What Cheer Writers Club
By: Jodie Vinson, Program Manager
From Summer, 2020
| What Cheer Writers Club supports Rhode Island’s creators of the written, spoken and illustrated word through community events, free and low-cost business services, and, when safely available, discounted coworking space. As an umbrella organization, we serve as a centralized community connecting content creators, fans and literary organizations state-wide. The Club’s mission is to elevate the content arts in our state by providing accessible workshops and community gatherings where writers can feel supported and known by fellow creatives and patrons of the arts. In addition, the Club seeks to burnish Rhode Island’s reputation as a literary destination–a place where content creators thrive. When our downtown location is open, one of the resources we offer our Members is accessible space dedicated to their creative projects, including discounted coworking space (think cozy library nooks, armchairs, sunny window seats), free classroom space for creative workshops, classes and meetings, as well as a low-cost Podcasting Studio. But the Club is more than a coworking space, it’s a community. Even with our physical location closed, our virtual events continue online, including community meet-ups, such as a podcast listening party and a nonfiction open mic, etc. The Club also holds practicums focused on the business-end of arts practice to support local creatives—subjects like how to monetize your podcast and how to query an agent. The goal of these programs is to professionalize the creative community in Rhode Island, and to help makers overcome economic barriers to artistic production. The Club’s co-working space is a quiet, creative space, designed with the introvert in mind. In the Salon you’ll find comfy armchairs, upholstered in orange and pink, sun-drenched window seats, an antique desk, a Board Room and events space. In the Library are cozy writing nooks, shelves of books for reference and inspiration, a Classroom and Podcasting Studio. When the Club is open, visitors would see RI creatives working away in nooks and armchairs, or collaborating in the meeting rooms, or recording stories in the Studio. One of our most unique offerings is a state-of-the-art Podcasting Studio, which rents to Members at just $10/hour when we are open. Additionally, we offer low-cost podcast training every month—and our Podcasting 101 class has continued online throughout the pandemic, with tips for recording safely from home! In the wake of Covid-19 the Club has focused on new partnerships with like-minded organizations to keep the local creative community engaged and inspired throughout the health crisis. Such collaborations include Dear Rhode Island, a statewide letter exchange, and Ecstatic Ekphrastic, a creative writing challenge based on public works of art commissioned by The Avenue Concept. What Cheer Writers Club is located on the second floor at 160 Westminster Street in downtown Providence, a block from the Arcade. We look forward to the day when we can safely open again, but in the meantime, we’re focused on connecting our community through virtual events and programs that encourage a safe engagement with Rhode Island’s creative community. To access these resources, RI creatives are encouraged to join at just $5-10/month: www.whatcheerclub.org/join-today You can learn more by visiting www.whatcheerclub.org or emailing jodie@whatcheerclub.org. You can also call us at 401-307-2450. The image above is credited to Emily Homonoff. |
