It is with great nostalgia that I am sharing with the ArtBridges/ToileDesArts community that I will be moving on from my francophone community arts outreach position. The past 2 years have been the BEST. I was fortunate to have this amazing opportunity to work with this team, to study the field and also to contribute directly to the growth and the sustainability of our community. It is to me also really important that hip-hop culture has a voice in this realm and I am very grateful that I was able to bring more hip-hop initiatives to the conversation here as AB.

I can honestly say that I was born to support and contribute the community arts or social change world, my work with ArtBridges often felt like a confirmation that I have found my purpose. All our partners’ works, missions & accomplishments are incredibly inspiring to me. I am in constant admiration of the work that is being done through community-engaged arts. I have met passionate, driven, extremely talented and knowledgeable artists and activist through this work. All of you had a huge impact on me.

I am fortunate to also work with UNITY (full-time!) as the community programs coordinator and be directly involved in the process of creating more safe spaces for young people to express through hip-hop culture in Toronto and in the GTA. Programming appears to be a huge passion for me and I will be exploring this avenue more thoroughly at UNITY. I am moving away from my role at ArtBridges to be more involved in community arts for social change programming.

My work at AB taught me so much and I am forever grateful to have worked with this amazing team. Our purpose, mission and work are so important and I truly feel that we have a lot to offer. I will forever represent ArtBridges and the work that we do everywhere I go. I am not going far and can always be reached if I can be of any help!

This is not a goodbye but a see you soon!

Sincerely,

Catherine Turcotte

catherineturcotte@artbridges.ca

Francophone Community Arts Outreach Coordinator