The team at the Digital Arts Resource Centre (DARC, formerly SAW Video) is celebrating a $55,000 Resilient Communities grant from the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF). This grant will enable DARC to enhance its programming and create accessible media arts programs.
On March 15th, Amanda Jackson and Gary Thomas joined us for the screening of the final projects of our Digital Arts Camp for Youth participants and to celebrate the receipt of the Resilient Communities grant.
Initially awarded in May 2023, the OTF grant has allowed us to explore better integrating hybrid and virtual learning in the media arts, audit accessibility needs, and improve our services for youth, equity-deserving groups, and rural communities. As we look forward to a post-pandemic world, we understand the importance of accessible education in media arts. We are committed to using the funds from this grant to scale up our programming efforts to achieve this goal.
“This funding comes at a very important time,” said Emily Ramsay, DARC Executive Director. “Arts and culture organizations in Ontario are still recovering from the pandemic, and this will allow DARC to audit our existing programming through community consultations and examine the feasibility of an expanded media arts education program at DARC that will support equity-deserving youth.”
“DARC will be able to plan and map out our future while considering holistic access of our members and build a curriculum of professional development opportunities that directly supports young media artists,” Ramsay said.
We are grateful for the continued support of the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Trillium Foundation and their dedication to fostering young, talented media artists in our community.