May 1st

Youth Week Opening Showcase

Grounded
A celebration of young peoples creative efforts to find balance, build community, and express hope.

WhipperSnapper Gallery
587A College Street, Toronto.
May 1st 7:30pm – 12:30am

Exhibition Runs: May 1- 6

Host: YAN

On Friday May 1st Youth Week 2009 kicks off with a jaw-dropping showcase of socially reflective artworks and politicized performances by young people. + We will be celebrating the release of the newest issue Youth Action Forum Magazine. Join us between 7:30pm- 12:30am at WhipperSnapper Gallery for Grounded.

The host of the evening will be Kaynose of Two Left (http://www.myspace.com/twoleft)

Performances by:

• YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN - Asian Diasporic psychedelic noh-wave opera
• Kamau – Hip-hop / poetry
• The Voyce – Hip-Hop
• rAiz’n ensemble - defin8: the next movement – Theater/ Movement
• rCurrentz - celebr8 full figure - Performance
• Kim Crosby - Theater

Artwork by: Alice Zilberg, sprOUT, Patrick Struys, Alisa Iris, Victor Manzo Meneses, Rosa Mindreau, The PhotoVoice Project, Elenor Simmons, Devin Wells, Matthew Hood, Robert Conali, LOFT Musik, Rachel Wilmshurst, Rita Smith, Caroline Mousseau, Nadia Alam, Amy Ball, Stephanie Bokenfohr, Katerina Lagasse, Brianna Oversby + more.

+ Neighbourhood1 Roundup Launch
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May 1st

Three Dollars an Hour
Friday May 1, 7:30pm, 2009
AnitAFRIKA! dub theatre - 62 Fraser Ave.

Host: Asian Arts Freedom School/Mayworks

“featuring performances by the Asian Arts Freedom School, zameen shadbad, photo exhibit by Elvina Rafi, and the launch of Freedom School’s Anthology of radical Asian writing. Toronto’s Asian Arts Freedom School tears it up with radical Asian words of resistance, poetry, music, bollywood burlesque and beauty to feed the soul. This troupe of performers dig deep into their histories, as youth of varying origins, who are living and working in Toronto. Constantly emerging and re-emerging, Freedom Schoolers take up issues head on in a world where immigrants, people of colour and Asians are still a commodity to this country’s labour force and economy.”

Asian Arts Freedom School: The Asian Arts Freedom School is an art-based radical Asian history and activism program for Asian/Pacific Islander youth in the Greater Toronto Area. Asian = South Asian, West Asian (a.k.a. Arab or Middle-Eastern), Southeast Asian, East Asian, and Central Asian. Freedom Schoolers are youth and mixed-race, adoptee, suburban, hood… just got here or have been here since the 1800’s! They are Asian from the Philippines to Palestine, North China to Sri Lanka, and Trinidad to Tibet. We cover various artforms including writing, spoken word, music, visual arts, film, movement, and theatre.

Website: www.myspace.com/asianartsfreedomschool
www.youtube.com/radicalasians

Email: asianartsfreedomschool@gmail.com

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Contact @ Funktion Gallery
May 1st 2009, 6pm to 11pm
1244 Bloor St. West

This Contact Photography show takes a look at Toronto Graffiti from the early 90’s to the present. photographs, canvases and historical images taken by 2 underground travelling photographers. content features Toronto Writers both old school And new school, aswell as urban landscapes.

Funktion Gallery: Funktion gallery is a creative collective located in the bloorsdale area. an arts oriented space for local youths to expand and hone their creative skills.

Website: www.funktiongallery.com

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May 2nd

No One Is Illegal! - May Day of Action
Rally and March | 2 May - 1pm
Meet: Sherbourne and Carlton

Host: No one is Illegal

On April 2nd and 3rd, over 100 temporary and undocumented workers were attacked by armed border guards, dragged in to detention and are now being forcibly deported. On 2 May, thousands of us will say Enough!

