Are you a professional Artist, Artisan or Arts organization with experience facilitating in-person &/or virtual, interactive arts & culture activities for children, youth, adults, and/or seniors? 

The English Language Arts Network’s ArtistsInspire.ca website currently features almost 100 Quebec Artists who are qualified to work with teachers and students in English public schools using our $1500 micro-grants.

As we expect at least the remainder of 2020 to require ongoing vigilance in social distancing, we are now inviting Artists who specialize in facilitating creative experiences for Adults & Seniors virtually and in-person to also be profiled on our user-friendly, searchable site.

ArtistsInspire is looking for artists to facilitate on-line creative experiences for all ages.

Since the coronavirus pandemic was declared in March 2020, we pivoted the ArtistsInspire program on-line, enabling artists, teachers, and participants from toddlers to seniors to connect with their creativity through on-line artist-facilitated experiences.

From the artist perspective, visual artist Jessica Houston says, “I loved being involved in the Message in a Bottle workshop! It stretched my creativity, and it was a wonderful way to connect with people across generations. It was a lovely example of the ways art can inspire us to notice our surroundings and communicate with others” with “an image, words, sounds coming from our distinct spaces.” On facilitating Writing a Protest Song, musician and former ELAN board member Rob Lutes says, “the ArtEd Zoom workshops have given me real hope about using digital technologies to work with young songwriters.”

Participants are giving overwhelmingly positive feedback. A parent and child in Deirdre Potash’s Doodle Challenge say, “Thank you for bringing something constant, joyful and meaningful into our home during this otherwise difficult time. It really has been something we look forward to.” A participant in Deanna Smith and Jason Selman’s Spoken Word say the workshop “helped me explore isolation, fear, hope and connection in a way I didn’t expect. I’m very grateful for Deanna and Jason’s presence, workshop and words of encouragement.” According to a participant in four ArtistsInspire workshops, “I can’t say this enough. ELAN does an amazing job based on my experience with your workshops and from the school projects that I saw on your website. It has been a wonderful experience and I hope it can continue. Thank you for everything!”

With more community and non-profit organizations looking for ways to connect with the people they serve from the young to young at heart, we decided in June to expand ArtistsInspire to profile Artists who can work with any age group.

How will Artists benefit by joining ArtistsInspire?  

ELAN’s ArtEd Team cares about Artists.  We get to know you and we offer professional development, support and coaching to help you promote yourself and develop your skills.  We provide opportunities for Artists to connect with and learn from each other.

Who qualifies?  Artists profiled on our site:

  • identify as members of the English-speaking Communities of Quebec, representing the diversity of the province’s demographics, regions and cultural communities;
  • are practicing professional artists & artisans from all artistic disciplines and specialties;
  • qualify to work with schools if they already have experience as facilitators of hands-on creative experiences with students and teachers in elementary and/or secondary schools; and/or
  • are passionate and experienced in facilitating accessible, interactive artistic workshops with Adults &/or Seniors.

How do eligible Artists get on our list?

Visit our website’s Connect with Artists section to see what a profile looks like.  Then, click on the ‘New Artists – Who Qualifies? button for more information and to start completing our Eligibility form.  The form can be partially completed and saved so that you can work on it when you have time.

 


Questions? Comments?  Contact us by email, elanarted@quebec-elan.org or phone 438-979-1171.

Please follow us on Facebook @ELANArtEd and Instagram and share our summer workshop post for July 6th – 17th!