Pandora Arts Collective – 3 in 1 Awesome!

Summary: Pandora Arts Society is three programs in one. The Open Studio, where anyone can do art, is now joined by two initiatives, The Open Art Surge, for anyone 14 years to 25 and The Victoria Brain Injury Group, which continues the Pandora tradition of using art as healing process. We are surging onwards with open houses, larger than life art shows at the little fernwood gallery, community art workshops, every kind of artistic expression and bursting with creativity. Attracting new members with every session. We are writers, painters, quilters, sketchers, photographers, sculptors, collagers, dreamers, believers, survivors, and everything in between. Our response to the world that marginalizes the poor, physically, mentally and emotionally challenged is healing and the annihilation of stigma through art. Pandora is now three times awesome! We are audacious, active, and artistic. We need you to bestow your awesomeness on us; we need your support to continue our work bringing and using art in all its forms to as many people as we can. Help us continue as an unstoppable creative, healing force in the community and the world. Support us for art, for healing, to end stigma, for community and the world. Bio: Born from the ashes of a (de)funded, ministry “art as therapy” program, the Pandora Arts Collective Society’s (PACS) members, many from the mental health community, meet together twice weekly (Tuesdays and Thursdays) to create artwork at the Fernwood Community Association (FCA) building. PACS is a creative open door in the community. We do not require ability or disability, offering basic art supplies, studio guidance and support as needed. Participants pay a small fee that is often waived to promote inclusion. PACS also runs the little fernwood gallery, featuring individual or group shows by new and emerging artists from PACS and the community. PACS participates in the annual Fernwood Art Stroll, last year offered printmaking and painting workshops open to all and opened the Art in Motion exhibit during Fernwood days. This year PACS’ vision of creative self-determination expanded to include two new programs. Mondays now include a registered studio opportunity sponsored by the Brain Injury Society and, Open Arts Surge, a facilitated, open studio for youth. Our financial requirements are small. We pay for a small office, our facilitator, the phone and insurance. We survive on grants, and other benefactors in the community. A little support goes a long way. Pandora Art Collective Society 250-920-7227 or 250-588-0370 1923 Fernwood Road, Victoria BC http://www.pandoraarts.ca/index.html