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MCAT uses the arts as a vehicle to create social change.
Over the past 8 years, this team's work has included organizing
non-violence hip-hop events and speak -outs, and painting murals
over graffiti-covered walls. Through creative projects in dance,
writing, and visual/ performance arts, MCAT youth break cultural
boundaries. This past summer, MCAT facilitated weekly workshops for
YIA youth, based on a theme they called R.I.C.E, or Revolutionizing
the Individual Cultural Experience. In a series of weekly workshops
('Media: Don't believe the Hype,' 'Battle of the Sexes,'
'Hip Hop Empire,' 'Poverty,' 'Knowledge,' and 'Respect,')
M.C.A.T youth helped their peers to understand the racial
and gender stereotypes created by the media. In August of
2006, the team also organized a basketball tournament, in
memory of all the young people who have lost their lives to violence.
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In 2001 YIA purchased a 4 story building at 672 Broad Street in
Providence, RI. Youth members were involved in every aspect of
acquiring and renovating YIA's new home. They negotiated directly
with the seller and met with the mortgage lender, architectural
development team, and officials from the building inspections and
fire departments. YIA youth played a major role in raising over
$600,000 for this project, from sources such as city bond funds,
private grants, individual donors, and corporations. |
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In 2000 a YIA survey of members of the South Providence
community found that the number one complaint was the lack
of safe places for their children to play. Wanting to combat
this major issue, YIA youth spent four years convincing City
Councilors to allocate more than $390,000 to transform an
abandoned, trash-filled lot behind the Roger Williams Middle
School, into a beautiful park filled with art made by youth.
In 2004 the ArtPark opened! With a waterpark for kids to play
in the summer, two huge murals, mosaic-covered benches, and a
basketball court, the ArtPark offers a safe environment for
neighborhood children to gather. Each summer it is the site
of various community events. If you would like to visit the
ArtPark, it is located at 278 Thurbers Ave., Providence, RI
02905.
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