Wilmington Renaissance Corporation (WRC) announced Umberto Crenca, founder and artistic director of AS220 in Providence, R.I. will be keynote speaker at WRC’s Annual Meeting: Bringing Big Ideas to Life. The event is slated for Wednesday, April 24, from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at World Cafe Live at The Queen, 500 N. Market St.
“We are thrilled to have Bert Crenca as our keynote speaker,” said Carrie W. Gray, WRC managing director. “What he has done for Providence will inspire our arts partners — and the entire community — to envision even more exciting possibilities for Wilmington.” Wilmington Renaissance has long championed the arts as a way to revitalize downtown.
Crenca, a visual artist, is the founder and artistic director of AS220, a nonprofit center established in Providence in 1985 to provide a local forum and home for the arts, and dedicated to supporting and presenting unjuried and uncensored visual art, music, and poetry.
The organization maintains artists’ work and studio spaces, five galleries, and two performance spaces, and has established a presence in the Downtown Arts and Entertainment District.
Crenca is active in the revitalization of downtown Providence, and plays an important role in community efforts across the region. He serves on the Mayor’s Art, Culture + Tourism Advisory Board, and is a past member of the Providence School Board.
In the past two decades, Crenca has been a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, The Urban Institute, The Ford Foundation, LEF Foundation, Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Connecticut Council on the Arts, the New England Artists’ Trust, and the Creative Cities Summit.
The annual meeting will bring the community up-to-date on their development. WRC will discuss efforts to partner and collaborate to implement big ideas for the city. Tickets are $50 and include a gourmet breakfast and complimentary parking at the Renaissance Center Garage on 5th Street adjacent to World Cafe Live. For tickets call 302.425.5500, or order online at http://wrcbigideastolife.eventbrite.com/#.
This event is sponsored in part by: ab+c, Colonial Parking, Highmark Delaware, Delmarva Power, DuPont, M&T Bank, Newmark Grubb Knight Frank, Wheeler Wolfenden & Dwares, Out & About Magazine, DoubleTree by Hilton Downtown Wilmington, Precision Color Graphics, World Cafe Live at The Queen, The Commonwealth Group and The Fun Department.
