This past weekend our town was packed full of fun as events for Brandon’s first National Youth Arts Week hit the streets with a bang. NYAW took place from May 1st until May 7th. The opening reception was held on Thursday at the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba (AGSM), where they showcased art from students in the Westman area, along with art submitted from Brandonites up to the age of 30.

NYAW is a celebration of the creative expression of children and youth, as Canadian communities join together to provide an opportunity for young people to show off their creative side and engage in positive contributions to their community.

The AGSM worked with local artists to string together a weekend bundled with stimulating artistic activities. Several events were held at Princess Park on Saturday afternoon, such as Jester and The Gypsy putting on a fun and goofy show for Brandon’s kidlets, while Nereo II worked on his paintings in an open environment for people to enjoy his aesthetic style.

The Good Vibe Tribe participated by opening up a DJ workshop at New Era School for students interested in scratching records. The sessions were held by two of Brandon’s DJ’s, DJ B.Zwax and Base4Rent and a helping hand from out of town, DJ Theo TZU. Each class consisted of one on one lessons with each DJ, giving everyone a chance to end the day with a few new skills.

“Music is really good for people. It helps their soul, it helps people meet other people,” said Base4Rent. “Music strengthens the community.”

The Good Vibe Tribe stands behind what NYWA is all about; bringing Brandon’s youth together to express themselves and their talents while finding new ways to meet people.
“It’s about inspiring youth to be positively active in their community,” Said DJ B.Zwax.

The youth from the workshops were invited down to the downtown skate plaza later that afternoon to help put on a show and get the kids in the park involved as well.
The fun didn’t stop there. A ‘photograms as evidence’ workshop was held by Kevin Bertram at the AGSM. Here students learned how to create art simply with objects and light in a photography darkroom. To end the day, children and their families were invited to enjoy Nereo II and his visual art at the AGSM.

Graffiti, mural art, street photography, spoken word, DJ turntable workshops, and even ‘how to’ classes on writing grant proposals were all shared with the youth of Westman this past weekend, hopefully making a positive impact on our city.

“Our hope is that these workshops and events will provide a starting point for long-term creative projects which see youth partnered with established artists within the community, exploring existing creative spaces and projects and also developing new ones,” Said AGSM Service Coordinator Shanti Subedar, eager to get the children involved in Brandon’s artistic collective.
“NYAW events can be organized by anyone; arts organizations, individual youth, schools, libraries. Everyone is welcome to share their creative projects with their communities. In future we hope that youth will be inspired to continue to take leadership roles within the arts community to share ideas and to encourage more young people to explore and express themselves through creative pursuits.”