Art Starts Neighbourhood Cultural Centre

photo courtesy Art Starts

 

Part of my job as Community Investment Manager is working on special projects of the Foundation, one of them being our 2008 symposium on Community Arts, a follow-up to the successful first symposium which took place last year.

We are planning the event in partnership with Art Starts Neighbourhood Cultural Centre, an organization funded through the TAC’s Community Arts Program. I visited Managing Director Tamara Steinberg a few months back to work out some details and I wanted to share with you my impression of the work of this wonderful organization.

As I arrived I was instantly intrigued and excited by the welcoming store-front centre, which looked like a hub of artistic activity. Artwork and art supplies surrounded the combination workshop area and office, and as Tamara spoke about their various programs, I couldn’t help being moved by the incredible work they do. The one particular program which seemed to have never ending ripples of impact on the community in which it took place was the creation of a mosaic on a wall that surrounded a basketball court in the Glendower Park in the Steeles L’Amoreaux neighbourhood. For this particular project, Art Starts worked with facilitating artists (and TAC client) Red Pepper Spectacle Arts to engage and work with residents of all ages and together they conceptualized, designed and handcrafted the beautiful mosaic work, created to be relevant and meaningful to the community.

Participants of the project did not need to have any experience in art-making and were able to contribute in myriad ways. The nature and scope of involvement for this project ranged from active, focused, full time engagement to passers-by stopping momentarily to look at the work and/or comment, and everything in between.

The art making (i.e. coming up with the concept, the design and doing the actual mosaic work) took place during 80 hours of creative workshops. Community members who signed up for the complete series of workshops were actively engaged and keenly committed and many worked tirelessly to design and create their very own personal mosaic as part of the wall. The community came together in an unprecedented way.

This project has engendered feelings of hope, pride, camaraderie, respect, satisfaction and confidence. Young people worked together with seniors and neighbors spoke for the first time. The park is now a place the community is proud of, is used more often, and has become a safer environment.

I asked Tamara to share some comments from the participants:

There were other outcomes resulting from the project that the artists could not predict, including performances during the mosaic unveiling done by Glendower youth and kids; a community organized basketball tournament sponsored by a local doctor; and a plan to purchase new basketball nets and paint the backboards.

We don’t have room in this newsletter to share all of the stories resulting from this transformational project, and I’m sure they are many more inspirational stories about the impact of this invaluable work from all of the Community Arts Artists and Arts Organizations funded through the TAC. In order to ensure that arts programming keeps growing and developing in every corner of our city, the Toronto Arts Council Foundation has developed a program entitled Creative City: Block by Block, which includes the planned symposium.

If you are interested in finding out more about the value of community arts and the Block by Block program, or if you would like to make a donation to this program, please visit www.torontoarts.org/creative_city.htm, or contact me directly at leslie@torontoartscouncil.org

For more information on the wonderful work of Art Starts, please visit their website at www.artstarts.net.

Leslie Francombe, Community Investment Manager,
with assistance from Tamara Steinberg,
Managing Director of Art Starts Neighbourhood Cultural Centre

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