HISTORY

It all started back in 1995, when Lola Rasminsky, one of Toronto’s most energetic advocates for arts education, decided that no child should be deprived of the creative acumen that comes with early exposure to quality hands-on arts experiences simply because of financial circumstance. In order to respond to the critical reduction in arts education in the public educational system, and to remedy what she saw as a gap between rich and poor, she founded a charitable organization whose mandate was to offer scholarships to under-resourced children in the GTA, so that they could benefit from the same high quality arts instruction enjoyed by their more well-to-do counterparts. That organization was called Arts for Children of Toronto.

As the years passed, the little organization grew and grew. It grew in stature, and it gained wisdom as it matured. More than 850 children received arts scholarships through AFC. By 2002, Lola had come to the realization that, by taking the arts instruction into public schools, many more children could share in these experiences. Thus, our Outreach Program was born, and it has continued to grow, now reaching upwards of 8,000 young people each year, and extending into the community with many after-school programs and summer youth employment initiatives. We no longer offer scholarships, having decided to focus on outreach, taking the programs directly to the young people in their schools and communities.

Our increasing involvement with older kids prompted a name change in 2008, and we are now known as Arts for Children and Youth (AFCY). We have established a Youth Advisory Council, made up of youth who live in the communities we work with, many of them past program participants. These youth are integral to our program planning process; they are our eyes into the world of their peers. They advise us as to what excites young people today, and they create the aesthetic that defines our organization.

Inasmuch as possible, our programs are youth led. We see our artists as facilitators rather than instructors. Each program is custom-made to fit the community’s wants and needs. We have also worked very hard to link our school and community programs, so that a young participant might experience arts-based learning in both a formal and an informal setting.

As for recent history, Julie Frost, who has acted as our Artistic Director since the turn of the century, stepped up to take Lola’s place as Executive Director in September 2009. Julie continues to act as Artistic Director as well, ensuring that her artistic vision melds with the organization’s strategic positioning. As we approach our 15th year, it feels as though we are coming of age. With the help of our many partners and donors, we feel that we can truly make a difference in the lives of marginalized young people, giving them the hopefulness that any young person deserves to feel as they venture into adulthood.