Bruce students make downtown their canvas

If you’re downtown in the next few weeks, you may notice an extra splash of colour in the area.

From now until June 11, the Downtown BIZ is displaying student artwork as part of the Young Artists on the Avenue exhibition. The program has been giving student artists the opportunity to showcase their work for the last 16 years.

“It actually feels really cool to be kind of like an artist who has their pieces on display,” Alina Wilson, 12, said. “We’re only in Grade 7, so it’s really awesome.”

Wilson and her classmates from Bruce Middle School were among students from 20 schools who participated in the program, putting together an exhibit called Screamscapes. It is currently on display in the windows of The Bay Downtown.

Artwork is on display at 20 downtown locations, including coveted spots at the MTS Centre and inside Portage Place mall in a vacant storefront.

For the first year, site-specific artwork was commissioned from schools. That meant that the BIZ would provide them with a location and required dimensions for the art. Schools would then work within those parameters to create appropriate works of art.

Lola Ilelaboye, business services and events coordinator for the Downtown BIZ, said that Young Artists on the Avenue is designed to give students the chance to display art that normally wouldn’t be seen by more than a handful of people.

“It gets kids throughout the city to put their art up, to have an avenue to put their art up, for people other than their families to be able to see,” she said.

“It’s kind of more exciting for them, because they know other people will be viewing their art.”

One of Alina’s classmates, Saleha Mohammad-Hussain, said that she was excited to have so many people see her artwork on display.

“It was really good, I was really happy,” she said. “It’s been my dream to be an artist, so this was a great chance to have my work seen by other people.”

Not only does their artwork get seen, students are sometimes able to sell it through the Young Artists exhibition.

“In the past I’ve had people just walking down the street phone me after seeing the work and say ‘Hey, can I buy that?,’ ” said Angel Audrey, an art specialist at Kildonan East Collegiate.

“So I’ve actually had a couple of kids sell their work through that display, which is great for them to start their career as an artist.”

Since Young Artists has been running for so long, it’s not uncommon for older and younger siblings to both get the chance to display art through the program.

“My sister was actually a part of the program earlier, so it was like following in her footsteps. It was really cool,” said Sharon Mak, a Grade 11 student at Kildonan East.

Mak designed a clay mask on display in the foyer of the Investors Group building.

“I was definitely excited, because it’s really special to me to have my artwork displayed,” she said.

Art instructor Audrey said there should be more opportunities for students to showcase their work.

“It’s not like a sport where people go and watch the kids play,” she said. “This is an opportunity for artists to put their work out to be seen, and I think we really need more things like this.”