RISD Project Open Door

Project Open Door (POD), a college access program for urban teens, is housed in the Rhode Island School of Design’s Department of Teaching + Learning in Art + Design. POD supports not only the artistic development of students attending public high schools in Rhode Island's urban core cities of Central Falls, Pawtucket, Providence and Woonsocket but also their access to and retention in higher education, increasing their chances to succeed in art and design.

Project Open Door has a dual mission: (1) to increase access to high quality arts learning and careers in art and design for under-served Rhode Island teens, and (2) to provide a learning community education platform for RISD students, alumni, faculty and staff.

Programs
Project Open Door’s programming is entirely free to teens and their schools and has two major components:

POD-in-Schools: Drop-in after-school programming, which takes place in our partner high schools on weekday afternoons. This year, classes are taking place at Dr. Jorge Alvarez High School and Mt. Pleasant High School, Providence; Charles E. Shea Senior High School, Pawtucket; Central Falls High School, Woonsocket High School, and William M. Davies, Jr. Career & Technical High School. These classes are taught by graduate students in RISD’s Department of Teaching + Learning in Art + Design.

POD @ RISD: Portfolio (9th – 11th grade) and Senior Portfolio (12th grade) are open by application and interview to teens attending any public or charter high school in a Rhode Island urban core city. The Portfolio classes are designed for teens who are interested in expanding their artistic horizons in terms of studio practice and knowledge about art and design and who are willing to commit to a serious program of study leading to the production of a body of work. Classes take place in RISD studios on Saturday mornings and are taught by College faculty, supported by undergraduate teaching assistants. Additionally, Project Open Door works to mentor and support Portfolio students through the college application process.