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The Arts for Social Justice (ASJ) program is a three-year initiative that aims to promote the arts as catalysts to tackle social issues in society. It does this through high school workshops and emerging artists residencies. Here is an artist’s experience working on an ASJ project.
My name is Allison Beula, I am a director and choreographer, and I specialize in teaching dance and drama to youth. My work with VIBE and the Arts for Social Justice program has been incredibly rewarding, and frankly, enlightening. To be frank, I was very intimidated when I first heard about the concept, what if it was too difficult? Would students want to participate in such a weighted and serious concept? How would we be able to use art to express such serious issues in a school and youth setting? All fears were eliminated for me from the very first session I had. Having worked with multiple different groups, large, small, older, younger, I was constantly amazed by the perspective of opinions from the students, and how no project was even remotely like any other, but all were able to truly embody the idea of spreading a message, making an issue known, through art. One group, a small one, all students who were identified with special educational needs, did a group project where each one picked something important to them to speak about and make their voice heard on, then we did a group protest march, choreographed, with a unison chant, and individual “picket signs” which highlighted their chosen issue. This was successful on so many counts, it allowed each student to have an individual artistic component, a personal issue that they were passionate about, but it also allowed them to share that opinion and issue with one another, culminating in a group piece that united them all as one. What an amazing project to be a part of, I was honoured to witness it. Other projects had older students delve into a deeper side of many of the issues, more intricate questions and thoughts about how a work of art, be it visual, physical, or both, can truly make someone think, feel, experience. Seeing students faces light up with the “a ha!” moment when they realized that they created something that wasn’t a paper, wasn’t a speech, but was as effective as, if not more than, through art, to make their voice heard. No only did the student get to experience this power via art for themselves in terms of their own topic and issue choice, but sharing those pieces and projects with one another allowed so many more topics and issues and ideas and feelings to be shared and discussed through one another. This is one of the most successful, creative, and powerful project I have ever been a part of, and I am thrilled with the results.
Funded by:
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