This winter season we are spotlighting some incredible people from our community to share their stories about how East End Arts has created a second home for them. Help us continue to be a home for the arts in the east end of Toronto!
Home isn’t just a place you live in; home is also where your voice feels seen and uplifted. It is where you get to spend quality time with neighbours and friends, and create a caring community.
We are all in need of more spaces that we can call home, more third spaces beyond our houses and apartments where we get to connect with each other, express ourselves, and find joy.
At East End Arts, we are proud to provide a home base for east end artists and community members from all walks of life to celebrate their creative expression.
East End Arts is a nonprofit arts organization that relies on the support of individual donors to fund our work.
Help us to continue to be a home for the arts!
- $25 – Helps to fund one art kit for a senior participant in our programs.
- $50 – Subsidizes 1 hour of free space for artists to use St Matthew’s Clubhouse for a workshop, event, or program.
- $80 – 10 donations at this level support an artist’s fee to run a community workshop, including prep and facilitation time.
- $100 – Supports snacks and nourishments for an entire cohort of youth members in a workshop.
Please note that East End Arts is a non-profit organization and cannot issue charitable tax receipts at this time, but your support still makes a meaningful impact in our east end community.
Story #1: A Home for Artists
East End Arts is a nonprofit organization with a long history of creating space in the east end for artists. We support artists in a myriad of ways, from Open Mic nights, to arts markets, to professional development workshops, to helping artists find spaces in the east end where they can create beauty, joy, and connect with the community.
We also are committed to supporting artists in their craft. Take mural artists, for example. Since 2020, we have created a home for 38 murals in the east end, our latest one being “Indigenous Roots,” a mural project we presented in collaboration with the Danforth Multifaith Commons of EEURM. This mural project is a part of the EEURM’s journey towards addressing the church-related recommendations as addressed by the Truth and Reconciliation Committee. It is rooted in a deep sense of justice, solidarity and commitment to build bridges and forge meaningful connections with the original stewards of this land.
Below is our first story of home from local artist, Mari 😃.
I am Mari, a full-time artist who calls the east end of the city my home. I live in Victoria Park, work in the Beaches, and will often visit family on the Danforth. I have a deep connection to this area, and I love connecting with people here through my art. Art has allowed me to create connections and create beauty with people in different ways. As a full-time Tattoo artist, I connect with people one-on-one, creating beauty for them. Through my mural work, I get to create beauty for communities and share art with many more people.
Since high school, I’ve always known I wanted to be my own boss, be an artist, and bring beauty into the world while connecting with people.
I first heard about the Indigenous Roots open call through word of mouth in the community. I had no idea how much this mural would end up impacting me and my career. This project not only allowed me to merge my tattoo style with my mural work, but it was also the largest mural I’ve ever created. Since then, I’ve already received messages about new opportunities for mural projects, which have been so exciting.
What meant the most to me, though, was that this mural wasn’t just about making something beautiful; it was about creating something that respected the people of this land. The process was healing, grounding, and deeply meaningful for me. I’m currently on a journey of reconnecting with my Métis identity, and art has been one of the most meaningful ways I’ve been doing that. I’m genuinely proud and grateful for the opportunity; it feels like a big step forward in my career.
Some of my favourite moments were when I got to inspire the next generation of artists and art lovers. One day, I brought my little sisters to paint with me, and kids from the after-school programs would often walk by to watch me work. I’ll never forget one little girl who told me she wanted to do that in the future. Being a role model in that way is such a beautiful gift.
The Indigenous Roots mural project reminded me that I’m not just creating art for myself, but for a whole community. It’s helped me feel even more connected to the east end — especially since I’m half Greek and have family on the Danforth. Having my work here feels deeply personal and meaningful.
Art has given me so much, and I hope to use it to inspire and uplift others.
You can help EEA to continue to create spaces for artists and art in our east end communities!
With Gratitude ❤️,
Mari, East End Artist
Mari is just one of nearly 120 artists we worked with and supported in 2025. Please consider supporting East End Arts this winter with a financial donation so we can continue to create important home spaces for artists in our east end communities!
Story #2: A Home for Seniors
East End Arts is a nonprofit community arts organization that works hard to address the isolation and loneliness that many seniors in our communities face. Since 2020, we have provided a welcoming homebase for over 250 senior participants, through 88 arts workshops. Programs such as Doorstop Diaries, TAPESTRY, and Seniors in the East have allowed seniors to learn different art skills, make valuable friendships with fellow senior artists 🤲, and showcase their work in impressive gallery art exhibitions.
