Arts programs from SFU and Vancity
Am Johal, SFU Woodward’s, 778.895.5640; amarjotj@sfu.ca
Lorraine Wilson, Vancity, 604.877.4539; Lorraine_Wilson@vancity.com
Don MacLachlan, SFU PAMR, 778.782.3929; donmac@sfu.ca
This summer, SFU Woodward’s will offer programs in fine arts and cultural democracy, tuition-free to inner-city residents, through SFU’s new Vancity Community Engagement Office.
On offer from Simon Fraser University will be a six-week lecture series called Introduction to Cultural Democracy, and a six-week fine arts course, with teachers including former Vancouver councillor Jim Green. Another program is being designed on arts and entrepreneurship.
These are among programs that Am Johal is planning from his community engagement office, which was established with a $500,000 grant from Vancity Credit Union.
Johal is the first coordinator for the Vancity Office of Community Engagement and will be leading SFU’s charge to engage with the community through the arts.
"By bringing down some of the walls of the university, not only will we have an opportunity to get people into the university, we will also encourage people to go out of the institution,” he says. “In that exchange, we will build the foundation for community engagement through the arts at SFU Woodward’s.”
Johal brings years of expertise in the arts and social outreach to the position. He was, among other things, chair of the Impact on Community Coalition related to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, and a co-founder of UBC's Humanities 101 program, which offers non-credit university-level courses for people living on the Downtown Eastside and surrounding areas.Johal also served on the boards of Better Environmentally Sound Transportation, Or Gallery, Strathcona Community Centre, REACH Community Health Centre and the policing committee of the BC Civil Liberties Association. Johal served as well on the program committee of the W2 community media arts centre in the Woodward’s heritage building.
Owen Underhill, director of the SFU Woodward’s cultural unit, says: “One of the core values for both SFU and Vancity is community engagement. Johal will energize our outreach by building new relationships with local residents and groups, and showing how the university is open, welcoming, and an active member of the community.”
Says Johal: “There is a great opportunity in this role at SFU to reduce barriers to education in the inner-city. There’s a great hunger for knowledge here, and I believe that we can connect with people and provide opportunities through education and the arts. We all benefit when community knowledge and academic knowledge can have an opportunity to interact.”
David Berge, Vancity’s senior vice-president of community investment, says he sees the new community engagement office as an opportunity to provide economic and social stimulus through arts and entrepreneurship to the Downtown Eastside.
“Art is a powerful tool for social change. We’re thrilled to partner with SFU to provide financial and educational opportunities to arts organizations and community artists trying to make a living while helping to change communities. It’s important for us to work together to create a vibrant community that is inclusive of all residents.”
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