The Rhode Island Expansion Arts Program (RIEAP) offers funding and organizational assistance to community-based, culturally diverse arts and cultural organizations.

It supports small organizations whose programs and missions center on the cultural practices and traditions of Rhode Island’s diverse peoples. RIEAP provides the skills and tools these organizations need to grow as equal partners in the Rhode Island arts and cultural community. Priority is given to newly-emerging groups and those with little history of grant funding. In seeking to build the capacity of these organizations, RIEAP recognizes the broader role they play in strengthening their communities including cultural preservation, education, and youth development.

Funding fosters greater connections across the arts and humanities and provides leadership and professional development for a broader network of RIEAP-eligible arts and cultural organizations.

Currently stewarded solely by the Rhode Island Foundation, The Rhode Island Expansion Arts Program has been supported by a collaboration between Rhode Island Foundation, Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA), and Rhode Island Humanities (RIH).

Past Funded Organizations Include:

• Providence World Music
• Rhode Island Black Film Festival
• Raíces (Rhode Island Folk and Cultural Association)
• Centro Cultural Andino, Inc.
• Cultural Society for Entrepreneurship, Bilingualism, Resources and Inspirations (CSEBRI)
• Langston Hughes Community Poetry Reading
• Sankofa Community Connection
• EcoArts USA
• Korean American Association of Rhode Island
• Rhode Island Cape Verdean Heritage
• Columbian American Cultural Society, Inc.
• Laotian Community Center of Rhode Island (LCC)
• India Association of Rhode Island
• Cambodian Society of Rhode Island
• Eastern Medicine Singers
• Center for the Arts and Culture of the Americas RI
• RPM Voices
• Tomaquag Museum
• Hmong United
• Educational Center for the Arts and Sciences (ECAS Theater)
• Oasis International
• Rhode Island Black Storytellers (RIBS)
• Rhode Island Indian Council Inc.
• Rites and Reason Theatre
• Quisqueya En Accion
• Rhode Island Latino Arts (RILA)
• The Puerto Rican Institute for the Arts and Advocacy, Inc. (PRIAA)