Migrants, poor and working people; undocumented people and people of colour live in constant crisis in Canada, attacked daily. A crisis has always existed in Teesdale, in Regent Park, in farm fields, on factory floors and in hotel service areas.

Corporate and political elites are using the current ‘Economic Crisis’ as an excuse to attack poor, working-class and racialized communities by increasing immigration enforcement; stealing public funds; wrecking social services; taking away people’s jobs rather than cutting profits and targeting those they perceive as the weakest - indigenous people; the homeless; refugee claimants; women in shelters; queer and trans migrants, caregivers; factory workers and temporary workers.

No One is Illegal: No One Is Illegal (Toronto) is a group of immigrants, refugees and allies who fight for the rights of all migrants to live with dignity and respect. We believe that granting citizenship to a privileged few is part of a racist immigration and border policies designed to exploit and marginalize migrants. We work to oppose these policies, as well as the international economic policies that create the conditions of poverty and war that force migration. At the same time, it is part of our ongoing work to support and build alliances with Indigenous peoples in their fight against colonialism, displacement and the ongoing occupation of their land.

Website: http://toronto.nooneisillegal.org/

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May 2nd

LOFT Jam/Pena
Saturday May 2nd, 2009
854 Bloor St. West, Toronto, Ont. M6G 1M2

Starting at 8pm, the night will be made up of live performances by local artists.

Host: LOFT Musik

LOFT Musik: Working out of the basement of the Christie Ossington Neighborhood Centre (a United Way agency at 854 Bloor St West), youth have been recording, producing and mixing their music at our Sound Studio. The youth program is known as the LOFT, which stands for Life, Opportunities, Food and Technology. Our goal is to empower marginalized youth by giving them free access to a sound studio and allowing them to produce music that is positive and represents their vision for change in the city of Toronto. Our event will be the release party for our album.

Contact; loftmusica@gmail.com

Website: http://www.myspace.com/loftmusik

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May 2nd-5th

Full Exposure 2009
Youth Action Network -176 John Street, Suite #307
Saturday May 2 10am - 5:30 pm
Sunday May 3 10am - 5:30pm
Tuesday May 5 5:00pm - 8pm

Description of the event:
(Please note that you must register to attend this event)
Full Exposure 2009 is a FREE 3 day long digital photography workshop for youth who are interested in learning how to use documentary photography skills as advocacy tools. Participants will learn digital photography, audio interviewing, curation and advocacy skills. They will also be given the opportunity to produce photographs, audio recorded testimonies and written materials that will be incorporated into a public exhibition. This workshop will focus its attention specifically on the role that class identities and socio-economic conditions have on education. Included in the workshop are: TTC transportation costs, snacks, meals and beverages, the opportunity to borrow digital equipment and digital copies of the work that will be produced. To learn more about the workshop go to: http://fullexposure2009.wordpress.com/

If you would like to participate, contact us at: fullexposure2009@gmail.com.
SPACE IS LIMITED

Sponsored and hosted by Youth Action Network.
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May 3rd

Whippersnapper Conversation # 1
“Making it happen” - Building Youth-Run Urban Arts Organizations
(Pre-registration required)
Sunday May 3th, 2009. 1:00pm- 6:30pm
Whippersnapper Gallery
587A College Street, Toronto, ON.
Host: WhipperSnapper Gallery, YAN

The Whippersnapper Conversations of Youth Week 2009, is an all day unique and exciting mentoring workshop for youth aged 16-20. On May 3rd five of Toronto’s most successful and cutting edge young artists and community organizers will spill the beans on why and how they built their organizations and established themselves as key players in Toronto’s exploding and vibrant cultural scene. Youth participants will have the chance to hear these stories first hand, and work collaboratively with these Youth Mentors to develop concrete and realistic game plans for making their own dream projects a reality.

Whippersnapper Gallery is a Toronto based youth art collective, and a hub for young talent. As an up and coming not-for-profit organization, Whippersnapper provides artists with an affordable space to showcase their work in a professional gallery setting.

