“The point of having access to the arts process is all about becoming a better human,” says Gloria Crist. This lifelong belief is what led Gloria to found The CORE Org in 2009. The Tiverton-based nonprofit has been a source and resource organization offering arts enrichment and wellness in all mediums throughout the East Bay. Classes are based in all art formats and open to all students in Tiverton and throughout Newport County. Not funded by any school department, The CORE receives its funding through grants, donations, and modest tuition for enrollment in classes.
“We approach what we do by looking at the creative wants and needs of the whole person, using an arts template to address a wide variety of self expression,” Gloria begins. “Our programs are created specifically to provide arts AND mental well being, self confidence, self awareness, better communication skills, better ways to deal with stress … to provide arts that are not only the answer, but also invite more questions.”
Since the pandemic, The CORE has expanded programs to include SEL (social emotional learning) to assist in the increase in anxiety and depression witnessed in grades K-12 along with partnering with other organizations to create new ways for young people to deal with the “overwhelming amount of emotions the COVID chaos has introduced into the everyday.”
Originally from North Carolina, Gloria is a card carrying member of SAG-AFTRA-AEA and will open in the March premiere of Charlotte Meehans new play Everyday Life and Other Odds and Ends at the Emerson Paramount Center in Boston. Her background includes award-winning theater, film, and television, and developing a one-woman show in Las Vegas that became stand-up comedian Don Rickles’ opening act.
This spring Gloria will also be busy preparing the CORE Youth Theater Company for the June production of Willy Wonka. “I get to work with a talented group of teaching artists who authentically love what they do. It’s pure joy!”
156 Highland Road, Tiverton • 401-749-1203
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