Why YoungStarters?

By providing young people with the right tools, support and knowledge, YoungStarters activates young people's creativities while providing them with lasting, relevant skills and experiences. By focusing on community based projects, YoungStarters aims to engage the community through youth-led collaborations exploring diverse art forms.

YoungStarters 2015

YoungStarters 2015 was a free arts mentorship program that invited teens in the foster care system to take the lead in individual art based projects. Nine teens gathered at the ArtStarts LAB over the course of seven days to explore creativity, different art practices (visual arts, writing and performance) and what it means to be a part of a community.

We engaged local artists to facilitate exploratory workshops. Marisa Pahl taught 10 different painting techniques, while the Writer's Exchange introduced narrative creation through photography and various writing styles. And finally, Dia Davina provided an opportunity to build confidence through performance and slam poetry.

Working through the creative process, each teen was asked to consider their everyday lives and what they wanted to communicate through their art form. They were provided with the resources and support from four mentors, each offering specific skills, experiences and perspectives.

Over the course of four studio days, the teens individually worked on art projects, while re-grouping periodically to talk about their creative process. Each of the teens also had the opportunity to prepare meals for one another to further develop life skills while communing together to build and nurture their community.

Start, an exhibition of their artwork, was featured on the second floor of the ArtStarts Gallery in Vancouver.

Read about YoungStarters on The Tyee

Project Partners

This project was made possible in partnership with the Vancouver Foundation's Fostering Change initiative. We would also like to acknowledge and thank the amazing community organizations and businesses that supported this project:

• Plea Community Services
• Opus Art Supplies
• The Window Community Art Shop
• Vancouver Art Gallery
• Aunt Leah's Place
• Adoptive Families Association of BC
• Broadway Youth Resource Centre
• Federation of BC Youth in Care Networks
• LOVE (Leave Out Violence)
• Spirit of the Children
• South Vancouver Youth Centre
• Urban Native Youth Association
• Lu'ma Native Housing Society (Aboriginal Youth Mentorship and Housing Program)

YoungStarters 2013

The first cohort of YoungStarters collaborated from July 27 to August 31, 2013. Read about their adventures:

• Day 1: YoungStarters Launch into Action
• Day 2: Meeting Mentors and Making Plans
• Day 3: Vancouver Shapes Me By...
• Day 4: Paint onto walls!
• Day 5: Party Time!

Building Community

Here's a look at how YoungStarters 2013 unfolded and what impact it had on the young artists and their community: