Risë Wilson

Risë Wilson is a community organizer, activist, strategic planner, curriculum developer, non-profit consultant, and the current director of philanthropy at the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, who lives and works in New York City. Founder of the Laundromat Project, she has been named one of the "worlds best emerging social entrepreneurs" in 2004. In 2015, she moderated the Creative Time Summit round table, entitled "My Brooklyn."

Early life and education Risë Wilson was born and raised in Germantown, Philadelphia in a mixed-income neighborhood in the northwest section of the city. She attended both Greene Street Friends School and Germantown Friends School before attending college. Also, before entering Greene Street Friends School she participated in Moore College of Art and Design's youth programs.

She attended Columbia University (1993–1997), where she earned a BA in African American Studies as a Kluge Scholar. She went on to earn an MA in Africana Studies from New York University (2004) as a MacCracken fellow. The origins of the project stemmed from Wilson's want for a studio to create her printmaking practice in, which is primarily linoleum and silkscreen. The organization itself was first funded in 2005 and aimed to build bridges between community members, amplify the sense of creativity in a community, and give ownership to communities. The LP creates partnerships with already existing laundromats to use their space for artwork and art making. The laundromats are located in places such as Bedford-Stuyvesant, Harlem, and Hunts Point and focus in low-income neighborhoods and in communities of color. The different spaces and locations offer workshops, potlucks, art shows, and dances for community members to attend and participate in. The LP started a "create change" initiative because of its belief that by using art to enact activism through community based programs. The values of the organization are to "creative catalysts, community centered, neighborly, people powered, active listeners and learners, collaboration and cross-pollination by design, and propelled by love."

In addition to community work, the LP also offers different types of artist development. This includes a fellowship program, which is for artists new to community work, a residence program, and a commission program, which allows for any alumni fellows to showcase work in the laundromat. The fellowship program was started in 2011, with a variety of artists from visual artists, to dancers, to comedians. These artist development programs give artists funds for creating, in addition to space for artworks. In addition, the project has an artist and community council which is made up of socially engaged arts professionals who work the communities that the laundromats are also located. These members serve as advisors to community events and represent the Laundromat Project. Wilson continued the work by creating cultural facilities that benefit artists and communities. Wilson was specifically hired to run their Space for Change Program which gave smaller community based arts organizations who were creating arts facilities support and monetary help. These facilities were used to help support both artists and communities. The events that were planned ranged from panels, to an installation on the high line, to musical performances over two months in October/ November.

Selected awards Colombia Kluge Scholar (1993–1997) NYU McCracken Fellow (2004) The College Arts Association Professional Development Fellow (2002–2004) Echoing Green Fellow for Social Entrepreneurship (2004) for the Laundromat Project Ford Foundation Douglas Redd Fellow (2008)