Umberto Crenca

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Bert Crenca
Born
Umberto Crenca

1950 (1950)
Alma materRhode Island College
SpouseSusan Clausen

Umberto "Bert" Crenca is an American artist, arts administrator, arts advisor and educator. He is known for being a founder and long-time artistic director of the non-profit arts organization, AS220, in Providence, Rhode Island. He has been credited with helping to "lay the groundwork for much of the cultural development that shaped the Providence imaginary in the 1990s and early decades of the 21st century" by scholar Micah Salkind,[1] and in 2010 was identified as one of Rhode Island's Most Influential People by Rhode Island Monthly.[2]

Early life[edit]

Crenca was born in Rhode Island in 1950. In the 1980s, Crenca worked in the print shop of Fleet Bank. He graduated from the Rhode Island College in 1981 with a bachelor's degree in fine arts.[3]

AS220[edit]

Following an unfavorable review of Crenca's work in The Providence Journal in 1982, a group of artists gathered to condemn harsh art critiques. Together, they created a manifesto and sought to create a new art space. This resulted in Crenca founding AS220, a non-profit art space, in 1985.[4] AS220 grew from a small performance and studio space in 1985 to the proprietor of live/work studios, exhibition spaces, multiple performance areas, teaching spaces, a restaurant and bar. Crenca describes his work at AS220 as being "extremely blurred" with his work as an artist, and describes AS220 as a "work of art."[5]

Crenca retired as artistic director of AS220 in 2015, and served as an adjunct advisor and spokesperson for the organization through 2019.[6]

Arts administration and education[edit]

In his capacity as artistic director of AS220 and arts administrator, Crenca acted on local boards and committees as a representative of the Rhode Island arts community, including the Arts and Entertainment District Task Force in 1992,[7] the mayoral transition committees of Providence mayors David Cicilline (2002)[8] and Jorge Elorza (2014),[9] and the Providence School Board 2005–2008.[10]

Crenca has spoken at numerous events as regarding place-making and community arts programs, including the keynote address Museums Aotearoa Conference in New Zealand in 2012,[11] the TEDxProvidence conference in 2013,[12] and The Cass Project's lecture series at the University at Buffalo in 2018.[13]

Much of his work has centered around arts education and programming for youth, including the establishment of the Broad Street Studio, which evolved over time into what is now the AS220 Youth Program, and his work as an art instructor at the Rhode Island Training School[10] and at AS220's education program for arts administrators, Practice//Practice.

Visual art, music and performance[edit]

Crenca is a visual artist, musician and performer. His style was described as "propelled by a prolific, relentless, try-everything-at-once drive" and "improvisational, free-association, automatic-writing, hallucinatory" by Greg Cook of the Providence Phoenix.[14]

In the 1990s, Crenca co-lead a fluxus-based music and performance troupe, Meatballs/Fluxus.[15] His other musical and performance collaborations include Monkee Head,[16] Panic Band,[17] and the Gillen Street Project.

Selected exhibitions[edit]

  • 1984 - Galleria del Corso, Latino, Italy[18]
  • 1985 - Antonio Dattorro Studio Gallery[19]
  • 2004 - Frenetic Engineering: censored/uncensored, Newport Art Museum and Blink Gallery, Newport, RI[20]
  • 2010 - You Can't Call Your Own Baby Ugly, AS220 Project Space, Providence, Rhode Island[14]
  • 2007 - Just 'N Artist/Not an Artist at Firehouse 13 Gallery
  • 2014 - Puzzled, Machines with Magnets[21]
  • 2017 - Pain and Such, Providence, RI, 82 Weybossett Street)[22]

Awards and honors[edit]

  • 1997 - Crenca was fellow in the Pew Civic Entrepreneur Initiative[23]
  • 2005 - Pew Civic Entrepreneur Initiative Fellow[10]
  • 2010 - Rhode Island Pell Award for Excellence in the Arts
  • 2010 - Rhode Island College Charles B Willard Professional Achievement Award
  • 2011 - Rhode Island Foundation Community Service Award
  • 2013 - Rhode Island Arts and Culture and Tourism Making a Difference Award
  • 2016 - Honorary doctorate from Brown University[24]
  • 2016 - Honorary doctorate from Roger Williams University
  • 2016 - Honored by the White House as one of the Champions of Change national initiative.[25]
  • 2002 RI Foundation Fellow
  • 2003 Scholarship Recipient, Harvard University Business School

References[edit]

