Art Truth by Youth

Vital Stats

Heather P

people helped16
People Doing It 4

The Problem

Abbotsford is one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in Canada. In fact, the population has increased 126% since 1981. It also has the largest population of kids under the age of 15 compared to all of Canada. A fast growing area like Abbotsford needs stable youth organizations to help support and nurture the growing young population. However, unlike most large cities and metropolitan areas, Abbotsford does not have a YMCA or other large youth-based organization. Along with the rapid growth, Abbotsford has many other challenges to contend with, including gang violence, high crime rates, cultural diversity, and isolation among marginalized populations and lack of affordable housing, among others. In a community with such significant issues, a strong, supportive youth program is imperative. Art Truth by Youth will provide this support.

Plan of Action

Art Truth by Youth will support youth by giving them the technical skills to design a thought-provoking arts or media project to create meaningful dialogue around a social issue. I have met with the youth to discover what it is they are interested in, as the focus of the program is youth driven. I did extensive background research, contacting and meeting with all four of Abbotsford's Youth Organizations, as well as city councillors, the Abbotsford Mayor, the RCMP, Abbotsford Restorative Justice, and the Fraser Valley Environmental Conservancy. These groups identified the arts as a major gap in youth services. The youth of Abbotsford addressed an interest in documentary and film making. From here a program coordinator was attained, Jay Peachy, a visual artist in Vancouver. He has his own radio station, CJSF 90.1FM , as well as ties to ShawTV, both of which the youth will have the opportunity to showcase their work through. The program will launch in September, with biweekly workshops teaching youth to create and edit film. The youth will create film projects on issues relevant to them. Community relationships have been forged to enable this, the youth are very interested in environmental issues, and the Fraser Valley Conservancy will provide them with content around these issues. At the end of the program a showcase will be held, forging further community connections and exposing a mainly youth audience to the projects that have been created. Throughout the year the youth will have the opportunity to submit their projects to film festivals. The end dream for the project is that the youth have attained skills that will make them employable in the future. The Art Truth by Youth model is working to be able to be reproducible, so that further expansion to other cities in the future will be possible.