Below is our second story of home from local senior and artist 😍, Yone.
East End Arts has helped me realize a lifelong dream of making art. My name is Yone. I am from Brazil and a journalist by trade. When I immigrated to Canada, I became a translator in the health and settlement sector. I never had the opportunities or financial means to pursue art, and I didn’t think it was a viable career path for me. Being able to do it now, in my own community and in retirement, has brought me so much joy. It has truly made this next chapter of my life feel meaningful and special.
I’ve called the east end home for years, moving through different neighbourhoods and eventually discovering East End Arts at St. Matthew’s Clubhouse. After retiring, I saw EEA’s TAPESTRY Textile program for seniors and signed up near the end of the pandemic in 2022. The program allowed me to meet a community of creatives my age. It gives us motivation to keep learning and practicing, a sense of accomplishment, and the chance to make art simply for ourselves. Since then, I have participated in their senior art programs every year.
The pinnacle for me from participating in these programs was the end-of-year show. It meant so much to invite friends to see my work in an exhibition. East End Arts has created an essential space for seniors in the east end, during the pandemic and beyond, to fight isolation and build important digital literacy skills. To make room for even more seniors to join arts programming, a few of us, with EEA’s support, have started our own group. It’s a fantastic space for seniors like me who want to stay connected, remain active, and continue learning new skills.
We are now close to 20 seniors—and growing—who come together on their own time to make art. It’s such an important space that keeps us connected, active, and inspired.
But we can’t do this without your support! Please help EEA continue to uplift seniors in the east end by donating today. Your contribution helps us access materials, provide healthy snacks, maintain our space, and host exhibitions.
Thank you for supporting community, creativity, and connection. ❤️
Yone
East End Arts Program Participant
Please consider supporting East End Arts this winter with a financial donation so we can continue to create important home spaces for seniors in our east end communities!
Story #3: A Home for Community
East End Kids Pride launched in 2023 as a one-day parade in a park, created by a couple of 7-year-olds and their families. It was an instant success and highlighted the need for more queer programming in Toronto’s east end, with a family and youth focus. Since then, the event has grown into a joyful, inclusive space for queer celebration, visibility, and belonging each year at Dentonia Park. The parade has grown from 300 participants in its first year to 600 in 2025 🌈.
East End Arts has proudly supported and helped grow East End Kids Pride because we know how needed this kind of programming is.
Below is our third story of home from a community member, local artist, and parent, on how, together, we’ve been building a safe space for queer youth and children to express themselves and get creative in the east end! Here is shannon’s story…
East End Arts creates a home for creative expression for people from all walks of life, and I’ve seen this firsthand.
As an artist living in the east end, I had been watching East End Arts work from afar for a while, waiting for the right opportunity to connect with them. In 2024, when I joined the East End Kids Pride group, I reached out to see if they could support this grassroots and important initiative. From the first conversation, the team was incredibly welcoming and supportive. It has, and continues to be, a great partnership, building something meaningful for the east end and the queer community together.
From there, they didn’t just show up; they jumped in. They came to every planning meeting, organized workshops leading up to the event, hired local queer artists, and supported the overall program. They even brought Shadowland to elevate and amplify the parade, which became a magical experience for everyone. As the event grew, East End Arts listened to feedback, expanded programming, and helped make space for a queer arts market so local teens and young artists could participate. They even held a gallery at the clubhouse, showcasing the artwork created by queer youth at the workshops, including photos and decor that really captured the beauty and magick of Kids Pride ✨.
East End Arts meets the community where it’s at. They don’t control or take over; they collaborate. They listened to the kids, to the parents, to what we dream about creating, and they support and enhance the vision. They have helped us bring those ideas to life, so that over 600 kids, youth and adults could participate in queer celebrations in the east end.
One of my favourite moments was when they handed out cameras to kids to document the event from their own perspective. It was powerful to see the event through their eyes. For kids to not only see queer joy and celebration but also document it, help tell our stories, and make it visible, is a powerful act.
My kids look forward to the parade, events and volunteering every year. They feel safe, seen, and empowered. East End Arts has elevated East End Kids Pride and helped it become something truly special. We’re already excited for what’s next.
Supporting East End Arts matters because they support the community. Art is a beautiful way for people to connect, especially when it’s free, accessible, and rooted in joy and activism. It brings people together who might never cross paths otherwise. We all need community, and East End Arts helps create it.
Thank you! 💜
unicorn shannon
East End Kids Pride Committee Member
Please consider supporting East End Arts this winter with a financial donation so we can continue to create important home spaces for rainbow and queer communities in the east end, and beyond!