The Whippersnapper Conversations are being made possible through the support of the Toronto Arts Council

Here’s a sneak peak at three of the Youth Mentors:

Che Kothari – The Manifesto Festival
Amanda Sissons – Freedom Clothing Collective and Store
Luke Correia - Damude – WhipperSnapper Gallery
Kehinde Bah - The Remix Project

You can register yourself for the event here: registration form

You can register a group of youth (maximum 4 here): group registration form

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May 4th

Empower: Youth, Arts and HIV/AIDS Activist
Monday May 4th, 2009. 6:00-8:00pm
Location: Whippersnapper Gallery
587A College Street, Toronto, ON.

 

Host: Youth Action Network (YAN), Gendering Adolescent AIDS Prevention (GAAP)

Join a talented team of young HIV/AIDS activists to talk about their work, and the publication of an upcoming HIV/AIDS youth arts activism manual (Empower: Youth, Acts and Activism. Launch date: September 2009). This interactive workshops will include a networking/sharing component, opportunities for feedback on the manual, as well as discussions around an upcoming youth symposium in Sept 2009. This symposium will launch the manual as well as provide space for youth HIV/AIDS arts activists to talk about and exhibit their work, as well as collaborate with other community organizations, activists, and community members. While this event is structured around an upcoming publication, we welcome the feedback and participation of community members.

GAAP: Gendering Adolescent AIDS Prevention (GAAP) is a team of researchers (faculty, undergraduate and graduate students) working in several research sites and interested in participatory approaches to working with young people in relation to sexuality, HIV prevention and AIDS awareness. In our work we have a number of projects and research studies. The overall goal of this work is to develop gender-based analyses of HIV/AIDS that can be used in prevention programs with youth.

Website: http://www.utoronto.ca/iwsgs/GAAP/index.html

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May 4th

rock.paper.sistahz launch
May 4, 2009, 5pm - 7pm
Wychwood Arts Barns. 601 Christie Street

HOST: rAiz’n of bCurrent
rock.paper.sistahz festival launches with performances from our youth groups made up of emerging performing artists and creator of colour, the rAiz’n ensemble and rCurrentz, presenting their original work. The rAiz’n ensemble will present an excerpt from their work defin8: the next movement and rCurrentz will present an excerpt from their work, celebr8 full figure.

About the Production Company: b current is a registered charity which operates as a small not-for-profit arts company based in the heart of Toronto/Canada. We present and support performance works coming out of the Canadian and International Black Diasporic Communities. The company was created eighteen years ago as part of the independent work of Artistic Director, ahdri zhina mandiela – an award winning and celebrated performance artist, writer, and director. Under mandiela’s leadership b current has nurtured the talents of many fresh and successful performers in the company’s rAiz’n the sun Training Program. Our past participants/alumnae include:
v dbi.young.anitafrika (Dora Award and RBC Youth Artist Award winner)
v Weyni Mengesha (Harry Jerome Award and RBC Youth Artist Award winning director)
v Trey Anthony & Ngozi Paul (producers of the hit TV series ‘da Kink in My Hair)

Website: http://www.bcurrent.ca

Contact: outreach@bcurrent.ca

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May 5th

BCBF Town Hall
(Beautiful City Billboard Free campaign)
Tues May 5, 2009 - 6:30-9 pm
Toronto City Hall 100 Queen Street West - Committee Rm 2

As part of International Youth Week you are invited to the BCBF Town Hall.

Come find out how you can be a part of historical change in the city. With a focus on how to implement a charge on billboards for public art, topics also include policy recommendations for the city defining enforcement of graffiti art. Suggest possible agenda items concerning public space, youth and art for consideration at the facebook event page (search for: Beautifulcity.ca’) or go to: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=70651528738&ref=ts

Sign the petition and learn more at beautifulcity.ca

Hosts: Manifesto Community Projects, the Toronto Youth Cabinet, Youth Action Network, CYAN and the BCBF (Beautiful City Billboard Fee) Alliance.

