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Brief History and Update:
In February 2008 the Jamestown Arts Center launched a Capital Campaign to purchase and renovate the property at 18 Valley Street into a beautiful arts center designed by Estes/Twombly Architects. The property was purchased on December 21, 2009, with support from many contributors, and with the help of two generous private loans.
2010 was an incredible year for the JAC. Our fundraising was hugely successful, and we met our December deadline! Community partnerships were formed, art classes were taught at the Jamestown Gallery and our first, annual community fundraiser, pARTy NOW, was truly memorable!
The Jamestown Arts Center is now open and bringing creative programming to the community.
This would not have been possible without the incredible generosity of hundreds of individuals and over a dozen foundations. Special acknowledgement must go to Tom and Joanie Swift who provided substantial financial support for this project as well as to Billy and May Munger, the former owners of 18 Valley Street.
Thank you to everyone for being pART of it!
Why Art Now? Why is the Arts Center Necessary?
When a community embraces the Arts, the whole community flourishes.
The Jamestown Arts Center is:
A permanent home for our vibrant arts community.
Our arts center is outfitted for performances, exhibitions, and education. It is a place where people meet, share and come to inspire and be inspired. The JAC is a place where artists and art lovers of all levels and interests can enjoy self expression and self fulfillment. We coordinate programming with schools, community centers and other arts organizations to optimize opportunities for interdisciplinary and intergenerational collaborations. The Jamestown Arts Center is a hub for all things ART!
A connection to our state's creative industries.
The Jamestown Arts Center connects our local arts community to other communities across the state and beyond. The arts center encourages a statewide draw, benefiting local businesses and tourism. We offer employment, internships, and job training for a variety of jobs and careers in the art and design world. The Arts are the fastest growing sector of Rhode Island’s economy and are vital to our collective success.
The synergy between art and innovation.
Art is a never-ending learning experience. Practicing any form of art, at any age, in any capacity activates a range of human intelligence to accomplish something of value. Our dynamic brains work in an amazing concert of imagination, experimentation and skills acquisition, as we learn to generate new ideas. When we have the opportunity to work collaboratively our artistic interaction maximizes creativity. By encouraging the thinking processes that rely on variety and curiosity, Art stimulates creative minds to reach outside accepted ideas to seek new solutions.
Creative thinking in the 21st Century:
Learning to think creatively is crucial to the strength of our society and to the health of our planet. Our economy is no longer based on the industrial model of the 18th and early 19th centuries, but on technology and design driven solutions. However, these changes are not reflected in our public schools, whose arts programs are in fact sacrificed to improve school budgets. The benefits of an interdisciplinary curriculum are unknown to most young people, as students learn subjects often as segregated and narrow as tasks in a factory.
Our Inspiration
Jamestown's art community is strong and vibrant. Artists of all disciplines live here, working independently or participating in the many arts organizations on island. We believe this spirit deserves to be represented and nurtured by creating a place to gather, learn and share.By uniting the arts community we may better serve individuals, families and groups. Professional artists will have a home to exhibit, perform, teach, mentor and participate in outreach programs. Amateur adult art lovers will find a wide range of classes available in an accessible, encouraging environment. Teens will have opportunities to learn, intern, volunteer, as they explore challenging arts experiences. Lower and middle school children will find classes for their blossoming talents. Preschoolers will enjoy discovering the world of art in a warm on island classroom.
The Jamestown Arts Center provides alternative experiential learning. Through arts education, children and adults learn to leverage the artistic, intellectual, and collaborative skills that will guide future generations.
The Board
The Jamestown Arts Center is run by a Board of Directors comprised of 9 dedicated women and men. Together we bring the essential skills to achieve the mission of the organization. We greet the challenges that this large scoped and multi-faceted project presents with competence, diligence and optimism.
Lisa Utman Randall, Executive Director
BA English Literature, Emerson College, UMass Boston
Co-Founder of Island Arts, Executive Director 14 years
RiverzEdge Arts Project, Director of Development
Certified Montessori Teacher, Proprioceptive Writing Instructor
Boston Children’s Museum, programming
RI Press Association award-winning journalist
Grant writer
Board of Directors
Kate Petrie, President, Co-Founder
BA Architecture from R.I.S.D.
The Jamestown Education Foundation, Board Member, Fundraiser
Jamestown School PTO, Vice President, Co-Chair Playground Auction and Chair Affair fundraisers.
Conanicut Island Art Association, President, 2006
Photographer, The Jamestown Gallery, Jamestown, R.I.
Jocelyn Donaghue, Secretary
BA Sociology, Princeton University
Associates Degree in Illustration, Parsons School of Design
Needham, Harper & Steers Advertising, NYC; HBO Programmer, NYC; ACCELS, Tashkent, Uzbekistan;
Courthouse Center for the Arts, West Kingston, RI -Visual Arts Director
Rhode Island International Film Festival judge & programmer since 2002
Fabric artist
Dianne Grippi
Fairleigh Dickenson University, Fashion Institute of Technology
Television and film production company,
Public Relations, Stylist, Commercial Visual Manager
Island Realty, agent
photographer, mixed media artist
Mary Beth Murphy
BA Biology, University of Rhode Island
Island Moving Company, Newport RI, dancer (1982- 2005)
Newport Academy of Ballet, educator
Island Realty, agent
Island Moving Company - Booking Agent 2004-2009, Board Member
Kenneth Case Newman
BA Spanish & Political Science, Stanford University
Universidad de Salamanca
Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
Special Liaison for Ford Foundation Grantees, North American Projects, Mexico D.F., Mexico
Independent Political Consultant specializing in NGO's & foundations and risk assessment
Joseph Tamburini
BA, Colby College 1992
Senior Vice President, Portfolio Manager, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney
Classical High School Alumni Association, Board Member
Classical High School Hall of Fame Committee
Jamestown Historical Society Finance Committee
North Kingstown Youth Lacrosse, Coach
Vivi Valentine
BA English, minor in Art History, New England College, Henniker, NH
Publishing Department, The Metropolitan Museum, NY, NY,
Fundraising Chair, Board member -The Green Mountain Valley School, in Waitsfield, VT,
Grant writer, Assistant to the Director at SITE Contemporary Art Museum, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Board of Trustees- Conanicut Yacht Club
Advisory Board
Ann + Wharton Biddle
Elizabeth Congdon, Co-founder
Elizabeth Delude-Dix
Peter Diepenbrock
Wooley + Art Dutton
Susan + Clifford Kurz
Younny + Owen Long
Sarah + Craig Richardson
Tom Swift
Didi Suydam
Don Wineberg
Pat Tuff
Kay Worden
James Wright
Steering Committee
Fud and Karen Benson
Rosemary Burns
Jonathan Di Orio
Tricia Frary
Betsy Gooding
John Mecray
Ken Newman
Dominique Perrin
Susan Plowden
Laura Love Rose
Building Committee
BJ Dupre – Chair
Peter Flood
Martin Keen
James Langston
Owen Long
Susan Matthews
Shawn Mayers
Craig Richardson
Peter Twombly
Patti Watson
Robin Yoffa
Events Committee
Leslie Banker
Catherine Bowen-Brophy
Chrissy Connett
Jocelyn Donaghue
Courtney Hunter
Katie Munger
Varsha Patel
Jeanne Urquhart
Vanessa Wurman
Film Committee
Jocelyn Donaghue
Victoria Barzin
Elizabeth Delude-Dix
Dianne Grippi
Diane Harrison
Ken Shane
Ken Tyson
Art is necessary - it makes our lives worthwhile and our world a better place.
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