(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 selected for funding through the City of Ottawa’s Paint It Up program! On May 1st, the group was informed that they will be receiving $13,000 allowing them to provide both volunteer and paid opportunities to Stittsville youth for this summer project. The good news grew as Rona+ Stittsville-Kanata has also stepped in to be a sponsor for the mural project with their provision of supplies.
This mural project will give youth an opportunity to showcase their talent bringing 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 Stittsville’s local history, memorable places and meaningful events in time.
Now that the funding has been approved, the Stittsville Village Association is reaching out to the Stittsville youth, between ages 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 with City of Ottawa officials in attendance. Youth would be involved from start to finish, including volunteer community engagement at the June 7th Art in the Park event at Village Square Park.
An information session is being 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.
GO FOR IT!! WHAT A GREAT PROJECT TO LOOKNFORWARD TO –