Saturday Portfolio Program

Organization: Project Open Door (POD) is a youth arts program housed within the department of Teaching + Learning + Art + Design (TLAD) at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). POD’s mission is to increase access to art and design education by providing FREE, high-quality creative programs and opportunities for local youth. POD provides public high school students from Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls, and Woonsocket with opportunities to develop their artistic skills and creative voice within a supportive and inclusive community. In addition to teaching foundational skills, POD offers classes and workshops in disciplines including animation, apparel design, architecture, comics, digital media, drawing, graphic design, illustration, jewelry, public art, papermaking, painting, photography, printmaking, textiles, and toy and game design.

Opportunity: POD’s Saturday Portfolio Program is a selective, intensive portfolio development and college access program for creative and driven teens. In Saturday Portfolio, participants develop their artistic skills and voice while exploring diverse approaches to artmaking and, throughout their high-school careers, work towards creating an art portfolio for future endeavors. Classes are structured in a cohort model that also incorporates student choice. Portfolio classes are taught by professional Teaching Artists and occur on the RISD campus for three hours every Saturday during the academic year. In addition to Saturday classes, teens are encouraged to participate in extra opportunities such as Open Studios, summer classes, college visits, field trips, gallery visits, and pop-up workshops.

Note: Opportunity is available to teens attending a public high school or public charter school in Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls, or Woonsocket/ OR teens who live in Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls, or Woonsocket and attend a public Rhode Island high school.