Tyler Denmead

1998

Tyler Denmead

New Urban Arts

http://www.newurbanarts.org

Providence, Rhode Island, United States

Arts, Culture, Humanities

The Bold Idea:

The power to imagine is essential to individual and community transformation, enabling people to envision infinite possibilities for themselves and the world. The arts help young people express who they are - in a time when popular culture and mass media prepackage identity. They enable young people to express who they might become - in a time when perspectives are limited by standardized tests and little guidance about future employment or college.

New Urban Arts is a youth and adult led non-profit organization that empowers young people as artists and leaders. Selected as one of fifty premiere arts and youth development models in the country by the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities' Coming Up Taller program, New Urban Arts is unlike traditional arts programs and does not offer art classes. In the studio, students identify issues in their schools and neighborhoods they care about and create arts programs to address them.

To be a young artist invested in community change, there is tremendous risk. Therefore, New Urban Arts uncovers a rewarding desire to grow and contribute by sustaining mentoring relationships with caring adults. Each year youth from 12 public high schools partner with college artist-mentors for 6-8 hours each week. New Urban Arts provides workshops with artists, galleries, and museums; direct action through long-term community-based arts projects; exhibitions in professional galleries and on-line; assistance with portfolios, college applications, and employment; professional development for college-age emerging artists; and residency programs for established artists. A Youth Council enables youth to advise staff in all program areas. Roundtable discussions and public forums help identify values and methods to promote effective community and school-based arts programs.

New Urban Arts also houses one of the only gallery-exhibition-performance spaces for youth in the state of Rhode Island. The gallery attracts over 4000 students, parents, teachers, and other community members to monthly exhibits and performances. In addition to exhibition space, the gallery provides a critical platform for young people to express their values, histories, and dreams and has led to partnerships with community agencies, schools, and performing groups. New Urban Arts believes its work is crucial in engaging the next generation in public life by convening diverse groups to support youth in becoming the change they want to see in the world.

Biography:

Tyler Denmead started New Urban Arts while an undergraduate at Brown University. His hope, which he continues to practice today, is to expand the role of creativity in people’s lives.

The importance of curious art making in his life was unexpected, as he initially set off to study pre-medicine in college, with the hope of becoming an orthopedic surgeon focused on sports medicine. A series of apprenticeships with a chef in France changed his direction in life, and ultimately led to his work with others to establish New Urban Arts, an interdisciplinary arts studio that empowers young people to develop a creative practice they can sustain throughout their lives. To recognize this transformation, Rhode Island Monthly named Denmead the state’s best role model in 2003.

Under his leadership, New Urban Arts is now in its ninth year. The organization now has over 800 alumni and 125 participants each year. He was awarded the prestigious Echoing Green Fellowship, awarded to 15 social entrepreneurs worldwide each year, to launch New Urban Arts. The organization has been named one of fifty best arts and youth development programs in the country for the past four years.

Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, he now resides in Cranston, RI.