My background is in Social Work. I spent many years using art as a creative tool to help those I worked with express themselves, use their imaginations and build their confidence.
I left the field of social work due to frustrations with trying to attain government funding for art programs. I saw a huge need for affordable and free creative opportunities for children and youth, especially at the pace our digital/screen-time society is going... So I started Artshine several years ago.
Artshine is a Social Enterprise mobile art program currently running in many cities in Ontario and Montreal. We have an amazing team that runs parent-paid programs for children and youth. I put all profits from these programs back into each community we serve in the form of scholarships and free art programs. These programs are run in schools, shelters, prisons, agencies, and community centres.