The Urban Arts and Culture Program at URI Providence Campus presents a diverse spectrum of visual and performing arts programming. The programs explore and raise public awareness about topical issues in the urban community setting, and also celebrate cultural diversity in order to promote understanding and teach nonviolence.

Recent programs have included Domestic Violence Awareness, Women’s Issues, Rhode Island Women’s Work Experiences, Women and Healing, Faces of Hunger and Homelessness in the Community, Racism, Breast Cancer Awareness, Genetic Testing, Picturing World Peace, Literacy, Family Diversity, African American History, Hispanic Cultural Arts, Multicultural Story Sharing, Children of the Holocaust, the Vietnam Veteran’s Experiences, Senior Citizen Issues and Life Experiences and Meet Me At The Shepard Clock (which recreated the historic Downtown Providence Retail District).

The projects involve students from the university in service learning experiences, working with hundreds of individuals of all ages and ethnic backgrounds from the community. Students are actively engaged in research, visual arts, and performance and also as audience members. The program offers opportunities to present the work of URI students, staff, faculty and alumni and that of the general public, and to introduce the work of local professional visual and performing artists to an audience, some of whom do not regularly attend arts events. The programs foster interdisciplinary learning and collaboration among many departments and academic disciplines within the university. It also brings together collaborative partners from community social service agencies, arts institutions, and area schools to expand the educational resources.