Past Program

Art MEETS is a series of FREE community arts workshops in Toronto's east end that invites you to make, explore, experience, transform, and share. Art MEETS provides a variety of fun, accessible, and engaging opportunities to experience and participate in arts workshops led by experienced, welcoming, and talented artists and arts educators. Join us and come tap into your creative side!

Join multi-disciplinary artist, creative entrepreneur, facilitator and coach Nerissa Bradley for Art MEETS: Power of a Portrait on May 30, 6-8pm at Queen/Saulter Library. This workshop provides an opportunity for participants to share, create, and collaborate, and provides all the materials and inspiration to create your own self-portrait. Hone your creativity to express your unique identity to the fullest extent, and put your own creative ideas into the world.

Join poet, playwright, and essayist charles c. smith for Art MEETS: Balancing Words & Movement on Thursday, June 15, 3-6pm at S. Walter Stewart Library. This free workshop will engage participants in creative writing and performance. Participants will be able to create their own written and performance work for presentation.

Join drama artist, educator, story gatherer and community arts enthusiast Melanie Fernandez-Alvarez for Art MEETS: Searching for Stories. Tell stories, listen, play, and write! * POSTPONED - NEW DATE will be announced soon.

Join Lynda Watson of Dreamation on Saturday, April 29, 1-4pm for Art MEETS: Nature Mandala, You & Samgha. In this unique workshop we will explore what mandalas are, who you are, and how we can use nature to express that in an original way. All you need to bring is your creativity!

Join self and community taught crochet artists Tumaini Lyaruu and Chason Yeboah for Art MEETS: Streams of Consciousness Crochet on Saturday, June 10, 1-4pm at Dawes Library. In this workshop we will learn how to crochet and use a variety of textile arts to create art pieces that externalize the expansiveness of the creative mind through stream of consciousness crochet.

Join poet, story teller, and avid scripturient Hanan Hazime for Art MEETS: Cut & Paste - Found Poetry on May 20, 1-3pm at Riverdale Library. Poetry is everywhere, you just need to find it! Refashion, reorder, and reframe ordinary texts including books, magazines, and other pieces of literature into creative poems using found poetry techniques.

A work of art can tell a story. Participants will learn how to transfer a photo to birch board using a polymer emulsion, and optionally, if taking part in the collaborative art theme of home and community, layer the image with archival city photographs or maps, paint, and/or narrative to create a collage or palimpsest.

Join author and workshop facilitator Karen Krossing for the free Art MEETS: Writing in Place workshop on April 8 from 1-4pm at Danforth Coxwell Library. Using fun and inspiring prompts, like six-word stories and writing based on photos, you’ll learn writing techniques and explore how your everyday experiences can enrich your writing.

Join East End Arts and Access Point on Danforth for the Opening Reception of SELF, a group exhibition featuring the work of seven talented youth artists. Meet the artists, celebrate their incredible work, and enjoy a light lunch. Saturday, May 13, 2:30-4:30pm. Free and all are welcome.

Join East End Arts for a community photo walk on Saturday, March 11 and explore the 2017 Winter Stations temporary public art installations on Balmy, Kew, and Ashbridges Bay beaches.

Prologue to the Performing Arts invites you to a FREE information session on February 6 for artists interested in the tdsbCREATES Festival. Participants at this session may be inspired or invited to submit a proposal for the current or future programs to expand the tdsbCREATES artist roster.

My City My Six is a participatory public art project that will reveal Toronto and its residents in celebration of Canada 150, six words at a time. Take your story to the next level! Register for an upcoming community arts workshop and turn your six-word story into a visual work of art to be displayed in a My City My Six exhibition at the East York Civic Centre from September 15–17.

Help shape the next Cultural Hotspot! Artists, arts organizations, community members and groups based in East York and the Beaches are invited to attend a Cultural Hotspot Community Connect information session on Thursday, January 5, 6-8pm at Community Centre 55. Find out how to participate in this exciting project happening in 2017.

