Arts for Children and Youth

Arts for Children and Youth’s (AFCY) mandate is to engage young people living in priority neighbourhoods in high quality and accessible arts educational programs that are meaningful, relevant and collaboratively developed with community and education partners. AFCY positions arts programs in schools and neighbourhood venues as a means of building community, and empowering marginalized children and youth to reach their full potential as artists and social contributors.

 401 Richmond Street West, Suite 230, Toronto, ON M5V 3A8

 (416) 929-9314

• Local

• They primarily serve children and youth in both the public school system and in the community through community-based programs. (ages 3 – 24)

• Established in: 1995

• It all started back in 1995, when Lola Rasminsky, one of Toronto’s most energetic advocates for arts education, decided that no child should be deprived of the creative acumen that comes with early exposure to quality hands-on arts experiences simply because of financial circumstance. In order to respond to the critical reduction in arts education in the public educational system, and to remedy what she saw as a gap between rich and poor, she founded a charitable organization whose mandate was to offer scholarships to under-resourced children in the GTA, so that they could benefit from the same high quality arts instruction enjoyed by their more well-to-do counterparts. That organization was called Arts for Children of Toronto.

  As the years passed, the little organization grew and grew. It grew in stature, and it gained wisdom as it matured. More than 850 children received arts scholarships through AFC. By 2002, Lola had come to the realization that, by taking the arts instruction into public schools, many more children could share in these experiences. Thus, our Outreach Program was born, and it has continued to grow, now reaching upwards of 8,000 young people each year, and extending into the community with many after-school programs and summer youth employment initiatives. We no longer offer scholarships, having decided to focus on outreach, taking the programs directly to the young people in their schools and communities.

  Our increasing involvement with older kids prompted a name change in 2008, and we are now known as Arts for Children and Youth (AFCY). We have established a Youth Advisory Council, made up of youth who live in the communities we work with, many of them past program participants. These youth are integral to our program planning process; they are our eyes into the world of their peers. They advise us as to what excites young people today, and they create the aesthetic that defines our organization.

  Inasmuch as possible, our programs are youth led. We see our artists as facilitators rather than instructors. Each program is custom-made to fit the community’s wants and needs. We have also worked very hard to link our school and community programs, so that a young participant might experience arts-based learning in both a formal and an informal setting.

  As for recent history, Julie Frost, who has acted as our Artistic Director since the turn of the century, stepped up to take Lola’s place as Executive Director in September 2009. Julie continues to act as Artistic Director as well, ensuring that her artistic vision melds with the organization’s strategic positioning. As we approach our 15th year, it feels as though we are coming of age. With the help of our many partners and donors, we feel that we can truly make a difference in the lives of marginalized young people, giving them the hopefulness that any young person deserves to feel as they venture into adulthood.

video production

photography

music production

live performance

multi media presentations

fine arts

• Our mission is to ally with high priority communities and empower marginalized children and youth by engaging them in hands-on, community- and school-based arts education programs that respect existing cultural and community activity, resulting in participatory action and social awareness.
• Arts for Children and Youth’s (AFCY) mandate is to engage young people living in priority neighbourhoods in high quality and accessible arts educational programs that are meaningful, relevant and collaboratively developed with community and education partners. AFCY positions arts programs in schools and neighbourhood venues as a means of building community, and empowering marginalized children and youth to reach their full potential as artists and social contributors.

• Our goals are focused on:

  1. Engaging marginalized youth in unique arts programs that develop both artistic and personal skills;
  2. Providing meaningful mentorship opportunities that could lead youth to finding gainful employment; and,
  3. Providing children and youth with a venue to develop a stake in their own community.

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AFCY believes that direct participation in the arts provides young people with numerous benefits. Through community and school based arts engagement, children and youth can self-express, develop skills, learn new ways of seeing and doing, and establish new connections with society and with the self. AFCY’s programs are grounded in excellence, skills development, hands-on arts-based learning, mentorship, self-expression, collaboration, inclusiveness and social awareness. AFCY fully recognizes the importance and involvement of young people as program supporters and designers, along with other key community and education partners.

• Each year AFCY offers almost 200 outreach programs to children and youth in Toronto’s priority neighbourhoods. To date, we’ve provided over 40,000 young people from culturally diverse, low-income areas in Toronto with high-quality, innovative arts experiences in visual arts, dance, drama,music, dub poetry, video/film-making, and photography.

• Rather than having the participants travel to our offices, AFCY brings programs directly into the communities via collaborative partnerships with local service agencies, the education system and cultural industries. Today, we reach approximately 8,000 children and youth every year through 97 diverse venues including inner-city schools, community centres, shelters, churches, libraries, hospitals and Toronto Community Housing buildings.

