Rhapsody Studio is a collaborative studio space that supports the cultivation of community and creative expression through art and music by providing access to and awareness of resources, events, and projects, as well as incorporating modern spaces for social congregation and entrepreneurship, further bridging the divide between and supporting Colby and Waterville creative communities and individuals.
Rhapsody Art Studio
Collaborate, Imaginate, and Innovate – Rhapsody Creates!
These images provide conceptual visuals for potential design approaches and inspirations for the Rhapsody Art Studio space
Rhapsody Studio ultimately provides a valuable and enriching platform for the formation and support of community-based art projects, educational and recreational endeavors, performances, events/exhibitions, experiences, and relationships. The opportunities and programming that can branch out of this studio space and network are endless.
Re-define what it means to be a Waterville resident
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RapCity Music Studio
The RapCity Music Studio provides a valuable space for the Waterville community to convene as well as interact through music. Music, like any art or form of expression, has an important role in the lives of many, and provides a good way for forming relationships and building community. For many Waterville residents and Colby students, music may even be a newfound passion, skill, and hobby if a space in the Downtown apartment building could offer the resources for people to get involved in music outside of the restrictions of the music department and current music programming in the city, while also requiring a welcoming (yet accountable) environment.
RapCity Studio also provides an opportunity for musicians at Colby and in the community to not only grow from and expand their own musical experiences, but also share their musical love, skills, and passion with the youth, and other members of the city that lack opportunities to learn how to play and get involved with music (as well as potentially dance). This may be supported by adapting the academic requirements for music majors and minors to include a civic engagement option, allowing them to mentor children of all ages, musically, academically, and personally. The Rhapsody RapCity space may also be able to host woodworking and carpentry workshops, including instrument-making seminars, for reasonable costs, as well as other forms of musical education and engagement (such as teaching music theory and instrument classes, or organizing public events).
Get Involved – Sign up for Studio Time and Music Lessons
RapCity BackCity Cafe
The construction of an urban café could be a beneficial addition to the Rhapsody Studio, as well as a venue through which to support local art and entrepreneurship.
Urban Cafe with Unique Maine Character
The RapCity BackCity Cafe is a unique alternative to big name corporations and chains for Colby to incorporate into the retail/dining space of the Downtown dorm. The interior of the cafe will present a cool aesthetic through modern interior design and the incorporation of local materials, including a chalk wall for people to create their own art. The venue also provides space for scheduled events and gallery shows. Our team (the Aqua City Committee of Poetics and Aesthetics) is open to other names as well, e.g. Natural Notes, Rhapsody Wraps, Apollo\’s Muse, etc.
Share Food, Ideas, Stories, Friends. Share Moods, Music, Memories, Ends.
As the cafe not only offers valuable business opportunities and food options, but also opportunities to expand cultural and social engagement in the city, the construction of the RapCity BackCity Cafe supports Waterville\’s goals to foster the growth of a vibrant Downtown. Currency Exchange Café in Chicago (right) is a modern dining and retail space that adds a cultural and economic dimension to U Chicago’s neighboring Place Lab, a catalyst for mindful urban transformation and creative redevelopment. Currency Exchange Café offers inspiration for what the RapCity BackCity Café can be for the Rhapsody Studio.
Support of Waterville\’s Culinary, Musical, Visual, and Performing Arts
The kitchen and cafe will use as much locally sourced produce and ingredients as possible (from coffee to corn to chicken to cheese) in diverse and delicious recipes, while a retail space will provide customers with locally-produced goods and art (from candy to clothes), as well as other inventory to add to the venue\’s utility and character. There will be a stage space inside for open mic nights, musical and spoken performances, improv, karaoke, and other social/entertainment events. This Hardrock Cafe in Poland (left) is an example of a dining venue that provides a space for live musical performances.
Location
Colby College Dorm in Downtown Waterville, Maine
Rhapsody Partners
The Rhapsody studio will need students, Colby faculty/staff, community members and organizations/outreach, and potentially its own staff if it expands enough, to operate, organize, maintain, advertise, lead, support, and regulate the use and sustainability of this space.
If you think you have what it takes to be a Ville Visionary, reach out to the Urban Design Coop for information on how to join our project team (the Aqua City Committee of Poetics and Aesthetics), or get involved with Rhapsody RapCity programming.
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