Youth Arts Week kicks off in Iqaluit

Last May National Youth Arts week started out with a bang in Iqaluit as kids, shown here, decorated a huge canvas with paint balls. (FILE PHOTO)

Are you interested in graffiti, printmaking or stop-motion animation?

Those are just a few of the week long events that will get underway this May 1 during Iqaluit’s second installment of National Youth Arts Week.

The art events are free to youth aged 13 to 30, and most will take place at Iqaluit’s Centennial Library.

“It’s really an amazing opportunity for people to try their hand at something new,” said co-ordinator Pascale Aprin.

Youth can find something they’ve never done but may have thought about doing, she said.

And the workshops also allow youth to mingle with other youth who are interested in the arts.

Last year’s event was successful, Arpin said.

And it showed that the idea of national youth arts week works, she said.

The week kicks off May 1 with snow painting at the Nakasuk School parking lot from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Last year, the kick-off event included decorating a canvas using paint balls. This year, young artists will use watered-down ink to create a picture in the snow.

Then, May 1, at 6:30 p.m. youth are invited to head over to the back of the Nunavut Arts and Crafts Association building in downtown Iqaluit. There they will join former Governor General Michaëlle Jean and others celebrating Youth Arts Week at the Art Gallery of Ontario in an event to be live-streamed throughout Canada via skype.

On May 2 there’s a T-shirt design workshop at the library from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

May 3 brings a printmaking workshop from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., May 4 a graffiti workshop from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and May 6 a stop motion animation from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

On May 5 a cupcake-making workshop takes place at Iqaluit’s “I Like Cake” cake shop from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Also on May 5: a music mixing and recording workshop from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

On May 6, there will be a grant-writing workshop for artists from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The big celebration takes place May 7 — with a photobooth, food, and prizes for workshop participants.

Details for the week can be found here, under National Youth Arts Week — Iqaluit, and on the group’s Facebook page, found under National Youth Arts Week – Iqaluit.