Amid sharp cuts in federal monies to the arts by the Trump administration and a drop in funding from some other sources, The Steel Yard (TSY) in Providence’s Industrial Valley has been hit by a financial crisis. As Drake Patten, who was recently named interim director, put it: “The current fragility of the nonprofit world is such that one or two things can throw you into a bad situation.”
Patten is no stranger to TSY, nor to a financial challenge. She served as the organization’s executive director for eight years, and guided it through the 2008 great recession. “Back then, we had to furlough the entire staff for one month in order to give us a little breathing room,” Patten recalled.
Right now, TSY has put its staff on alternate furlough weeks. “They get paid for one week, and then are off the next week,” Patten explained. So in one month, there are two pay periods instead of four. “We have to take it a day at a time,” she said.
But that doesn’t mean the industrial arts center and shared studio, whose 3.8-acre campus is located at 27 Sims Avenue in PVD, has come to a screeching halt. Indeed, its education program is still running strong, according to Nyala Honda, TSY’s education manager.
“The instructors who teach here have jumped in to help, so our messaging to students is to keep going with their craft education,” she said, noting the facilities remain open with instructors ready to teach ceramics, jewelry-making, and metalwork, among other skills.
The Yard has even added a couple of classes: basket weaving and wax carving. TSY recently got a donation of underglazes, which it uses in ceramics classes. Another donation, of cuttlefish bones, will be used in a silver-casting class.
“Some of our instructors have gone out on their own, and gotten donations of materials for their classes,” Patten pointed out, saying its people have always been TSY’s greatest resource.
“Our staff are all artists and have volunteered to run classes,” Honda added. One will be on creating cyanotype prints, and another will be a zine-making workshop.
“We will still have daytime classes along with night classes, with weekend welding sessions, and a one-day blacksmithing workshop,” emphasized Honda, who is a former elementary school teacher.
TSY did receive a grant recently, from the Department of Labor for workforce training, thanks to Senator Jack Reed, Patten said.
Also, Mid City Steel of Westport, MA, has been a donor since TSY began in 2002, the interim director said. AMACO Brent of Indianapolis, IN, is a new donor, and the materials it’s sent will be used for the ceramics program at TSY.
The Ocean State is home to a lot of diverse suppliers which have donated materials over the years, Patten noted.
As Honda put it: “Our classes support the organization. None of them run at a deficit, thanks to the donations from companies, as well as tuition paid by students. And we pay all of our instructors.”
The Yard plans to hold a fundraiser in May. “Our instructors have asked if they could speak at the fundraiser, and share their stories with the people who attend it and hopefully donate,” Honda said.
Both pointed out that it’s been gratifying to have people call TSY every week and ask what the organization needs.
Patten said it’s been great to come back after eleven years and see the landscape and the buildings. When she left, there were just a couple of developed spots on the property. Others were left undeveloped, because their purpose was to be figured out in future.
“I was part of the first generation. The next generation added to what we made. And now, our current students will eventually become the third generation to add to The Steel Yard,” Patten said.
She noted that during her absence, Farm Fresh Rhode Island and New Harvest Coffee opened across the street.
“The Steel Yard is a very place-making focused organization,” Patten concluded. “There’s a diversity of what’s offered here. Our staff and instructors are very welcoming. We’ll strengthen the organization so that it can keep serving the people of our community.”