Arts & Culture Winners

Lakeshore Arts

Winner – Community (Group)

Community building by engaging residents young and old to participate in the arts.

Youth programs, art on wheels, comic book workshops, a summer arts and culture camp, an annual juried art exhibit. Lakeshore Arts does it all.

“For us, community art is more about engagement. We want people to be participants. That’s a shift in philosophy for Lakeshore Arts,” said executive director Susan Nagy.

Art on the Move, a partnership with Arts Etobicoke, will ultimately turn 15 selected vehicles into moving canvases of art, including a 32-foot sailboat this month at the National Yacht Club.

“Through the Eyes of the Artist,” Lakeshore Arts’ 17th annual juried exhibition ran through June 15 at the Assembly Hall.

The not-for-profit receives Ontario Arts Council and City of Toronto culture funding for operating costs, but funds all its projects and programs through sponsorships, individual donations and fundraising.

Newly launched, 1000 Acts of Arts challenges residents to engage with Etobicoke’s arts community by committing an act of art, whether a mural, photography or making jewelry and register their work on the project website, which also boasts an artist directory.

To date, 115 acts of art are registered.

“The local arts community thrives when artists are hired to run workshops and share knowledge of what they do best. An individual’s life is touched when they learn a new creative skill...By creating opportunities for everyone, regardless of age or background, the whole community is enriched,” said Megan Leonard, who nominated Lakeshore Arts for an Urban Hero Award.

“Art can be a catalyst for change, create economic prosperity,” Nagy said. “It’s really important to us to engage the community of all ages in projects.”

Elisabeth Gibson

Winner – Community (Individual)

Bold colours portray a kaleidoscope of hopes, dreams and memories.

Homeless men and women descend on the basement of All Saints’ Kingsway Anglican Church from November through April to participate in a Toronto Out of the Cold program.

Some eagerly grab a paintbrush, felt pen or coloured pencil — and express themselves.

“The work that started coming was amazing,” said parish member and artist Elisabeth Gibson, who leads the art program and annual sale. “Right from the beginning, it had a vibrancy about it that didn’t speak to poverty and degradation and homelessness and abuses and alcoholism. They were colourful paintings, exciting things.”

Artwork sells for $25 each during the annual All Saints’ Out of the Cold Art Show, usually held the last weekend in March. Proceeds go to the homeless artists.

Garry Elder’s painting of a dove flying over the world became a gift to the visiting Anglican Church archbishop. Elder received “a much more handsome fee” when the prelate’s office requested the image for his Christmas card.

“I can’t tell you what that did for Garry,” she said of the quiet, well-dressed man.

“It gave him so much more confidence. He knew then he was good. People of international fame knew he’s good.”
One man drew a pencil drawing of a woman, tears streaming down her face. His last memory of his wife before she died.

“This is art from the heart and each individual benefits in different ways from the studio — it’s an opportunity to reach for the beauty from within, to express themselves and to remember places and times in their lives. There is a pride in creating beauty,” wrote her nominator in the Urban Hero Award submission.

“It has changed people’s lives, including mine,” Gibson said of the program, now in its 13th year.
“I’m so excited about what they do. It has made my life really worthwhile.”