Community Information

The map below shows the city of Providence divided up by neighborhood. Community MusicWorks after-school programming serves the families of Providence's West End, South Side, Elmwood, and Olneyville neighborhoods.

       

In the map below, households of children participating in Community MusicWorks after-school programming are identified by blue stars. Neighborhood teaching and performance venues are also identified.

Demographic Information

The neighborhoods served by Community MusicWorks are rich in cultural diversity, yet they are among the poorest communities in Rhode Island:

*Source for Demographics and Need Indicators Statistics: “Residents and Data: Making the Connection,”
a report prepared by the Providence Local Learning Partnership, September 2002.

Quick Facts

Founded: 1997
Founder: Sebastian Ruth

Operating Budget: $591,000
Employees: 11, including the Providence String Quartet, four Fellowship Program participants, a Fellowship Program Coordinator, and two full-time blended administrative positions

Board of Directors: 20 members (see list)
Advisory Council: 13 members (see list)

After-School Program Participants: 115
Age Range: 7-18
Retention Rate: 90%

Weekly Instrument Lessons (per student): 32
Musical Workshops: 8
Performance Parties/Youth Salons: 5
Phase II meetings: 18

Hours that a typical teen spends with members of the Providence String Quartet: ~100
Annual performances by the Providence String Quartet: ~35
Rhode Islanders served by the Providence String Quartet: ~1,500

Board of Directors

Karen Romer, President
Irene Lawrence, Vice-President
James Kelley, Treasurer
Cathie Axe, Secretary

Susanna Angelillo
Abu Bakr (on leave)
Rick Benjamin
Paula Bodo
Siobhan Callahan
Adrienne Gagnon
Elizabeth Hollander
Linda Kushner
Lourdes Milan
Annetti Perea
Jacqueline Russom
Itza Serrano
Amy Umstadter
Fidelia Vasquez
Melody Ward (on leave)
Deborah Wyatt

Sebastian Ruth, ex officio

Honorary Board of Directors

John Beekley
Richart Keller
Julie Smith


Artistic Advisory Council

Click here for profiles of Council members.

Jonathan Biss
Borromeo String Quartet
Maxine Greene
Bob Jaffe
Juilliard String Quartet
Miró String Quartet
Diane Monroe
Michael Morgan
Muir String Quartet
Orion String Quartet
Larry Rachleff
Theodore Sizer
Turtle Island String Quartet


Providence Youth Arts Collaborative (PYAC)

The Providence Youth Arts Collaborative is a partnership of non-profit community-based arts organizations using arts education as a strategy to empower the youth of the Providence and greater Rhode Island. The Providence Youth Arts Collaborative consists of 6 organizations that provide over 8,000 hours of free arts education to over 1,600 youth each year.

The purpose of the Collaborative is to improve the effectiveness and build the capacity of our arts education programs through:

1. Sharing professional development and learning opportunities

2. Increasing visibility of community arts programs for youth, and

3. Identifying opportunities and financial support for member organizations.

PYAC envisions Providence as a city in which youth are a driving force in a thriving arts and cultural community. There will be a new generation of creative thinkers and leaders who have participated in youth arts programs that exhibit best practices. And, this partnership among youth arts organizations will prove to be an effective vehicle toward this vision.

PYAC consists of six organizations:

AS220 Broad Street Studio, a transitional arts program that employs and engages Rhode Island youth, but focuses specifically on those recently released from the state's Juvenile Detention Facility, the Rhode Island Training School (R.I.T.S.).

Community MusicWorks, a string quartet in permanent residence in an urban neighborhood that teaches music to young people, performs locally, mentors their students, and organizes community events for entire families.

Everett Dance Theatre, a professional dance and multimedia company that builds long-term relationships with urban youth through professional mentorship, including the opportunity to create and perform.

New Urban Arts, an interdisciplinary arts studio where emerging artists and high school students practice powerful mentoring relationships as they work toward a lifelong creative practice.

Providence Black Repertory Company, a theatre-company that offers creative learning opportunities through arts-and-literacy based performance initiatives in the tradition of Black/African/African-American art forms and culture.

Providence CityArts for Youth, a community-based arts center that connects youth ages 8-14 with free, professional arts learning experiences that are inspired by the creative process of art-making—in visual arts and design, performing arts, and creative writing—and the exploration of ideas and concepts that shape our communities and everyday lives.