The BCBF: The BCBF (Beautiful City Billboard Fee) proposal entails holding billboard advertisers accountable for their impact on public space via a charge (tax or fee – to be determined by staff), with revenues dedicated to art in the public sphere. The BCBF Alliance strongly supports both enforcement of billboard advertising and the beneficial use of revenues for funding marginalized communities and youth art.

Website: http://www.beautifulcity.ca/bcbfpetition.asp

Contact: bcbf@them.ca

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May 5th

GIRL POWER
Scadding Court Community Centre
707 Dundas St. West - Room 4
When: Tuesday May 5th from 4:00pm - 6:00pm

Organizers: the students and staff of the Scadding Court Community Center Girls Club, and Ryerson Community Public School

Youth and staff from the Scadding Court Community Center Girls Club and Ryerson Community Public School have created an art display featuring mural art/graffiti art and photography on the theme of empowering young women. Our display expresses our pride in being strong, independent young women, as well as our concerns about sexism and stereotypes. During the event, all pieces of art will be displayed for participants to enjoy. This will also be a time for us to celebrate our work as young women our community.

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May 6th

SmART stART Student Art Show
May 2nd - May 9th, 2009
Reception - Wednesday, May 6, 2009 from 7-9pm
Sherway Gardens Mall – 25 the West Mall, Etobicoke

Host: Arts Etobicoke

100 high school students from 20 highschools across the GTA participate in the smART stART Student Art Show. Now in its 13th year, this successful and popular program is designed to encourage student participation and excellence in visual arts. In addition to having their work displayed publicly, students have the opportunity to meet with professional artists who provide instructive critiques. The public will also have the chance to vote for their favourite piece of art in the Peoples Choice Awards. The schools of five winners will receive $200 to be put toward their visual arts program. Arts Etobicoke’s Student Art Show is designed to promote and encourage student participation and excellence in the broad spectrum of the arts. It is open to students in Grade 9 through 12 currently attending Metro Toronto secondary schools within the Toronto District School Board and the Toronto Catholic District School Board.

Arts Etobicoke: Now in its 35th year, Arts Etobicoke is a not-for-profit arts council governed by a volunteer Board of Directors. Our mission is to engage the people of West Toronto with the arts and artists in their own community. We provide programs and services to increase the accessibility of arts, involve diverse audiences, create broad awareness of artists through advocacy and develop partnerships to sustain local arts activities. Arts Etobicoke serves 100s of students in our arts education and scholarship programs. We provide opportunities for youth to develop their own creative skills and talents through programing such as urbanNOISE (an urban arts training program and festival for at-risk youth in Rexdale) and the smART stART Student Art show.

Website: www.artsetobicoke.com

Contact: Alisha Linseman - alisha@artsetobicoke.com, 416.622.8731

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May 7th

TRUESAY Workshop
Toronto’s Response to an Uncertain Economy
Specifically Advantaging Youth

Metro Hall - 55 John Street - 6pm.

Host: TYC (Toronto Youth Cabinet)

The youth-led TRUESAY workshops empower people of all ages to achieve their goals through education, goal setting and planning

TRUESAY is comprised of 3 components:

1. An opportunity for any person to learn easy personal finance, establish clear goals and take home a personal budgeting strategy (built by the participant themselves and structured to achieve their own objectives).

2. A chance for any youth to become a facilitator of TRUESAY and learn the skills required to lead others to financial independence.

3. A link to a wide variety of opportunities in the Greater Toronto Area including employment services, education, financial advisors, business startups and networking opportunities with organizations focused on developing the people of Toronto.

Do not wait for high levels of government to solve your problems! Take action! Your future is now!

