A really awesome innovative youth leadership project has been happening in five Manitoba communities over the past year-and-a-half in:
- Gladstone – Gladstone and area Rec Centre
- Carberry – Carberry Plains Arts Council
- Steinbach – Steinbach Arts Council
- Flin Flon – Flin Flin Arts Council
- Morden – Back 40 Festival (and high school)
Thanks to funding from The Department of Canadian Heritage, and under the initiative, leadership and coordination of the Manitoba Arts Network (MAN), and facilitator, Sue Hemphill. The name of the Youth project is YEP! for Youth Engagement Project.
Youth from 13 – 21 years old have been working together and forming committees with support, guidance, and encouragement from their local arts council or presenting organization. Their goal: to plan all aspects of a youth-oriented professional arts performance (music, theatre, and dance). For a year-and-a-half, they have been mentored in all aspects of bringing professional performing artists to young audiences in their community. Youth identify performing artists of interest, poll the youth in their community to determine what performance they are most interested in seeing, negotiate contracts, advertise the performance, fundraise (in Year Two), and manage the professional performing arts presentation project.
In Year One, the performances and community workshops were to be free of charge and therefore were fully funded by the Department of Canadian Heritage. The Artist were
In Year Two, only some of the required funds are provided so a ticket fee can be charged to generate the rest of the revenue needed for the show. The Year One performances and workshops that the artists gave in all five communities were very well received. The artists were:
- One Trunk Theatre
- Speed Control
- The Middle Coast
- Joey Landreth
Currently, we are in Year Two of the YEP pilot having worked with the following artists:
- Twin Flames
- New Renaissance
- Shotgun Jimmy
- The Boy & The Sea
- Sweetwater Creek
Sue Hemphill is our Youth Engagement Project facilitator. Sue has provided consultation and facilitation for multiple workshops and projects for both the Manitoba Arts Network and Arts and Cultural Industries (ACI). Her background and training in the arts and cultural sector makes her a uniquely creative and engaging educator and organizational developer. http://www.healthyhive.ca/