Who is Antyx?
Antyx Community Arts uses free arts-based programming to facilitate social and emotional learning for at-risk and vulnerable youth ages 12-18 to help them achieve significant development milestones and a successful transition to adulthood. Youth with strong social and emotional learning skills have greater resilience, self-esteem, independence, sense of identity, connection and trusting social networks. Our strategy incorporates using our youth’s ideas to address community-identified issues through different art mediums such as painting and sketching, which often results in the creation of community arts projects including murals and sculptures. Our focus on working with youth who are immigrants, Aboriginal, low-income, LGBTQ+ ensures our organizational commitment to increasing vital and equitable access.
Our Mission
Engaging youth through the arts to build confidence, tackle social issues, and grow community connections.
Our Values
Antyx firmly stands behind: Diversity, Inclusivity, Integrity, Creativity, Freedom of Expression, and Relationships.
Our Vision
Safe and inclusive communities where every youth is valued, resilient, and free to express themselves.
Social-emotional learning
We provide practical tools and strategies to help youth understand and express their emotions in healthy ways.
Community Centered/Natural Supports Framework
Our main goal is to impact communities and make them grow with their youth, we want to be the lighting spark for a brighter, better future.
Free Art Programming
Our programs are offered at no cost, as we believe every young person deserves the opportunity to discover and express themselves through the arts.
NEEDS:
Right now we are looking for donations of art supplies such as: Paint rollers, household interior paint, paint brushes (all sizes), sketchbooks, acrylic paints, drawing pencils, and clay.
We are seeking corporate sponsors, individual donors, and even annual program naming rights sponsors ($20,000+) to ensure our programs never have gaps or uncertainty between grant cycles or government changes. Our youth need consistency and predictability, considering our unique and engaging nature of programs, youth often come to our programs as their first time ever trusting adults outside of their family units. It can be devastating to them if that trust is built only to have programs change with grant requirements and availability.
A $1,000 donation would cover the cost of art supplies for 5 youth participating in a 10-week program.
A $5,000 donation would support a full quarter of facilitated art therapy sessions for a group of 20 youth participants, ensuring access to materials, space, and refreshments.
A $10,000 donation would contribute to a large community mural project, covering materials, community engagement and art therapy facilitation.
We are additionally looking for new board members, and non-board members willing to support our fundraising committee in planning and hosting fundraising events and showcases. Given the nature our our public work, this is an exciting opportunity.
Overview and History:
Antyx is a community arts charity that uses the arts and community development processes to create opportunities for youth to become more engaged in their community and experience increased community connection.
Our community arts strategy involves developing collaborative community arts projects that engage youth and communities. Projects are planned with community partners and direct input from youth. Past projects have included: community murals, performances of plays reflecting community issues, video and music projects.
Antyx was formed on January 1, 2010, when All Nations Theatre and Urban Youth Worx (ANT/UYW) merged and began operating as a single community arts organization. All Nations Theatre has worked in Calgary since 1992, engaging youth in participatory theatre projects that explored issues identified by youth. Founded in 1998, Urban Youth Worx has supported the development of Arts-based community development projects across Calgary.
The creation of Antyx through the consolidation of All Nations Theatre and Urban Youth Worx has created tremendous opportunities to engage youth and communities in using the arts to explore critical issues and make positive social change!
Collaboration is central to our work. Antyx is well placed as a community resource that provides creative support through community arts processes to a wide variety of community groups and organizations that are working on many different issues. We currently work with numerous community groups and organizations including: Trellis, Calgary Immigrant Women’s Association, Immigrant Services Calgary, Boys and Girls Clubs of Calgary, Urban Society for Aboriginal Youth and many Calgary schools.