building. And, it was getting old.
We had no money. We were completely unbankable, and we pulled off to one of the best con jobs in the history of the city of Providence and that to get, yeah, to get banks and people to invest, but what they were investing in, was an idea, you know? And I’m a decent salesman.
Moving to Empire Street in 1992, with a little help from Mayor Buddy Cianci
Crenca: Buddy cut the deal. I mean, Lucie [Searle] of course, but Buddy cut the deal. Lucie told them, “You’re gonna sell the building to them.” And then we were told what we were gonna pay for it, and that was the deal. I mean, we paid $400,000 for the building downtown, but it was horrific. I mean, it was absolutely in horrific condition and we promised a lot of sweat equity to make it work and make the numbers work. Scared to death that we would never be able to live up to the promises we made. And we did. And we had hundreds of volunteers taking out tons and tons of debris outta that building. And Lucie used to cook a meal that we had on the sidewalk. We’d put out a big table and we’d feed all the volunteers and everything. so it was the action, the activity was a community-building activity, you know, and in and of itself, getting that building online was remarkably inspiring for the entire community and the city.
The importance of AS220’s “unjuried and uncensored” ethos today
Crenca: Well, look around us. We have an administration now that’s trying to stifle any bit of freedom of expression. I think that in itself, just comparing to where we are, explains it. But you never know where the next, whatever “influencer,” let’s say, is gonna come from, you know? The idea is to create a nurturing environment and the facilities and the tools for anybody to sort of explore their creative voice. Whether they become and commit to being a professional artist or not, that experience is gonna impact them for the better throughout their life. And I have people coming to me every time I go in public, saying, ‘oh my God, I was 17 when I went to AS220 and it changed my life’. If I’ve heard somebody say AS220 changed his life to me once, I swear to God, I’ve heard it a hundred thousand times. And all it is, is keeping the doors open, you know? … Frankly, people would’ve assumed that there would’ve been a lot of controversial kind of stuff at AS220. In the 40 years that it’s been there, there’s only a few things I can point to that were really controversial in any way. Now, there were a lot of things that happened at AS220 that could have been if there were more than five people there to see it. The first time I ever said that line!
Highlights of the interview with Anjel Newman, co-executive director and Janay Pina, director of programs
The importance and impact of AS220 Youth
Anjel Newman: The youth program is what I feel every teenager, including myself, is looking for at some point, which is a, not only a safe space, but a space where you can really be your true self and to, fully lean into your creativity and also to be able to be seen by people who have access to power and influence. The youth program is a space where hundreds of kids each year are able to actualize. Their creativity in ways that maybe they’re not able to do in schools at home and community. It’s a really, it’s a beautiful place.
How AS220 has changed in the last 5 – 10 years
Janay Pina: We spent a lot of time building up our properties. We acquired more buildings and things like that. But I would even say that we’ve also really put more of a focus on our folks and our people and community and not just space and equipment. And also something that is a huge shift is our racial justice initiative that was birthed out of COVID and out of George Floyd. And that has been a tremendous shift in our mission and our values.
Newman: It’s hard to describe the way the Racial Justice Initiative has informed where AS220 is now, because I think for some folks who are maybe a little bit disconnected from who we are, it might feel like this radical shift away from who we were. And the way I think about the Racial Justice initiative is it’s a way to re-see who we are. Really, it’s about investigating our values, but from the lens of thinking about how we need to shift to be a space truly for all people. How we think about how we relate to one another, and what our accountability is to not just the people at AS220 now, but the people who will be here in the future.
Recent financial challenges at AS220
Newman: COVID rocked us and everybody else. And with the state not really considering the arts in the recovery efforts around Rhode Island, we are in a very precarious place as are many different arts organizations. And then never mind the federal government’s hold around the 21st century funding for our youth program and the title funds. We are absolutely in a place where we have to get creative. I’ll say that we are also in a place where we’ve known a lot of this was coming down the pipeline, and so we’ve done some work. We have some opportunities. We have some paths forward, so we’re confident, and also we do need people, particularly in our community, funders,and just everyday folks. If we love AS220, then we should all be making sure that it survives another 40 years and beyond.
