Endless Beautiful Launches Development Program for Youth in Woonsocket
WOONSOCKET, RI: It took the co-founder of Providence-based Endless Beautiful Creative Services only a few moments to realize that he had stumbled into an enormous opportunity. Along with being a Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA) sponsored artist, Lucas Pralle is an employment specialist for Community Care Alliance (CCA) in Woonsocket, and it was his first day working with students from their Harbor Youth Center.
“The young people that I met in the youth center internship program were just brimming with potential,” says Pralle. “Right away, one of them told me that he wanted to do something creative. That’s when the light bulb turned on for me.”
That night, Pralle told Endless Beautiful co-founder Carolyn Decker about what he had witnessed at the youth center. Together, they designed a new dimension of their multimedia community arts partnership and the Endless Beautiful Community Keepers Program was born. Youth from CCA’s internship program – Pathways to Adulting, Independence, and Dignity (PAID) have been offered an opportunity to work side-by-side with Pralle and Decker as “Community Keepers” to produce a RISCA sponsored community art event in Woonsocket on May 19th.
The Endless Beautiful Community Workshop features a 15-minute audio “Session” of sounds recorded in the community. Youth participating in the program or “Keepers” will be sent out into Woonsocket with recorders to capture those sounds. They will then be taught how to compile the sounds into the Session, and how to help lead the workshop.
“This is the first time we’ve brought anyone else in to record sounds with us and help lead the workshop” says Decker, a poet and wetland biologist that works out of Burrillville. “We’re entrusting these youth with a lot, but they are up to the challenge. We feel like this is a valuable experience for everyone involved.”
The audio session created by the Community Keepers will also be used for an international writing contest launching on May 19 at the workshop. Endless Beautiful’s partner, Literative, will host the contest on their website.
“I love running writing contests using the Endless Beautiful Method,” says Pralle. “We get entries from around the world when we do this, and the creativity is just so inspiring. The fact that the sounds will be coming from Woonsocket and that the students will be recording them brings this thing to a whole different level.”
Endless Beautiful releases a podcast that features acclaimed poets, musicians, doctors, writers, and scientists along with others using the Endless Beautiful Method to spark creativity. Pralle and Decker are also on the LiteraryArts RI (LARI) Council and are involved with planning the Providence Book Festival for 2019.
The “Keepers” have already started collecting sounds in Woonsocket. “I think the Keepers are going to find that we have very high technical standards when it comes to selecting the sounds that go into the sessions,” says Pralle. “That’s okay though, this is going to be a learning experience for all of us, and I can’t wait to see what the students come up with.”
The Endless Beautiful Community Keepers Workshop will be held on Saturday, May 19, 2018 from 1 – 3pm in the Cafe at 40 S Main Street in Woonsocket, RI. Admission to the event is free. Event is family-friendly. All are welcome to come share in the fun and try out their creativity!
Details regarding the event and the upcoming contest can be found on endlessbeautiful.com.