Risë Wilson is a

community organizer Community organizing is a process where people who live in proximity to each other or share some common problem come together into an organization that acts in their shared self-interest. Unlike those who promote more-consensual community bui ...

, activist, strategic planner,

curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curricula or curriculums) is broadly defined as the totality of student experiences that occur in the educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view ...

developer,

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

consultant, and the current director of philanthropy at the

Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Milton Ernest "Robert" Rauschenberg (October 22, 1925 – May 12, 2008) was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the Pop art movement. Rauschenberg is well known for his Combine painting, Combines (1954–1964), a ...

, who lives and works in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. Founder of the Laundromat Project, she has been named one of the "worlds best emerging

social entrepreneurs Social entrepreneurship is an approach by individuals, groups, start-up companies or entrepreneurs, in which they develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. This concept may be applied to a wide range of ...

" in 2004. In 2015, she moderated the Creative Time Summit round table, entitled "My

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

Early life and education

Risë Wilson was born and raised in

Germantown, Philadelphia Germantown ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Deitscheschteddel'') is an area in Northwest Philadelphia. Founded by German, Quaker, and Mennonite families in 1683 as an independent borough, it was absorbed into Philadelphia in 1854. The area, which is ...

in a mixed-income neighborhood in the northwest section of the city. She attended both

Greene Street Friends School Greene Street Friends School is a coeducational school under the care of Green Street Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends. Located in Germantown, Philadelphia, Greene Street serves 320 students in grades Pre-K to 8. History In De ...

and

Germantown Friends School Germantown Friends School (GFS) is a coeducational independent PreK–12 school in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States under the supervision of Germantown Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Fr ...

before attending college. Also, before entering Greene Street Friends School she participated in Moore College of Art and Design's

youth program Youth programs are particular activities designed to involve people between the ages of 10 and 25. Activities included are generally oriented towards youth development through recreation, social life, prevention, intervention, or education. During ...

s. She attended

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

(1993-1997), where she earned a BA in African American Studies as a Kluge Scholar. She went on to earn an MA in Africana Studies from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

(2004) as a MacCracken fellow.

The Laundromat Project (LP)

Risë Wilson proposed The Laundromat Project in 1999 as a

organization that combines art projects with community laundromats, and other public spaces like

community gardens A community garden is a piece of land gardened or cultivated by a group of people individually or collectively. Normally in community gardens, the land is divided into individual plots. Each individual gardener is responsible for their own plo ...

, within New York City. The origins of the project stemmed from Wilson's want for a studio to create her printmaking practice in, which is primarily

linoleum Linoleum, sometimes shortened to lino, is a floor covering made from materials such as solidified linseed oil (linoxyn), pine resin, ground cork dust, sawdust, and mineral fillers such as calcium carbonate, most commonly on a burlap or canva ...

and

silkscreen Screen printing is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink (or dye) onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen to fill the open me ...

. This inspired her to find spaces in her

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, ...

for studio space. The organization itself was first funded in 2005 and aimed to build bridges between community members, amplify the sense of creativity in a community, and give ownership to communities. The LP creates partnerships with already existing laundromats to use their space for artwork and art making. The laundromats are located in places such as Bedford-Stuyvesant,

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

, and Hunts Point and focus in low-income neighborhoods and in communities of color. The different spaces and locations offer workshops, potlucks, art shows, and dances for community members to attend and participate in. The LP started a "create change" initiative because of its belief that by using art to enact activism through community based programs. The values of the organization are to "creative catalysts, community centered, neighborly, people powered, active listeners and learners, collaboration and cross-pollination by design, and propelled by love." The audience members for this project range from artists, to children, parents, and general community members. Notable projects of this organization include field day, in which arts and culture come together in a block party celebration, which include open studio visits, free workshops, and creative walks. Workshops can range from card making, to collage making, to film making, and unlimited hands on activities. Other projects include an annual potluck in which food is provided and community members come up with workshop ideas for the upcoming months. The LP also holds an annual benefit titled "Soapbox" which includes a silent auction, live DJ, and fun art experiences that raise money for the organization. In addition to community work, the LP also offers different types of artist development. This includes a fellowship program, which is for artists new to community work, a residence program, and a commission program, which allows for any alumni fellows to showcase work in the laundromat. The fellowship program was started in 2011, with a variety of artists from

visual artists The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile arts ...

, to dancers, to comedians. These artist development programs give artists funds for creating, in addition to space for artworks. In addition, the project has an artist and community council which is made up of socially engaged arts professionals who work the communities that the laundromats are also located. These members serve as advisors to community events and represent the Laundromat Project.

Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC)

In 2012-2013 Risë Wilson served as the program director for LINC. LINC was a ten-year initiative which aimed to effect change in support systems for artists in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Wilson continued the work by creating cultural facilities that benefit artists and communities. Wilson was specifically hired to run their Space for Change Program which gave smaller community based arts organizations who were creating arts facilities support and monetary help. These facilities were used to help support both artists and communities.

The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation

In 2013 Risë Wilson became the first director of philanthropy for the Robert Rauschenberg foundation. Her role is to support the philanthropy from the organization and redefine what it means to interact with social practice and the arts. One of her first projects included creating citywide discussions about

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

called the Marfa Dialogues/NY. Wilson partnered with Ballroom Marfa, a nonprofit center for contemporary art and culture, and the Public Concern Foundation which is a non profit foundation dedicated to creating dialogue and education around social issues, to create art events that brought about dialogue around climate change through artist and

environmental activism The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement), also including conservation and green politics, is a diverse philosophical, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues. Environmentalists ad ...

and practice. The events that were planned ranged from panels, to an installation on the high line, to musical performances over two months in October/ November. Wilson also heads the foundations SEED program which provides operating capital in the sum of $30,000 to start-up arts organizations in underrepresented areas of the

. This program supports the organizations for three years towards their artistic goals. The organizations cannot apply for this grant, they must be nominated by a cultural leader from the community. In 2016 the organization donated $400,000 towards supporting artists and groups. Wilson also oversees the Artist as Activist initiative which started in 2013.

Teaching and public events

Risë Wilson Wilson has also served as adjunct faculty for Parsons School of Design, teaching how to adapt product design classes to the public sphere. Wilson was a moderator at the 2015

Creative Time Creative Time is a New York-based nonprofit arts organization. It was founded in 1974 to support the creation of innovative, site-specific, socially engaged artworks in the public realm, particularly in vacant spaces of historical and architectura ...

summit round table entitled "My Brooklyn" where she introduced speakers who addressed a variety of issues that focused on the intersection of art and politics in the current United States school system. She has also served as a consultant in the Media, Arts and Culture unit for the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...

in 2009.

Selected awards

* Colombia Kluge Scholar (1993-1997) * NYU McCracken Fellow (2004) * The College Arts Association Professional Development Fellow (2002-2004) *

Echoing Green In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the list ...

Fellow for

Social Entrepreneurship Social entrepreneurship is an approach by individuals, groups, start-up companies or entrepreneurs, in which they develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. This concept may be applied to a wide range of ...

(2004) for the Laundromat Project * Ford Foundation Douglas Redd Fellow (2008)

References

External links

Laundromat Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Rise Living people American community activists Columbia College (New York) alumni New York University Graduate School of Arts and Science alumni Germantown Friends School alumni Year of birth missing (living people)