Last Call For Muralists

Seeking Artists for Community Engaged Mural Project

Art Starts is seeking a professional mural artist with group facilitation skills to lead a summer mentorship program for up to 7 youth in July/August, 2014. We are currently applying for funding and the chosen artist will be included in our application material.

Potential candidates must have:

Extensive experience in community-engaged, visual arts practice
A strong interest in and commitment to socially engaged practice and collaboration
Ability to facilitate discussion and respectful of acknowledging and including diverse ideas with youth
Reliable and ready to adhere to timelines but also flexible and respectful of community process
Ability to provide artistic mentorship for youth
Commitment to artistic excellence

If interested in the opportunity please forward a letter of interest including a description of teaching/mentorship experience, artist profile and examples of art work to hr@artstarts.net by March 26th, 2014.

The Power of Collaboration

How we spent our March Break

At Art Starts we were excited when the opportunity arose to work with past partners F.Y.I. (For Youth Initiative) and North York Community House to collaborate on V.O.I.C.E.(Voicing Our Ideas for Change & Empowerment) a March Break program for newcomer youth.

The spark for the program started with Ejay from F.Y.I. who had been working with ESL students in an after school program and saw a need in the community. He was able to connect with Amy from North York Community House who had a plan for a March Break program and was searching for partners. We at Art Starts joined the team with our roster of professional community-minded artists and the V.O.I.C.E program came together. Art Starts Program Manager Carleen said about the partnership â€œWe [had] the same goals why not pool resources?â€ a sentiment echoed by Ejay and Amy who saw the partnership as â€œnaturalâ€ and a â€œwindow of opportunityâ€. Collectively we were able to enrich the entire experience for all involved.

Taking a multi-arts approach the youth got to work with a variety of media from plaster masks, drumming and textile art amongst other mediums to focus on collaboration whether from the Philippines, Burma, Afghanistan or St. Lucia to create artistic magic. One of the youth, Anna from Germany, said that the arts part of the program didnâ€™t interest her much but that she was excited that she had a place to make friends and learn English. Conversely another youth Jessica, expressed that her love for poetry drew her to the program but she is enjoying the other arts that sheâ€™s gotten an opportunity make.

In a room where youth were from China, Mexico, Nepal, Sierra Leone and Somalia, English was still new as their second language but art was a way for the youth to speak to one another and express themselves. Amy, one of the program partners from North York Community House told us that Luda (one of her most shy youth) is always the first to participate. Instead of the regular ESL classes Luda among others was engaging in a space creatively and learning communication simultaneously. This program brought to light just how powerful art is as a medium of communication and what happens when we do it together.

Art Starts Speaks

North Toronto Forum on Income Inequality

On Thurs. Mar 20th Art Starts participated in a forum on income inequality organized by MPP Mike Colle. The panel of speakers featured Art Starts' own Managing Director Liz Forsberg, Shelly Zuckerman Executive Director of the North York Community House, Anette Chawla of North York Harvest Food Bank and Virgina Mills of Voices for a Just Society with the Keynote by Trish Hennessy the Director of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Trish kicked off the event by speaking passionately about income inequality and challenged the audience with reducing that gap through social citizenship instead of individualistic ideals.

In her address to the crowd Liz expanded upon the ways in which Art Starts helps to mitigate income inequality through the arts. The first step, according to Liz was to be able to "imagine our ideal world," which is made easier with expression through the arts. Tangible impacts like employment and other income generating opportunities for youth and professional artists provided through our programs have been the catalyst for change amongst the neighbourhoods we work in and beyond. As a recent example Liz highlighted the transformational nature of our bike building program which, upon completion, saw youth gain a sustainable form of transportation and employable skills that could be used to increase opportunity and income.

We were very happy to get the chance to participate in this great town hall event as it is so encouraging for us to gather together with other community organizations in this city and see the real changes and valued conversations around ending income inequality.

New Staff

Art Starts Welcomes Ocheann!

We'd like to officially welcome Ocheann Innis-Greierson to Art Starts in our newly created role of Program Administrator. A down to earth person who enjoys giving people the opportunity to make a difference, she's a recent grad of Social Services at Humber College. With a love of community development she also bring with her experience working in Regent Park, Jane & Finch and Weston Mount Dennis. The minute she came through the doors we knew she would be perfect for the job and look forward to all she will bring to our team!

Event You Should Know About

Official Launch of AVNU!

Formerly Get Schooled - AVNU (pronounded "avenue") is a collaboration of 9 community organizations that are working to transform education through meaningful learning experiences that result in real positive change for young people. The AVNU Collaborative is an alternative, grassroots education hub and are inviting the public to join them for an evening of art, community, ideas, and connection.

March 27th 2014
6pm-8:30pm
@ SKETCH's Hub at the new Artscape Youngplace.

Click here to RSVP!