RYSE Commons Grand Opening
RSVP here to attend the RYSE Commons Grand Opening in-person (May 14th 2-5:30pm) at 3939 Bissell Ave, Richmond CA or subscribe to the YouTube Live Stream above to tune in virtually day-of!
RYSE is ecstatic to officially announce the GRAND OPENING of the new RYSE Commons campus!! Above is a virtual broadcast that will begin May 14th at 3pm PDT! Follow the YouTube link to set a reminder and you too can be a part of the experience if you can’t make it in person. On Grand Opening day, the community is invited to celebrate this monumental, years-in-the-making, youth-envisioned moment. There will be tours of the new and renovated buildings and outdoor spaces, performances, artwork, family fun, delicious food, and more. RYSE creates safe spaces grounded in social justice for young people to build youth power to love, learn, educate, heal, and transform lives and communities. With RYSE Commons, we are celebrating how we are rooted in movements for liberation, and are always rysing toward a future where Black, Indigenous and Young People of Color feel loved, listened to, and powerful.
For new and returning members, May 17-20 will be Grand Opening Youth Week! Featuring music, games, activities, and food, follow us on Instagram for more updates!
Events at RYSE Commons
This program season, with the May Grand Opening fast approaching, the campus was as lively as ever, swelling with energy, laughter, activism, imagination, and color. See below what we were able to capture!
Raise the Bay: In Her Voice
RAISE THE BAY was a concert at RYSE Commons honoring International Women's Month: celebrating the BI-POC women/ femme identified community. We uplifted the love, the work, and the art that women/femmes have created in this world. This event was the 3rd annual, made possible by the RYSE Center, The UC Theatre, and the Artist/Organizer LaDy-SN3AK.
RHS x RYSE Field Trip
RYSE collaborated with the Law Academy at Richmond High School to host a field trip to our new campus: introducing sophomores and freshman in the Law Academy to the hxstory of RYSE, RYSE Commons + RYSE Legacy Building. There were games, workshops, food, and music!
RYSE Leadership Institute
This was a week long Institute for youth interns at RYSE to cultivate beloved community amongst RYSE youth leaders/members and staff, get grounded in RYSE's values and the Theory of Liberation, hold space for political, leadership, cultural identity development, holistic healing, self and community care, and having fun! It was a week of icebreakers, games, and workshops that included button making , Linkedin tutorials, financial literacy, self portrait painting, jewelry making, dancing, baking, and planting seeds, among many many others!
RYSE Program Updates
Photovoice Interns experimenting with fast action photography and water splashes!
Visual Arts AMP continuing their self portrait projects!
EJAR leading a workshop on how to brainstorm and create focus questions for the E4L cohort. They shared their personal experiences with being an E4L cohort member and provided space for youth to brainstorm ideas to run their own workshop!
We hosted a Community Financial Resources workshop for the Education 4 Liberation interns to learn about financial practices! RYSE’s partnership with CFR over the past year has been a key step in deepening our holistic model to address and build economic justice pathways for and with young people.
RYOT Interns led their first youth-led workshop titled Divine Femininity during the first Organizing Club session of the season! Youth had some reflections and went on to paint an art piece representing their relationship with divine femininity, receiving health and wellness gifts bags at the end.
RYOT being led through a Four Corners activity yesterday. Through their responses they shared powerful insights around race, class, culture, power, cities they live in, family dynamics, racism within family, racial slurs, and healing/self love.
RYSE hosted its first WCCUSD Arts Now Institute, a professional development in arts integration, and invited partners from East Bay Center for the Performing Arts and Richmond Arts Center. During these uncertain times, a need for creative, adaptive thinking from school and classroom leaders and for engaging, meaningful learning experiences for students is more apparent than ever. The mission of the Institute was to indicate an enhanced ability to plan, implement, and facilitate arts integrated teaching and learning for both in person and virtual learning environments. The workshops were led by amazing local teaching artists and student artists! One of the teachers stated "I want to continue educating myself on equitable teaching, and how to elevate all cultures in my class."
Mini Master Class (MMC) in session!
Visual Arts AMP making art book covers!
SPEAK Poet & Visual Arts AMP went to the Teen Poetry Slam Finals!
We’re Hiring!
RYSE is hiring! As we continue to transition through seasons and the building swells with energy, activities, and abundance, we are looking to fill more positions. If you or someone you know is interested in any of the below positions, click the buttons or share rysecenter.org/jobopenings with your network!