Safety in Numbers: Communities in Action

ArtsExpress: Youth on the Radar

Arts Express Program

The ArtsExpress program was established in 2002 to service the creative needs of the ten schools in the J.L. Ilsley Family of Schools in Spryfield. The objective of the ArtsExpress program is to support youth and the development of new and innovative initiatives in visual arts, music, drama, dance, and theatre.

Youth on the Radar

Youth on the Radar is three rotating extracurricular art-based youth clubs. These youth clubs are housed in J.L. Ilsey Community ArtSpace, the Captain William Spry Centre, and the Captain William Spry public library. Youth on the Radar’s goals are to offer extracurricular workshops in art and recreation and to achieve a higher level of fitness, artistic skill, and technological competence, to serve an underserved and disadvantaged community, and to address issue regarding crime prevention. Youth on the Radar focuses on three main artistic areas:

  • Street dance (which refers to styles of dance that have typically evolved outside of dance studios and are often improvisational and very social in nature)
  • Multimedia and electronic media skills
  • Urban mural art

Youth on the Radar encourages the participation of youth ages 12-17 years old who are a part of the greater Spryfield community.

Crime Prevention

Youth on the Radar prevents crime by:

  • Keeping teens active and alleviating boredom through art and creativity
  • Reconnecting youth to their school
  • Teaching youth transferable communication and technological skills
  • Increasing self-confidence and self-esteem
  • Nurturing the emotional and physical well-being of youth
  • Providing strong role models and mentors for youth to learn from