(The Stittsville Village Association received funding from the Paint It Up! Program to create a mural on Stittsville Main Street. Collaborators for the project are l-r: Sasha Jiminez French, artist, Birdgirl Arts; Courtney Pigeon, owner of Pretty Pots Flowers & Gifts; Mandy Hambly, Councillor Gower’s office; and, Erin Zuber, Vice-President of the Stittsville Village Association. Photo: Stittsville Central)
The Paint it Up! Program empowers youth through community arts and is funded by Public Works and administered by Community and Social Services (CSS) Ottawa. Since its inception in 2010, Paint it Up! has involved more than 2,975 youth aged 12 to 25. There have been close to 90 mural projects across the city.
The collaboration of Stittsville Village Association, Birdgirl Arts, and Pretty Pots Flowers & Gifts are pleased to announce that their mural proposal has been funded through the City of Ottawa’s Paint It Up program! On May 1st, the group was informed that they will be receiving $13,000 and able to provide both volunteer and paid opportunities to Stittsville youth during the summer as this is a summer project.
The mural project will give youth an opportunity to showcase their talent that will bring a lasting colourful and playful landmark to Stittsville Main Street. The mural will be located on the north side of the Pretty Pots building.
More than just a splash of colour, the mural entitled, ‘Field Notes from Stittsville’ will be a vibrant, contemporary mural led by local artist Sasha Jimenez French of Birdgirl Arts and youth artists from the community. The completed mural will depict a mix of local history, memorable places and moments in Stittsville.
Now that the funding has been approved, the Stittsville Village Association is reaching out to the Stittsville youth, between ages of 12 and 25, to get involved as a member of the art team for this community-led skill building experience.
Youth will be involved in the planning stage of the mural design, painting the mural at the end of August and attend a September event when the mural is launched in September with City of Ottawa delegates. Youth would be involved in community engagement at the June 7th Art in the Park event at Village Square Park.
An information session will be held on Wednesday, May 20th at 6:00pm at Birdgirl Arts Studio, 1530 Stittsville Main Street, Unit D, in Stittsville.
To be a part of this exciting youth project, please complete the following form to register: https://forms.gle/atg6xihB5P1pqRdG6.
The Stittsville community has an incredible number of youth who are talented artists – now is your time to shine.