Do you have any art supplies lying around your house? This is the perfect chance to clean out your craft drawer while contributing to an excellent cause. Two grade twelve students, Katherine Ericksson and Catherine Fawzy, are organizing an art supply drive. From now until Thursday, December 5th, students will have the opportunity to donate craft supplies for homeless adolescents in Toronto… and there is a prize!
The drive stemmed from the IB requirement of a CAS project. Fawzy explains that after realizing how harmful Doug Ford’s cuts were to art education, she and Ericksson wanted to relieve those impacted. They came up with an initiative to provide art supplies to homeless youth in Toronto.
When conceptualizing the project, Ericksson thought back to books she read in English class published by the organization SKETCH, a community arts enterprise, based in Toronto. SKETCH aims to engage homeless and impoverished youth in the arts. The group believes “if young people create and develop in the arts, they will lead radical art to transform lives and communities.”
Both Ericksson and Fawzy are heavily involved in the arts community at our school. The two have served as stage managers for past Theatre Aquinas productions and are passionate about arts education.
They put much planning into the drive. First, the two spoke with their former IB coordinator Ms. Leggat, then with Ms. Agbonwaneten, and finally with Art Council’s executives to organize their coordonation with this year’s Coffee House event. Instead of paying for a ticket, attendees of Coffee House could provide an art supply for free admittance into the show.
The pair are looking for new or gently used art supplies to be donated. Particularly, sketchbooks; markers; oil, acrylic, and watercolour paints; and gift certificates to craft supply stores. They are also accepting canned goods. Students should bring these donations to their period five class. The class with the most donations will win a pizza party!
The two have not set a concrete goal, but are hoping every class in the school contributes. They say students should donate to “show that they care” and to “keep arts education alive.”