  1. ^ Salkind, Micah (2013). "Creative Revitalization As a Community Affair". In Breitbart, Myrna Margulies (ed.). Creative Economies in Post-Industrial Cities: Manufacturing a (Different) Scene. Routledge. ISBN 9781317158318 – via ebook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost).
  2. ^ "Powerful People". Rhode Island Monthly. 2010-09-17. Retrieved 2019-11-02.
  3. ^ Margolis, Jon (2002). "The Education of Bert Crenca". Democratic Vistas Profiles. 1.
  4. ^ Siclen | Journal Arts Writer, Bill Van. "AS220: Alive and still kicking at 30 - Providence-based arts and performance center making new plans for the future as it celebrates a milestone." Providence Journal (RI), sec. RI Features, 18 Oct. 2015, p. 1. NewsBank: Access World News – Historical and Current, infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=news/1588F2C46823ECB8. Accessed 3 Nov. 2019.
  5. ^ Eil, Phillip (March 21, 2014). "Bert Crenca talks nooses, nuclear meltdowns and 'Building AS220'". Providence Phoenix. p. 6. Retrieved 2019-06-19.
  6. ^ Van Siclen, Bill (October 18, 2015). "AS220: Alive and still kicking at 30 - Providence-based arts and performance center making new plans for the future as it celebrates a milestone". The Providence Journal. p. 1.
  7. ^ Osario, Arturo E. (2013). "Creative Revitalization As a Community Affair". In Breitbart, Myrna Margulies (ed.). Creative Economies in Post-Industrial Cities: Manufacturing a (Different) Scene. Routledge. ISBN 9781317158318 – via ebook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost).
  8. ^ Milkovits, Amanda (November 15, 2002). "Cicilline gathers team to help steer city". The Providence Journal. p. B-01.
  9. ^ Borg, Linda (December 12, 2014). "Mayor-elect Elorza names 29-person steering committee". The Providence Journal.
  10. ^ a b c DAVIS, KAREN A.. "Frye, Crenca formally join School Board." Providence Journal (RI), Metro ed., sec. News, 5 Jan. 2005, pp. C-01. NewsBank: Access World News – Historical and Current, infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=news/152428E8A72E3A48. Accessed 3 Nov. 2019.
  11. ^ "Umberto Crenca "The Art of Community"". Museums Aotearoa. 2012-08-23. Retrieved 2019-11-03.
  12. ^ Unjuried Uncensored Art Spaces in Service to Community: Umberto Crenca at TEDxProvidence 2013, retrieved 2019-11-03
  13. ^ "Humanities Institute :: University at Buffalo :: The Cass Project with UB Arts Management: Lecture: Umberto Crenca". humanitiesinstitute.buffalo.edu. Retrieved 2019-06-22.
  14. ^ a b Cook, Greg (November 16, 2010). "Review: Umberto Crenca's introspective retrospective at AS220". Providence Phoenix. Archived from the original on November 30, 2010.
  15. ^ McCracken, David. "MEATBALLS/FLUXUS PULLS OUT THE STOPS". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2019-11-03.
  16. ^ "The Weirdness is Us". Post-. 2014-03-22. Retrieved 2019-11-05.
  17. ^ SEAVOR, JIM. "IS AS220 READY FOR EDINBURGH? - On the other hand, is Edinburgh ready for AS220?." Providence Journal (RI), All ed., sec. Arts, 29 July 2001, pp. E-01. NewsBank: Access World News – Historical and Current, infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=news/15250B611367ED10. Accessed 5 Nov. 2019.
  18. ^ "Liza's back in R. I. - She will return in June to accept a Pell Award from Trinity Repertory Company, along with George Wein and Umberto Crenca." Call, The (Woonsocket, RI), sec. News, 9 May 2010, p. 2C. NewsBank: Access World News – Historical and Current, infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=news/12F9C48936C9A280. Accessed 14 Nov. 2019.
  19. ^ "Art, Uninhibited". Post-. 2012-10-25. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
  20. ^ Rodriguez, Bill (May 14, 2004). "Bridging the Gap". Providence Phoenix. Archived from the original on September 6, 2004.
  21. ^ GRAY, CHANNING. "arts | Crenca show pays homage to inspiring bad review." Providence Journal (RI), 1 ed., sec. Features, 30 Mar. 2014, p. RISLANDER_05. NewsBank: Access World News – Historical and Current, infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=news/15241E8463CACFB0. Accessed 14 Nov. 2019.
  22. ^ ChrisS. "Artist Umberto Crenca Opens Pop-Up Exhibit in Downtown Providence". GoLocalProv. Retrieved 2019-11-04.
  23. ^ DAVIS, KAREN A.. "20 seek secrets of city success *A team of community leaders and entrepreneurs will work on ways to bring more jobs and economic opportunities to the city.." Providence Journal (RI), METRO ed., sec. NEWS, 7 Nov. 1997, pp. C-01. NewsBank: Access World News – Historical and Current, infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=news/15251E0D0C684118. Accessed 5 Nov. 2019.
  24. ^ "Honorary Degrees". Brown University. Retrieved 22 October 2020.
  25. ^ news digest." Providence Journal (RI), sec. RI News, 18 June 2016, p. 2. NewsBank: Access World News – Historical and Current, infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=WORLDNEWS&docref=news/15D95EA8923C6948. Accessed 5 Nov. 2019.
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