Hey, the Toronto Sun published a great article about our group...
Why funding the arts doesn’t just cater to the black tie set
By RACHEL SA, TORONTO SUN
rachel.sa@sunmedia.ca Twitter: Rachel_Sa
rachel.sa@sunmedia.ca Twitter: Rachel_Sa
Last Updated: October 23, 2010 9:18pm
There has been little talk about nurturing the arts in Toronto lately, especially in the midst of an election that has focused more on cutting costs and tightening belts than it has on the cultural growth of our city.
But, as Torontonians go to the polls Monday, it is important to look at what deserves to be celebrated and maintained in our city — not just what should be slashed and burned.
A new poll from the Ontario Arts Council released this past week revealed 89% of Ontarians believe that, if their community lost its arts activities, people living there would lose something of value.
Too many people think the arts are the exclusive domain of people who attend black tie galas or high-priced theatre openings. But the arts are accessible — and they make a difference on the ground.
Parkdale Street Writers, an arts group, is doing just that. Making a difference.
It’s a series of free writing workshops that run eight months of the year for Toronto youth ages 16 to 25. Meetings are held weekly at the Parkdale Library.
Award-winning Toronto writer Emily Pohl-Weary created the group in 2008. This week, Parkdale Street Writers kicked off their third full season of writing.
“I grew up five blocks from there,” Pohl-Weary explains. “It’s one of those rough neighbourhoods to grow up in, especially for boys. I feel I had it pretty lucky. I was the girl who would go to the corner and read. But a lot of my friends and my own siblings didn’t come out of it unscathed.”
But, as Torontonians go to the polls Monday, it is important to look at what deserves to be celebrated and maintained in our city — not just what should be slashed and burned.
A new poll from the Ontario Arts Council released this past week revealed 89% of Ontarians believe that, if their community lost its arts activities, people living there would lose something of value.
Too many people think the arts are the exclusive domain of people who attend black tie galas or high-priced theatre openings. But the arts are accessible — and they make a difference on the ground.
Parkdale Street Writers, an arts group, is doing just that. Making a difference.
It’s a series of free writing workshops that run eight months of the year for Toronto youth ages 16 to 25. Meetings are held weekly at the Parkdale Library.
Award-winning Toronto writer Emily Pohl-Weary created the group in 2008. This week, Parkdale Street Writers kicked off their third full season of writing.
“I grew up five blocks from there,” Pohl-Weary explains. “It’s one of those rough neighbourhoods to grow up in, especially for boys. I feel I had it pretty lucky. I was the girl who would go to the corner and read. But a lot of my friends and my own siblings didn’t come out of it unscathed.”
Pohl-Weary, 36, credits a local librarian in her childhood, Rita Cox, for encouraging her to read and write and for creating a place of safety for youth in the area. Dr. Cox is now a citizenship judge.
Pohl-Weary’s determination to offer the same kind of support she received in her community was cemented after a summer of violence struck too close to home.
“Three and a half years ago a friend was a victim,” she says. The 24-year-old man was shot to death by a childhood friend on Christmas Eve. “When this boy was killed, I thought: I can’t make sense of this kind of violence.”
Parkdale Street Writers is not an extension of the classroom. No one marks essays or prowls the aisles with a red pen.
“We don’t do homework,” says Pohl-Weary.
Rupi Natt has been going to Parkdale Street Writers since it first began.
“I was curious to see how it would compare to being in formal class,” says Natt, 21. “It was a lot less pressure. A lot more nurturing for the writing process.”
Writers work on everything from short stories and poetry, to graphic novels, hip-hop lyrics and screenplays. The positive benefits for the young writers are impressive, says Pohl-Weary.
“The main change I see in them is the building up of their confidence,” she says. “They gain the ability to speak their minds. It’s as much about communication and speaking your thoughts, your feelings and, in some cases, you trauma. People come out of their shells.”
Pohl-Weary believes in the power of writing to do so much more than tell a great story. She cites a report that shows recidivism rates of prison inmates drops dramatically when the inmates have access to a writers’ program.
“But this isn’t art therapy,” she says.
It’s a writing workshop. And writing skills, along with the confidence they build, are sorely needed in this society. And that is something worth celebrating, and supporting, in our city.
For more information or to find out when and where to drop in on a workshop, visit parkdalewriters.ca
Pohl-Weary’s determination to offer the same kind of support she received in her community was cemented after a summer of violence struck too close to home.
“Three and a half years ago a friend was a victim,” she says. The 24-year-old man was shot to death by a childhood friend on Christmas Eve. “When this boy was killed, I thought: I can’t make sense of this kind of violence.”
Parkdale Street Writers is not an extension of the classroom. No one marks essays or prowls the aisles with a red pen.
“We don’t do homework,” says Pohl-Weary.
Rupi Natt has been going to Parkdale Street Writers since it first began.
“I was curious to see how it would compare to being in formal class,” says Natt, 21. “It was a lot less pressure. A lot more nurturing for the writing process.”
Writers work on everything from short stories and poetry, to graphic novels, hip-hop lyrics and screenplays. The positive benefits for the young writers are impressive, says Pohl-Weary.
“The main change I see in them is the building up of their confidence,” she says. “They gain the ability to speak their minds. It’s as much about communication and speaking your thoughts, your feelings and, in some cases, you trauma. People come out of their shells.”
Pohl-Weary believes in the power of writing to do so much more than tell a great story. She cites a report that shows recidivism rates of prison inmates drops dramatically when the inmates have access to a writers’ program.
“But this isn’t art therapy,” she says.
It’s a writing workshop. And writing skills, along with the confidence they build, are sorely needed in this society. And that is something worth celebrating, and supporting, in our city.
For more information or to find out when and where to drop in on a workshop, visit parkdalewriters.ca
Wow, amazing the Sun would print something so pro arts when they backed the apsolute figure of cutting spending on everything, Rob Ford for the election. (I'm just a little bitter...)
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