Scarborough Mirror
August 12, 2010
Teesdale Place Mural Reflection of Creativity
Mosaic Mural Project Gives Youth New Skills
Rehana Ali, left, and Kate Jarencio work on a mural at the Teesdale basketball court Monday, Aug.9.
Families, pigeons and the subway.
These are the images associated with Scarborough’s Teesdale neighbourhood and they will be forever imprinted on the community thanks to the hard work of 15 local youth.
The youth are working with Arts for Children and Youth on a mosaic mural project that will adorn the side of the basketball court and the side of the entrance to the parking garage for years to come. They were hired by AFCY in partnership with Tropicana Community Services to work on the project, which began July 19 and runs for three weeks. Youth were on hand Monday, Aug. 9 making up some of the time lost to rain – a challenge of working outdoors.
Neeraj Kumar isn’t sure what he would have done with his time if he hadn’t been hired to participate in the mural project, but he doubts another job would have been as fun, or as close to home.
“You have a good time so it doesn’t feel like work,” he said, taking a break from affixing some of the final pieces of tile.
The 16 year old heard about the project from a friend who worked on one in the community last year.
“They said it was interesting and it’s good for the community,” he said. “You feel good working here.”
The project also presented a chance for Kumar to get reacquainted with art, an interest he’d stopped doing when he was younger.
Julie Frost said the reaction from the community was so positive last year they came back to do the mosaic mural this summer.
“The community loved it so much they said, ‘we want more’,” she said. Frost is the executive and artistic director of AFCY.
AFCY’s outreach program began in 2000 working with youth in different neighbours to create lasting works of art.
“A lot of it is because there are many youth in Toronto’s communities who aren’t given access to an arts experience because of their economic and social situation,” Frost said. “Everyone should be given that opportunity.”
Teesdale is also a community were the youth have been touched by violence. With the most recent incident taking place on Saturday when a young man from the community was shot multiple times in a pathway leading to the subway. Many youth were absent from work Monday morning as they dealt with the aftermath of that situation.
The mural project gives youth new skills and an opportunity to be empowered as it is their ideas that are incorporated into the piece.
“It’s not random things or things decided by other people,” Kumar said. “It’s from us.”
The youth had the opportunity to share what they’d learned with the community last week. At the community night residents were able learn how to do the mosaic work and were invited to bring personal items, such as coins and buttons, to be incorporated in the piece. In among the tile pieces depicting the subway are buttons and stones brought my residents. Inspirational words dot the entire piece “love,” “dignity,” “believe,” “hope,” and many more. The community also helped make the faces affixed in the representation of the four buildings at Teesdale Place, mirrored tiles mark some of the windows so one can see their face mirrored back.
Frost said the skills the youth are learning, such as team work and communication, can be applied to future jobs, as well the skill of mosaic could be translated to laying tiles.
Kate Jarencio, 18, is also learning how to teach. She participated in the project last summer and this year is back as artist Sandra Tarantino’s assistant.
“Now I have this responsibility over people my age,” she said. Has it changed her mind about being a teacher? “Maybe for little kids,” she replies with a smile.
It’s been a lot of work putting all the pieces together, but it’s been worth it.
“Everyday (the community) comes by and says it’s looking so good,” Jarencio said.
Kumar thinks it’s looking pretty good, too.
“I like seeing the final product and I can’t wait for everything to be done,” he said.