Join us at an Open Mic Night event on Thursday, December 1, 6:30-9pm at Time Capsule Cafe, presented by East End Arts and hosted by vocalist May Chook. Musicians, singers, comedians, poets, spoken word artists, experimental performers - this event is for all styles, levels, and ages.

Culture Days is taking place September 30, October 1 & 2. Explore a list of free activities happening in Toronto's east end.

Join us for a weekend of literary events in the east end, as we celebrate reading, writing, the beauty of words, and the diversity of languages in Toronto with What's Your Story? East York on October 1 and the 2016 East End Poetry Festival on October 2.

Enjoy an afternoon of poetry and a celebration of language hosted by internationally-acclaimed poet and novelist Anne Michaels, Toronto’s Poet Laureate. The 2016 East End Poetry Festival is Sunday, October 2, 12-4pm at the Children’s Peace Theatre.

What's Your Story? East York is a celebration of reading, writing and publishing. Join us for this free event on Saturday, October 1 from 2-4:30pm at S. Walter Stewart Library.

Art of the Danforth is free neighbourhood art event happening August 20-28. Come to the Festival Hub located at Robertson Parkette (1589 Danforth Ave.) often and frequently to find out what’s happening in the festival each day.

Join the creators of Art of the Danforth on July 14, 8-11pm at Linsmore Tavern to hear details about the multi-disciplinary, experimental art event that will take place August 20-28, 2016.

Join nationally-renowned ASL storyteller and language instructor Mario Pizzacalla for a 6-week pilot program teaching basic communication skills for children to sign with their parents, along with rhythms, rhymes, and storytelling.

100In1Day Toronto takes place June 4, 2016 across the city, including tons of free, family-friendly activities in the east end. It is a global festival of civic engagement, inviting people to imagine the possibilities for our city, unite, and participate in small initiatives to spark change.

You are invited to attend an EXPO 2025 Canada Community Consultation on Monday, May 16, 6-8pm at Ralph Thornton Centre. Expos happen every five years in varying host cities around the world. Learn more about the Expo 2025 Canada initiative.

Take part in free participatory activities at Dawes Crossing, including Bolly Yoga on June 11, and My Home Is... spoken word and poetry workshop on July 2 and community performance on July 9.

Creative Potluck | Breaking It Down: Exploring Music In The East End. Tuesday, May 31, 6-9pm at Riverdale Hub. A free neighbourhood event, where artists and community residents gather around food to share ideas, best practices, and network.

Join in an open discussion about developing a new multi-use east end cultural arts space on Thursday, February 25 from 6:30-8:30pm at the East York Civic Centre. Share your enthusiasm for the arts in the east end. All are welcome.

The inPrint Collective is launching their latest project “Community Print Pop Up” during the month of January. Attend the Community Print Project Celebration on Sat., Jan. 30 from 2-5pm at 1298 Danforth Avenue, 2nd Floor.

On Saturday, September 26 - You're invited to a fun fictional VYP launch celebration of a satirical international festival. Register to take part in free intro ukelele workshops! A free Culture Days event.

The 2015 East End Poetry Festival is September 20, 12-4pm at the Children's Peace Theatre. Featuring Toronto's Poet Laureate George Elliott Clarke and an exciting lineup of poets, live music, workshops and activities.

National Canadian Film Day is April 29, 2015, and we'll be celebrating by watching a great Canadian film, giving away prizes, and sharing short films submitted by YOU!

East End Arts will hold an interactive discussion with members of The Artists' Network about elevating the visibility of art in the east end of Toronto on May 19 at the Ralph Thornton Centre.

Join aspiring mural artists from the STEPS & PATCH programs in a workshop about grant-writing on March 26, 2015. Six spot are available on a first-come-first-served basis.

Join artists from East End Arts on March 19, 2015 at 1pm for a walk along the “Winter Stations” on Kew/Balmy Beach, followed by a fun story-telling workshop and inclusion in the “Inspired By…” digital story map.

East End Connects 2015 is a series of fun and social artistic and networking events hosted by local artists and community members. Events are free and all are welcome to attend.