Contact: Andrew McNab at amcnab5@gmail.com,

Hotline: Call the TRUESAY hotline at 416-273-5312

Website: www.thetyc.ca

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May 7th

Free Breakdancing Workshop with Lady Noyze
Thursday May 7th, 4:00pm-5:30pm
Oakwood Village Library and Arts Centre, 341 Oakwood Ave (at rogers rd)

Host: Art Starts

Drop In break dancing Workshops with Toronto’s own B-girl Lady Noyze.
Learn a variety of break dancing moves and participate in a real cypher. Beginners welcome!
“Hip Hop is often misrepresented by media, and thus, is often pigeon holed by society solely as “gangster rap”. Hip Hop is in fact its own subculture. It is a way of life that reinforces respect, the development of confidence and originality. These qualities set the foundation of our cultural dance known as “break dancing”. ” (Taken from Lady Noyze’s Artist Statement)

Art Starts: Art Starts is an arts-based community development organization operating in the City of Toronto. Our mandate is to build healthier communities using the arts. At Art Starts we understand that the arts are a medium for engaging residents, creating a shared sense of identity, identifying challenges and collectively working to overcome them. We offer high quality, responsive and relevant creative opportunities to those who do not have access – namely people living in under-served and stressed communities. We bring together professional artists with people from various neighborhoods and create projects and programs in all artistic media, with all ages, with artists and participants from various ethnic backgrounds. We reflect the cultures of the neighborhood and build bridges among them. We also function as an advocacy and referral organization for the artists with whom we work. Though we provide programming for all age groups, the bulk of our programs engage children and youth.

Website: http://www.artstarts.net/

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May 8th

Friday May 8th, 2009 at 7:30 pm
The Manifesto Studio (358 Dufferin Street - Suite 104, just South of Queen)

Keeping with Youth Week’s theme of engagement in social justice issues through the arts, ReelChange is a showcase of films by young artists engaging in a creative form of activism. Meant to encourage aspiring filmmakers, ReelChange is also a chance for those who have participated in our city’s abundance of youth-film-making programs/workshops or schools, and self-starters to unite in one event as a community.
–>now with submissions from Vancouver and Montreal<–
—>enjoy music by @J_Lab throughout the night<—

FREE and open to all.

Coordinated By: Chris Di Staulo & Jessica Denyer, Youth Action Network
Contact: reelchangeyouth@gmail.com

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May 8th

Concrete Dismissal
*OPENING: May 8th (5-8pm)
Ongoing event running: May 8th-June 7th (photo exhibit)

Address: 580 King St. W 2nd floor, Toronto, M5V 1M3 - 2nd floor

Host: SKETCH

Concrete Dismissal exposes the lives of people in the Dominican Republic displaced by their government to a barrio known as Hainamosa to make room for an oversize concrete shrine. The exhibit reveals the continued consequence of colonialism and appalling urban planning. What makes this story unique is the soul and spirit of the children who now inhibit the Hainamosa complex. Their dissent love for their island is what shines through in the photographs.

*All the proceeds from the sales of the photographs will be donated to an
education fund for these children.

Sketch artists will be performing a free show & some Sketch art will be for sale @ this amazing event!!

*PLEASE JOIN US ON THIS DYNAMIC EVENING FOR A NIGHT FULL OF CREATIVE YOUTH INITIATIVES IN OUR UNIQUE SPACE!

Host: Sketch is a community arts development initiative based in Toronto that works to engage youth at risk through the celebration of unique stories and perspectives. Sketch recognizes these individuals and their stories as key contributors to overall culture. At Sketch, we Love to make things, live in the moment, overcome our struggles, influence others, build community and affect social change.

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May 9th

Hey Bear Woah Bear!!!
Freedom Clothing - 939 Bloor Street West
Saturday May 9th - 7:30pm

Spring is here and so to celebration Freedom Clothing collective is hosting the first session of our intimate in-store summer music and art series. Atop clothing racks and sock drawers, emerging singer-song-writer Tim Moxam of Hey Bear, Whoa Bear will debut his new socially reflective album fresh off the press. Electro smoothie David Ace Dean will also be on site, so this is a little show you should not miss. Finally, visual artist Joshua Barndt will be exhibiting a series of unsettling paintings and drawings about the collapse of our out of control society. We hope to see you there!!!