• Art-making, creativity and art expression bring children, youth, adults and seniors together in community studios that combine arts education, life-skills building, economic development and leadership.
• Community-engaged arts benefit neighbourhoods and individuals by Creating more vibrant neighbourhoods, improving crime prevention, enhancing mental and physical health, contributing to greater success in education and employment, increasing community involvement and engagement, as well as fostering neighbourhood revitalization.

Creating networks and collaborations between community arts projects, programs, organizations and resources with the outcome being positive benefits to Canadian communities.
Origin: 2008 Artbridges/ToileDesArts

ArtBridges contacted 12 sources across ON, NWT, NFLD and the YUKON and advertised the need for a caribou hair-weaving instructor for an Inuit community in Nunavik (Northern Quebec). This community had the funding to fly in an instructor, but couldn’t find anyone, so they wrote to us. Through our connections and assistance, the community found and hired an art instructor from Hay River, NWT.

Students at the University of Ottawa needed to conduct a fundraising event for their studies in Education. One of the groups reached ArtBridges/ToileDesArts and asked what arts organizations/programs/projects worked with at-risk children and youth in the Ottawa area to be a recipient of the event. ArtBridges/ToileDesArts directed them to four groups and shared fundraising event-planning information with them. The benefit raised over $1,000.

RaY, a street-level agency working with homeless youth in Winnipeg, asked ArtBridges/ToileDesArts who to talk with for advice about setting up an arts-based pre-employment program for street-entrenched youth. We led them to : The Murphy Centre for Community Youth Arts in St. John’s, Street Culture Kidz Project in Regina and ArtHeart in Toronto – all agencies that had experience in providing this service.

• The founder of community arts organization Six Ah Wi (a Toronto-based group of African-Canadian emerging artists) called ArtBridges/ToileDesArts and asked for help finding new Board members. ArtBridges/ToileDesArts posted about this need on our network and directed him to other resources that could help.
• Both Parkdale Activity-Recreation Centre (PARC) and 220 OAK Street Potters asked ArtBridges/ToileDesArts for examples of organizational and program policies and procedures in order to adapt them for their arts programs. We sourced a few and provided them with the material.