Building up the community ladder

My mantra since joining the Community Arts Council of Prince George & District back in the fall has been to “put the community back into the community arts council.” In my opinion, it is diversity that makes a community successful. While we often think about a community as being a defined space, I believe that it is really more about having a sense of fellowship with others. That fellowship is often a result of common beliefs, interests, or goals.

But in reality, there are many different entry points into being a member of a community. Whether you consider yourself to be on the top rung of the social ladder, or just starting your climb up, we are all equal members of a community, deserving the associated rights, privileges and responsibilities that come with membership.

Earlier this year, the Community Arts Council launched a new program entitled “Kikiwin” (a Cree word meaning “healing”), which is an outreach initiative that brings art training to underreached groups including at-risk youth; men and women with intersections with the criminal justice system; and senior citizens. The program has aboriginal culture and holistic healing components and sees some of Prince George’s most reputable artists working side-by-side with program participants.

For the past five weeks, local artists Carla Joseph and Shirley Babcock, along with noted art therapist Dr. Si Transken and aboriginal cultural worker Ivan Paquette, have been working with a group of gentlemen from the Prince George Activator Society, which provides residential programs to men on conditional releases from correction institutions and who are re-integrating into the community.

What an honour it has been to be part of the program and to connect with the Activator residents during their journey into being productive members of our community.

For these new members of our community, getting involved in finding work, learning about volunteering and, as is the case with the Kikiwin program, taking an evening art class, truly are the first steps up the ladder. But really, aren’t the first steps in achieving positive social status the most important and exciting?

Remember getting your driver’s licence, or the first time you could legally consumer alcohol, or the first time you could vote?

A bit scary, definitely a rush now and then, but ultimately comprising memories that last a lifetime.

I can imagine how it must feel to be released from a long-term remand at a correctional institution and working to re-establish oneself in a new community. But I can also empathize with the sense of being under constant scrutiny, the feelings of being “less-than,” and the constant worries about a promising future that may never come to be.

The Community Arts Council is committed to bringing positive, healing engagements opportunities with art and culture to all members of our community, regardless of social status, age, race, gender or sexual orientation.

After all, our motto reads “art has no boundaries.”

And we truly believe it.