Twenty-one young photographers from non-profit programs at New Urban Arts and AS220's Broad Street Studio gathered at the Rhode Island School of Design Museum yesterday to present work created in response to a current exhibition, entitled "Honky Tonk Portraits of Country Music 1972-1981: Photographs by Henry Horenstein."
This event, "Focus on Young Photographers," was the second of its kind sponsored by the museum's education department to pair community arts organizations in Providence with the wealth of creative resources at RISD.
Ranging in age from 14 to 18, the eight students from Broad Street Studio and 13 from New Urban Arts presented slides of their photography to an audience of friends, family and museum personnel, providing brief accounts of their inspiration and attraction to the particular subjects on display.
The mostly black-and-white photographs took in a range of visual themes - from intimate portraits and abstract cityscapes to journalism-style documentation, united by a common exploration of community and identity.
"My work was based on where I was and where I live," said Lisegi Feliz, a New Urban Arts student.
Operated by working artists and volunteers, New Urban Arts and Broad Street Studio are both non-profit organizations that bring the arts to under-served high school students in the Providence area.
The former, now in its tenth year, pairs up to 150 students a semester with artist-mentors in different media, emphasizing the importance of creative practice in the formative teenage years as a mechanism for social change.
Jesse Banks III, who mentored the five-week New Urban Arts summer photography course that culminated in yesterday's event, began as a student at the program seven years ago before becoming a mentor and a professional photographer. The organization's creative community provided a haven from the divisions of high school and society at large, allowing him to grow as an artist, Banks said.
"[New Urban Arts] has helped me mentally, socially," he said. "It really blew me away."
Broad Street Studio, AS220's youth-outreach arm, principally targets teenagers at the Rhode Island Training School, the state's juvenile detention center, and other programs of the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families. In "Photographic Memory," a three- to six-month course, students learn the basics of film and developing, with a focus on personal initiative and self-expression. Paul Clancy, one of the instructors, said the program "really changes the kids. It gives them the opportunity to do something they can't do anywhere else. They get to go to the scary places and open up."
"Photographic Memory" students are also urged to take photography to the next level. If they choose to continue past the introductory course, they can learn the business of professional photography and work as paid assistants to established photographers.
The RISD Museum's collaboration with the two arts organizations encouraged students' creative and professional development. Students met with Horenstein, a member of the RISD faculty as well as a professional photographer, and museum curatorial staff to discuss the techniques and motivations leading to a career in the arts and a major exhibition like "Honky Tonk Portraits." They also received creative feedback on their own work from RISD graduate students, who served as role models for continuing photography beyond high school.
Deb Clemons, who organized the "Young Photographers" event on behalf of the museum's education department, said the Horenstein exhibit provided the perfect opportunity to repeat the success of last winter's teen photography showcase, created in response to "Nan Goldin: Urban America."
"We wanted the young artists to be able to come into the museum, meet personnel and use the galleries for inspiration the way RISD students do," she said. "It's been an interesting avenue for them to share their work, talk about art and learn about possibilities for their futures."
For their part, the students from New Urban Arts and Broad Street Studio who showed their work yesterday have internalized art's importance, and they take it seriously. "It's our life," said Benito Rios, an 18-year-old from Broad Street Studio.
