In the short space of one year the OCTA Collective Society developed an idea for an innovative and exciting arts program into an up-and-running project that has reached over 4,700 public elementary school children since May 2005.
It was due to great timing and the mutual desire to provide all children with access to high-quality arts education that we were able to get the artsREACH project up so quickly under a three-year agreement with Arts Umbrella. Through funding Arts Umbrella received from The Province of British Columbia and TELUS to support their Provincial Outreach Program, we were able to access Arts Umbrella curriculum, training for our instructors and receive some initial funding.
We are now well on our way to reaching our 2007/08 goal of delivering 150 workshops!
The artsREACH project is managed by the OCTA Collective Society, and further historical information can be found on its website.
"Thank-you for helping and encouraging me with my self-portrait. My favourite part was doing the hair and you saying there were no mistakes, and it was true." artsREACH student
What are the goals for the future?
The long-term goal is to offer artsREACH workshops at public elementary schools all over Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands.