East End Arts invites creative senior participants to join us for a new program called Textile Tales! We are looking for 40 seniors throughout east Toronto and beyond to join us in this unique, 8-month art program.
Textile Tales
August 2026 – March 2027
Taking Place Online through Zoom, and In-Person at our Clubhouse
FREE to Participate | APPLY HERE
Are you a local senior with a passion for art, community, and storytelling? Are you looking to learn what textile art is all about? East End Arts is looking for creative, passionate, and curious seniors to join Textile Tales, a new 2026-2027 edition of art programming for seniors aged 55+ in the east end of Toronto!
ABOUT TEXTILE TALES
Textile Tales is a fibre-based art program that will allow up to 40 local seniors in the east end of Toronto try new textile and fibre art skills, learn basic digital literacy skills, and connect and get creative with other seniors online and in-person at our Clubhouse!
This program will take place over eight months – August 2026 to March 2027 – and will feature 8 monthly textile-based art workshops, alternating between online and in-person delivery. Each workshop will be taught by different artist facilitators who will teach different creative and unique textile-based techniques. Each participant will be given several blank textile canvas squares at the beginning of the program to try out and execute the different textile techniques they will be taught throughout the 8 months.
Throughout the season participating seniors will also receive a combination of creative prompts through a shared private Facebook group to help keep inspiration and creativity high, and there will be even more opportunities for in-person connection through monthly creative get-togethers we call Tea & Craft sessions at our Clubhouse, for those who are interested and able! Textile Tales will culminate with an in-person exhibition at St. Matthew’s Clubhouse where all of the canvas pieces created will be shown in a final exhibition in March 2027, bringing together the “Textile Tales” of each Senior in one room for the community to see.
This program is entirely FREE To join, and is based on our highly successful previous seasons of arts programming presented under the New Horizons for Seniors umbrella (i.e. Seniors in the East, TAPESTRY, Doorstop Diaries). Join us for this exciting opportunity to learn new textile art skills and tell your stories in a community together!
WHAT TO EXPECT
Participating Seniors in this program will receive:
- Several blank textile canvas squares to test and execute their textile art skills on (likely 8″x8″ in size);
- All the art materials required to engage in each of the monthly textile arts workshops;
- Monthly arts workshops (Online using Zoom, or in-person at our Clubhouse) with our talented artist facilitators to learn new creative techniques to apply to their textile canvases;
- Bi-weekly art prompts sent to our Facebook Group to spark your creativity and give you inspiration;
- Monthly tea afternoon sessions at St. Matthew’s Clubhouse to make and network with the other seniors;
- Support on using online technology like Zoom and social media platforms, as well as one on one tech support throughout the course of the program;
- A special in-person exhibition to show off the final textile pieces at St. Matthew’s Clubhouse;
- And a unique opportunity to be a part of a vibrant community of creative elders!
PROGRAM JURY & SELECTION PROCESS
Textile Tales will engage our senior participants as program designers as well, allowing them to guide the vision of this program. Interested participants will be invited to join East End Arts staff in a Program Jury to review and choose the workshop artists from our Call for Artists to take part in this program! The Jury will take place in June, 2026 and will help to shape the workshops and the art techniques that YOU want to learn about.
IMPORTANT DATES
- May 31, 2026 – Call for Participants deadline.
- June 12, 2026 – Latest date that participants will receive confirmation of their entry into the program.
- Late June, 2026 – Interested participants will engage in a Program Jury to select the final artists for this program.
- July or Early August, 2026– Welcome Party at our Clubhouse, welcoming all our participants & artists to the program.
- September, 2026 – February, 2027 – Monthly arts workshops and tea & craft get-togethers will take place on Zoom, as well as in-person at St. Matthew’s Clubhouse. These will almost always take place on Fridays.
- March, 2027 – Final Textile Tales Exhibition at St. Matthew’s Clubhouse.
ACCESSIBILITY
Half of the arts workshops for Textile Tales will take place online. Participation requires access to the internet, an email address (preferable one with Gmail), and a free account with Zoom. If you have specific accessibility requirements, we encourage you to reach out to our Program Producer, Merryn at merryn@eastendarts.ca. In-person networking and tea sessions with take place at St. Matthew’s Clubhouse, but are entirely optional and not mandatory to attend.
APPLY TO PARTICIPATE BELOW!
Thank you for your interest in Textile Tales! To APPLY to join us as a participant, please fill out the form by clicking the button below. Priority will be given to applications from seniors who are local east Toronto residents, members of our priority groups, and individuals who can commit to participating in the entire project. We look forward to reviewing your applications :).
FUNDER OF TEXTILE TALES
Thank you to the New Horizons for Seniors Grant program for funding Textile Tales! We could not present meaningful, high-quality arts programs such as these without their support.
