Photo taken by Brent Linton
Profile: Definitely Superior Art Gallery’s Youth Art Collective: “Die Active”
Status: Definitly Superior Art Gallery is a not-for-profit organization
Community served: Artists / Youth / Adults / First Nations
Location: Based out of Thunder Bay Ontario
Arts focus: We are a multi-disciplinary gallery presenting contemporary visual arts exhibitions, media arts, theatre, dance & music. The Die Active Art Collective focuses on delivering art workshops, mentorship and art creation to emerging artists in the region.
Language: English
Gallery Mandate: Incorporated in 1988 and working at the dynamic edge, DefSup is an Artist Run Centre that operates as a distinct alternative to public art galleries, museums, and commercial art galleries. Our mandate goes beyond presenting visual art exhibitions, and extends into multi-disciplinary activities such as artist workshops and lectures, artists film/video screenings, youth art education, media arts installations, off site public art works, performance art, experimental sound/audio, music and literary events. The gallery presents up to 50+ exhibitions, events and activities, supporting as many as 750+ multi-disciplinary artists with a viewing and participating audience of 20,000 per year.
Die Active Mandate: Ongoing throughout the year, this project is aimed at mentoring and supporting future young artists while creating a unique and contemporary alternative publication. Die Active is a youth collective of artists ranging from ages fourteen to thirty. With a membership of close to three hundred, its purpose is to mentor young artists on the artist-run model of working as a collective by encouraging them to bring a series of practical, collective projects into fruition. The Die Active members become future gallery members, volunteers, and artists who exhibit with us and other galleries. They are also the individuals with the skills and leadership to develop their own arts and culture projects that help to enrich the city’s arts community.
The program involves youth outreach, the formation of a summer art collective, workshops and mentorship, the completion of several community arts projects, and the creation of a zine package. Die Active engages youth in a unique and important way, fulfilling a need in the experiences of youth in Thunder Bay. Hundreds of hidden artists, experimenting and developing their art; be it photography, painting, drawing, graffiti, music, poetry, or prose, are drawn together to receive mentorship and professional development in Die Active.
Purpose/Goals of Die Active Art Collective: To increase the visibility of new and young artists in Thunder Bay, and secondly, to foster creativity and collaboration which strengthens community and encourages sustainable practices and alternative models for working. We promote the sharing of ideas, skills, and resources through the celebration of art, craft, education, and performance. The collective networks artists with each other, offering mentorship, exhibition opportunities and special projects. It in turn creates a hub of new and diverse local talent. The workshop element of the collective ensures that artists are fed creatively; new methods of art making are exchanged as well as artistic development encouraged and celebrated. Definitely Superior offers a space for youth to meet and become acquainted with each other, the art community, and artistic opportunities and resources. It exposes them to regional, national and international artists, to exhibition opportunities, to alternative models of working and provides tools for artists and project experimentation.
Contact: Lora Northway- Youth/Community Outreach Administrator
Phone number: (807) 344-3814
E-mail: loradefsup@hotmail.com
Websites: http://www.definitelysuperior.com/
http://definitelysuperior.tumblr.com/
https://www.facebook.com/defsup
http://vimeo.com/user5321009/videos
https://twitter.com/#!/DefSup
-submitted by Lora Northway, Community Outreach Administrator
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