Mission, Vision and Values

MISSION

Southside Cultural Center of Rhode Island connects, cultivates and engages community through the arts.

VISION

Southside Cultural Center of Rhode Island (SCCRI) envisions a vibrant, connected community engaged in discovering, exploring, and creating art. The supportive power of extended family in all its definitions is embraced, as is the belief that the spirit and energy of community, and our participation in it, empowers and transforms. The heartbeat of its Southside, West End, and Elmwood neighborhoods, SCCRI nurtures the voices of artists of color and cultivates leaders who lift up our people. The warmth, enthusiasm, and unity of our cultural hub echo throughout Rhode Island, and serves as an example of inclusive art making, kinship, and cultural expression.

VALUES & COMMITMENTS

Access SCCRI believes making, showing, performing and experiencing art should be safe, affordable and accessible to everyone. A community driven organization committed to those who live, work, study, play, and pray in the Southside, West End and Elmwood neighborhoods of Providence, we center and elevate the experiences, leadership and needs of people of color and POC-led arts organizations.

Art & Culture We believe art is essential for a healthy, loving, just community. SCCRI incubates and provides safe, welcoming access to space, experiences and other resources as a strategy to revitalize community and connect people. We embrace risk-taking in art, partnerships, programming and community building.

Collaboration We believe our success is tied to that of our partner tenants, artists of color and other members of the community. Our primary commitment is to support, elevate and engage organizations and individuals in, from, and serving Southside, Elmwood and the West End neighborhoods. We collaborate and coordinate with local, regional, and national partners in service of our community.

Community SCCRI believes in our community and the people in it. We foster belonging,
self-expression, interdependence, and engagement. We keep a hyper local focus on the Southside, West End and Elmwood neighborhoods of Providence, while breaking down boundaries and awareness throughout Providence, RI and New England.

Diversity SCCRI values and celebrates the diverse history, identities and cultures within our community. SCCRI embraces an intersectional, multi-issue approach to art, programming, partnership, inclusion and community building.

Education SCCRI believes knowledge and mutual respect are enhanced when we share space, create and learn together. We prioritize providing access to arts education to a community that otherwise lacks such resources within it and/or the schools serving our youth.

Inclusion SCCRI is committed to participatory decision-making. We value and welcome diverse people, art and ideas.

Trust SCCRI is a safe haven to create and explore art and community. We are trusted partners in growing artists and arts organizations, empowering youth and building community.

Photo courtesy of Marta V. Martínez