Four young people in front of blue and white walls using a camera to film a short.

How DARC supports Racialized & Queer Youth thanks to the TELUS Friendly Future Foundation®

Funding will help deliver camps, workshops, and programming for youth

Digital Arts Resource Centre (DARC) is excited to announce that TELUS Friendly Future Foundation, and the TELUS Ottawa and Eastern Ontario Community Board,  have donated $15,000 toward DARC’s effort in supporting young artists. DARC is creating a new artistic education program that will allow youth ages 16-29 who identify as newcomers, racialized and/or queer to access workshops and skills-building sessions centered around traditional and experimental digital video art and filmmaking. 

The value of space

“Creating accessible spaces for artists to express themselves is important to DARC’s mission and values of supporting a diverse community of media artists empowered by technology, programming and the exchange of ideas,” said Emily Ramsay, DARC Director. “By creating dedicated spaces and intentional programming that allows young newcomers, racialized and queer youth to create original work, they will not only build tangible skills in the media arts, but also build their networks of like minded peers.” 

The program

This grant will provide up to 30 racialized and queer youth ages 16-29 with free, accessible support to learn skills in digital video art. Through hands-on workshops and training, newcomers, racialized & queer youth under 30 will immerse themselves in a mixture of experiential/hands-on learning opportunities surrounding digital video and media production, fashioning stories through authentic storytelling and creative imagination. 

“Through our partnerships with charities supporting marginalized youth, we understand  challenges young people face, ” said Nimmi Kanji, Executive Director of TELUS Friendly Future Foundation. “We are proud to be able to support the Digital Arts Resource Centre with a grant to help youth build their sense of belonging through art forms such as digital storytelling.”

Learn more

For more information on Digital Arts Resource Centre and its artistic education programs, visit digitalartsresourcecentre.ca. For more information on TELUS Friendly Future Foundation® visit friendlyfuture.com.

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