RIIFF 2008 Team

Alyssa Holland Short

Alyssa Holland Short began with Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) in April 2008 as our Community Projects Manager.  Alyssa will be working with schools, colleges and universities, and community-based organizations to create a community outreach division of our Festival that will implement year-round film + new media education programs.

Alyssa brings a solid background in arts education and community organizing as well as a Masters Degree from Rhode Island School of Design in Art + Design Education, Community Track.  Prior to coming on board with RIIFF, Alyssa spent six years with Providence ¡CityArts! for Youth, a local community arts organization with a mission to provide free professional arts education to Providence youth.  She served ¡CityArts! in a variety of capacities including Program Director and Interim Director – working to design and  implement a roster of afterschool arts programs, an intensive summer arts camp, and in-school artist residency programs.  Alyssa has a passion for making change through the arts and she understands the potential that film and new media education programs hold in today’s fast-paced world where creative minds and critical thinkers will reign.

Alyssa has eight years experience as an artist educator and has taught at renowned institutions including Rhode Island School of Design and Moore College of Art + Design in Philadelphia.  She is a dedicated member of the Providence arts community and she is a founding member of a community arts book club, an active volunteer with New Urban Arts, and she sits on the Board of Directors of The Hive Archive, a non-profit women-run feminist arts organization focused not only on art making and empowerment through creative expression, but also on civic involvement and social change.

RIIFF is the largest and only Academy Award qualifying film festival in New England—out of 6,000 festivals worldwide, less than 1% share this prestigious accreditation. We have extraordinary resources in film, new media, technology, and media literacy and Alyssa will be working hard to develop year-round community outreach and educational programs in order to make these resources accessible to all Rhode Islanders through a rich menu of afterschool programs, school-based residencies, community-based screenings, and other new media events.

If your organization or school is interested in learning more about partnering with RIIFF, please contact Alyssa Holland Short, RIIFF Community Projects Manager, at (401) 861-4445 or alyssahs@film-fest.org.

Alyssa married Adam Short in September 2007.

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