ABOUT NEW WAYS

By providing students with hands-on experience with digital and cutting-edge art forms, New Ways is truly a progressive and fresh approach to art education in Rockford.

The Rockford Area Arts Council, in partnership with New Genres Arts Space and United Way of the Rock River Valley, present ‘New Ways’ summer programming. ‘New Ways’ provides innovative summer programs led by local artists and educators, who hold degrees from internationally recognized universities in their mediums of choice, and focuses on animation, sound art, and 3-D printing.

The Arts Council, for the past twenty+ years, provided our community with ArtsPlace; ArtsPlace is a comprehensive summer program with 2, 4, and 8-week sessions of hands- on art making, mentorship, and skill building. Because of the restrictive measures taken, during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure our resident’s safety, the Arts Council’s collaboration with New Genres and United Way modify our grant dollars and agency investment to address our intended audience—underserved youth—and keep the instructional and entrepreneurial intent of our original grant award with the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois.

The pioneering partnership between the Arts Council, New Genres, and United Way will afford its participants an introduction to digital, time-based, socially-engaged, contemporary experimental art—doesn’t that sound like a blast? It will be! Registration preference will be given to those in United Way’s Strong Neighborhoods zip codes—61101 and 61104.