RYSE Media, Arts, + Culture Programs
RYSE Center, 3939 Bissell Ave, Richmond, CA 94805
About
RYSE Media, Arts, + Culture Programs offers activities such as music video projects, performing arts, visual arts, spoken word, writing, performance, editorial skills, graphic design, video production, filmmaking, and arts-based games. Young people can take part in programs that include beat production using Reason software, recording a YouTube video, making a short film, music production and recording, music theory, live instrumentation on piano, drums, and guitar, and technical and artistic production training. The program also includes trauma informed creative youth development workshops, song content analysis and dialogue, and chances to share work through performance and exhibition.
• Ages: 13–18 years old
• Price: RYSE is free for all young people ages 13-21.
The Media, Arts, + Culture Department promotes personal healing, social justice, and community transformation by facilitating young people's innovative creation of personal, political, and expressive media and art to shift the narrative about youth. All members have access to industry-standard media equipment, loving and talented teaching artists, and professional development training in music, video production, visual arts, and performing arts. The department’s programs are anchored in a Theory of Liberation (ToL), a value system in which young people have the lived knowledge and expertise to identify, prioritize, and direct the activities and services necessary to thrive, and all members have access to free food and workshops and programs in arts, health and wellness, youth organizing, and college and career development.
Specific offerings include SPEAK Poet, an interactive spoken word workshop for all writing levels with chances to perform, facilitate workshops, and publish work; Lifeline, a music program where youth learn new writing styles and techniques through hip hop history and use writing as a form of self-care; and RYSING Art Club, a weekly arts program open to all skill levels. Videography 101 is described as a safe space for young artists who want to learn film production, and youth can also learn graphic design skills such as editing photographs, designing logos, and creating material for websites and social media. The Land of Sankofa Production is an adapted version of The Wiz based in Richmond, written by youth playwright Sukari Wright, with a youth-led ensemble that brings together visual arts, music, spoken word, dance, and theater, and the program is seeking actors, dancers, singers, visual artists, musicians, and behind-the-scenes crew for this production.
The Advanced Media Producers (AMP) Internship Program offers stipends to interns, and AMP members can choose from five artistic areas of concentration: video, visual arts, music, performing arts, and event production. RYSE staff coordinate paid opportunities in performance and exhibition as they arise at RYSE and in the community, support involvement in the concert career pathways program through a relationship with the UC Theatre, and connect youth with chances to perform music or spoken word at conferences through partnerships with community organizations and agencies in Richmond and Contra Costa County. RYSE’s mission states that it creates safe spaces grounded in social justice that build youth power for young people to love, learn, educate, heal and transform lives and communities.
One RYSE member shared that before attending the RYSE Center, they did not have a clear vision of what they wanted in life, and that the media and arts programs at RYSE helped them progress as a community artist and youth mentor. Another RYSE member described the experience as amazing for themselves and the people they brought, and said they love the programs and feel like RYSE is another family.
Last updated June 18, 2026.
• Ages: 13–18 years old
• Price: RYSE is free for all young people ages 13-21.
The Media, Arts, + Culture Department promotes personal healing, social justice, and community transformation by facilitating young people's innovative creation of personal, political, and expressive media and art to shift the narrative about youth. All members have access to industry-standard media equipment, loving and talented teaching artists, and professional development training in music, video production, visual arts, and performing arts. The department’s programs are anchored in a Theory of Liberation (ToL), a value system in which young people have the lived knowledge and expertise to identify, prioritize, and direct the activities and services necessary to thrive, and all members have access to free food and workshops and programs in arts, health and wellness, youth organizing, and college and career development.
Specific offerings include SPEAK Poet, an interactive spoken word workshop for all writing levels with chances to perform, facilitate workshops, and publish work; Lifeline, a music program where youth learn new writing styles and techniques through hip hop history and use writing as a form of self-care; and RYSING Art Club, a weekly arts program open to all skill levels. Videography 101 is described as a safe space for young artists who want to learn film production, and youth can also learn graphic design skills such as editing photographs, designing logos, and creating material for websites and social media. The Land of Sankofa Production is an adapted version of The Wiz based in Richmond, written by youth playwright Sukari Wright, with a youth-led ensemble that brings together visual arts, music, spoken word, dance, and theater, and the program is seeking actors, dancers, singers, visual artists, musicians, and behind-the-scenes crew for this production.
The Advanced Media Producers (AMP) Internship Program offers stipends to interns, and AMP members can choose from five artistic areas of concentration: video, visual arts, music, performing arts, and event production. RYSE staff coordinate paid opportunities in performance and exhibition as they arise at RYSE and in the community, support involvement in the concert career pathways program through a relationship with the UC Theatre, and connect youth with chances to perform music or spoken word at conferences through partnerships with community organizations and agencies in Richmond and Contra Costa County. RYSE’s mission states that it creates safe spaces grounded in social justice that build youth power for young people to love, learn, educate, heal and transform lives and communities.
One RYSE member shared that before attending the RYSE Center, they did not have a clear vision of what they wanted in life, and that the media and arts programs at RYSE helped them progress as a community artist and youth mentor. Another RYSE member described the experience as amazing for themselves and the people they brought, and said they love the programs and feel like RYSE is another family.
Last updated June 18, 2026.
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