Founded in 1997 by four college students and ten high school students, New Urban Arts has grown into an arts organization that has received city, state, and national recognition for its innovative approaches to arts education.

The organization first started through the support of the Swearer Center for Public Service at Brown University. Originally located in a loft apartment at Grace Church in downtown Providence, New Urban Arts relocated to its present location at 743 Westminster Street in 1998. The current location is adjacent to several high schools, and along major bus routes, making it accessible to high school students throughout Providence. Over 950 high school students have participated in its programs since its inception.

In the new space on Westminster Street, New Urban Arts introduced a gallery, where students and artist mentors exhibit multiple times each year. Recently, New Urban Arts has introduced “Correspondence,” an annual exhibit that features a process in which students, staff, volunteers, and alumni create original pieces of art for one another to respond to via the mail.

In 1999, New Urban Arts began a teaching program in which emerging artists participate in a yearlong residency in which they learn how to work effectively in a community setting with young people. Over 125 emerging artists have participated in this program, and many of them are now public school educators, leaders of community arts initiatives throughout the country, and practicing artists.

In 2001, the organization expanded into an adjacent storefront in order to triple its studio size. This expansion led to the introduction of several new media to make the space truly interdisciplinary in nature. Now, students and emerging artists can access a black and white darkroom, a digital media center, silkscreening and other printmaking facilities, resources for fashion design, as well as materials to support painting, drawing, installation art, and creative writing.

New Urban Arts has published two zines, “Sock Puppet Therapy” (2003) and “Flip” (2005), and an anthology of poetry, “Breathe” (2001).

In 2003, New Urban Arts introduced a new program in which artist mentors and high school students partner to provide arts education to adults.

In 2004, New Urban Arts worked with AS220 Broad Street Studio to launch the Providence Youth Arts Collaborative, a consortium of youth arts organizations in Providence. Today, the other partners include Everett Dance Theatre, Providence CityArts, Providence Black Repertory Company, and Community MusicWorks. The consortium is working to share ideas and improve their practice, raise the visibility of their field, and leverage new resources to support out-of-school arts education programming.

New Urban Arts has been named one of fifty premiere arts and youth development programs in the country by the President’s Committee on Arts and Humanities from 2001-2005. NBC10 and Citizens Bank have named the organization a Champion in Action for outstanding contributions to youth in Providence. Providence Waterfire awarded New Urban Arts the Daedalus Award in 2001.

In 2009, at a White House Ceremony, New Urban Arts is awarded a Coming Up Taller award by the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. Executive director Jason Yoon and alumna Rosalia Velis accept the award from First Lady Michelle Obama on behalf of New Urban Arts. An initiative of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, the Coming Up Taller award is the nation’s highest honor for the field of out-of-school time arts and humanities programs.