Here is another great thing about the Eastside Culture Crawl -The Creative Journey and Photography 101 with the Union Gospel Mission. This is Union Gospel Mission’s first year partaking in the Eastside Culture Crawl. Select pieces from these aspiring artists will be on display during The Crawl from Friday, November 20th to Sunday, November 22nd. Big shout out to Kevin Clark and all the volunteers on this project!
Ministering to the whole person and engaging men and women in new ways takes some creativity. Good thing UGM is blessed to have supporters in the art community, talented and successful professionals looking for a tangible way to get involved while giving back.
The Creative Journey began in August with a group of guests from the Women’s Drop-in who committed to coming to a weekly art course taught by world-renowned artist Pamela Masik. Pamela recently completed 69 portraits of the Downtown Eastside’s missing women for her exhibition, The Forgotten, and wanted to personally get involved working with women living in the area today. The 8-week course took students on a journey discovering the artist within. Through photography, painting, mixed-media and poetry, the women dove deep within themselves to tell their stories through art.
“I feel as if this class is a lens through which the world can finally see the real me.” – Linda, a student in the Creative Journey
Photography 101 began at the Mission at the beginning of September and is put on by Kevin Clark, a well-known Vancouver photographer. Men and women working through various programs at UGM are part of the course and have produced remarkable work. The students learned basic skills of photography such as composition, portraiture and night photography and have explored the Downtown Eastside looking to capture beauty.
As the weeks progressed, students grew in both their talents and self-confidence; the pride they took in what they produced and the joy in its creation was remarkable. The supplies for both courses were donated by the artists and many generous businesses (who provided the cameras, film, and developing), and these transformative classes simply wouldn’t have been possible without them.
Be sure to come see the very best of the extraordinary works the students have created during these special courses during the Eastside Culture Crawl. UGM’s booth is located at Maurice McElrea Place.
Check out http://www.eastsideculturecrawl.com for more information and maps on all the great artists that are part of this fun yearly event.
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