Arts Adventure Camp Experience of a Lifetime

"This is the best camp I've ever gone to," raved one camper at the end of the AFC Arts Adventure Camp, located at Keelesdale Public School in the Keele and Eglinton area this past summer. "When can I sign up for next year?" Certainly the success of our first season can be attributed to great organization and planning, excellent programming and top notch personnel headed by Lisa Phillips, Administrative Director of AFC. However, the thing that changed these young lives the most was the creative connection they made with the staff.

The camp's mission is to allow each child's imagination to become their own playground, where they can become anything, or do anything they can dream up. Traditional camp activities balanced wonderfully with the artistic programming: visual, musical and dramatic arts, field trips — and a real "camp life" was born.

Each of the 165 campers attending left with newly developed artistic skills and armfuls of spectacular arts projects. They also found new friends and took away many life-affirming memories. Parents commented on the positive changes they saw in their children — and in such a short period of time!

AFC Arts Adventure Camp is at the heart and soul of what Arts for Children is all about: serving the children of communities not being served by the educational system. With the support of our generous donors, we hope that the camp will become a timehonoured tradition in the years to come. See you next summer!

Outreach Update

AFC Spreads Its Wings to Children's Aid and Rwanda

Having reached 3,500 students in 30 schools over the past year, the Arts For Children Outreach Program is now collaborating with other organizations. AFC joined the North York Branch of the Children's Aid Society to coordinate a livening up of their locale. As well, AFC worked with the organizing committee of Ibutsa: Remembering Rwanda to raise money for the Hope for Rwanda's Children Fund.

The North York branch of the Children's Aid Society had three unwelcoming visitation rooms where children under their care would meet with their parents or guardians. Maple Leaf Public School, located in the same district, was asked to help with this project. The school had benefited from an AFC Outreach project in the past and the principal was so impressed that she agreed to participate in an AFC and Children's Aid collaboration.

Maple Leaf children in grades three to five painted large murals to be hung in the rooms as part of a five-day workshop. The kids and Julie Frost, their Outreach instructor, developed themes for each of the rooms: Under Water World, Amazing Animals, and Healthy Living. Since the panels were installed in early June, the feedback has been fantastic. The Children's Aid Society wrote that, "the murals really brighten our visit rooms and make them a much nicer place for our families to enjoy."

In the spirit of ensuring that arts education be made available to all children, AFC's efforts have now reached across the world. In late June, visitors to Harbourfront Center were able to visit an installation in remembrance of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. The organizing committee of Ibutsa: Remembering Rwanda discovered our Arts for Children of Toronto website and, impressed with our mandate, invited us to participate in the weekend event.

AFC sent Allycia Uccello and Julie Galloway to provide hands-on workshops to the public. While Allycia worked on creating fabric flags based on textile patterns from Rwanda, Julie's efforts produced a canvas mural that will be used by the committee for future fundraising events and will later be sent to Rwanda. The committee, in thanking the AFC artists, wrote: "your presence contributed to the thoughtful, reflective and respectful tone that characterized the weekend. With your help, the organizing committee of Ibutsa: Remembering Rwanda raised several thousand dollars for the Hope for Rwanda's Children Fund."

Scholarship Update

Program Ventures Forth

In the ongoing quest to provide the highest-quality arts programs to children who require financial assistance, the Arts for Children of Toronto Scholarship Program has opened its doors to The Royal Conservatory of Music and Canadian Children's Dance Theatre. This year, AFC will provide funding to children with particular interests in music and dance to attend these institutions and further develop their skills. AFC is pleased to support these esteemed organizations and the children they serve.

For more information on the Arts for Children of Toronto Scholarship Program, please visit the website or call our office at 416-961-1502, ext. 302.

Children's Incredible Generosity

In the Spring edition of Splash, we reported on a program which AFC helped to facilitate at the St. Maria Goretti Catholic School. By creating, manufacturing and selling a series of greeting cards with their business — Kards R Us — the children of one grade three class raised $2,620. AFC artist Linda Blix worked through the Entrepreneurial Adventure Program to help enhance the artistic initiative of the project. In an act of outstanding generosity, the children chose to donate the money to Arts for Children of Toronto in a moving and emotion-filled ceremony, attended by AFC's Lola Rasminsky and Julie Frost at their Scarborough school. AFC greatly appreciates this kind gesture.

Special Thanks to the
Sponsors and Donors of the
AFC Arts Adventure Camp