• AFCY’s programs for children and youth fall into 2 categories
  Programs in Schools
  Programs in Community Organizations  

• AFCY also offers Professional Development programs for those who work with children and youth.

• SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY  PROGRAM DETAILS
  1. 1. High quality hands-on workshops conducted by professional artists in Dance, Drama, Dub Poetry, Environmental Art, Film-Making/Video, Integrated Arts, Photography and Visual Arts.
  2. 1. A choice of half-day, full-day and multiple-day workshops.
  3. 1. Programs tailored to children only, or to children with their parent or caregiver. Workshops start at Nursery (age 3) and go through age 24.
  4. 1. Coordination of your workshop including program set-up, materials, scheduling artists and site visits.
  5. 1. Minimal costs (see fees section).
  6. 1. A Professional Development workshop for teachers and community coordinators/educators is available for a minimal fee.

• **Eligibility to apply for workshop series:
  • schools and organizations in low-income areas of the Greater Toronto Area, who have limited arts programming for children, and not-for-profit organizations that service children and youth with financial, social and language barriers. 

• CORPORATE SPONSORS

  

  

  MAJOR SUPPORTERS

  

  

  

  

  PLATINUM SUPPORTERS

  

  GOLD SUPPORTERS

  
  

  

  SILVER SUPPORTERS

  ($5000-$9999)

  Barrday, Inc.
  J.P. Bickell Foundation
  John & Ruth Crow
  Edith A. Hall Friedheim
  Lyndsay Green & Hank Intven
  Margaret McCain
  Nancy McCain
  F.K. Morrow Foundation
  The Delaney Family Foundation
  Tides Canada Foundation

  IN KIND DONATIONS

  

  

  

  

  

  

  ANGELS

  ($1000-$4999)

  Anonymous Donor
  Cindy Blakely
  BMO Employee Charitable Foundation
  Crayola Canada
  Marsha Copp
  Clare Davenport
  Falconer Charney LLP
  Audrey S. Hellyer Charitable Foundation
  Mark Klym
  Hal Jackman Foundation
  Kiwanis Club of Toronto Foundation
  Vicky Loftus
  George Lunan Foundation
  Roots
  Gerald Schwartz
  The Julie-Jiggs Foundation
  Ann Wilson & Robert Prichard
  Winberg Foundation
  Margaret Zeidler

  BENEFACTORS

  ($500-$999)

  Anonymous Donor
  Ann Bondy
  CanadaHelps.org
  Beverley Chernos
  Fireslide Productions Inc.
  Jean Fraser
  Virginia Froman-Wenban
  Brian Frost
  Valerie Hussey Family Fund
  Nicole Jolly
  Aubrey & Koren Kassirer
  Shirley Katz
  Merle Kriss
  John Kromkamp
  Manifesto Community Projects Inc.
  Mastermind Educational Toys
  John McKellar Charitable Foundation
  Kenneth Rotenberg

  PATRONS

  ($250-$499)

  Anonymous Donor
  George D. Anderson
  Jane Darville
  Alison Dyer
  Pam & Richard Earle
  Byron J Garby
  Karen Goldenberg
  Norma Michael
  Janet Neilson
  Serena Richardson
  Nancy Riley
  Howard Sutton
  N. A. Taylor Foundation
  Margaret Wente
  Grace Westcott
  Gordon Willcocks & Ann Allan

  SUPPORTERS

  ($100-$249)

  Anonymous (2)
  Kirby Chown
  Ian Frost
  Janet Frost
  Karen Falconer
  Karen Goldenberg
  Barbara Goldring
  Amanda Immurs
  Bruce Kidd
  Linda Laughlin
  Sandy & Gwen Mackay-Smith
  Rosemary McLeod
  Bonnie Mills
  Janet Morrison
  Cathy Park & Andrew Bishop
  Peggy Pelosi
  Stephen Posen
  Serena Richardson
  Kathryn Russell
  Gordon & Linda Sato
  Fred & Beverly Schaeffer
  Paul & Alma Simonsky
  Melanie Smith
  Howard Sutton
  Martin Wasserman
  Addie & Matt Weinstein
  Margaret Wente
  Rose Wolfe
  Mark Zohar

  FRIENDS

  ($25-$99)

  Anonymous (4)
  V. Bailey
  Jenny Bird
  Izzie & Gloria Boxen
  Susan Brown
  Dr. & Mrs. Paul Druckman
  Ruth Druxerman
  Frances Frisken
  Barbara Frost
  Hayley Goldenberg
  Terry Hershey
  Elizabeth Horton
  Amanda Immurs
  Melanie Kastner
  Kirstin Lane
  A. Norman
  OISE/UT B.Ed. Students
  Susan Pearce
  Susan Stancer
  United Way of Greater Toronto