Art Forms

WHO WE ARE
Art Forms is a youth arts organization designed to provide art-making opportunities to youth who are "on the fringe." We believe in the transformative power of the arts, particularly for marginalized groups. Our space on James Street North is perfectly poised to attract a wide variety of groups since we are located in the heart of Hamilton’s art district, which also houses a handful of youth services. Art Forms has one full-time staff, a steering committee who provides governance, and several community and program partners who contribute in different ways.

WHAT WE WANT
We want to see youth thrive in our city. All of the programs and activities at Art Forms are centered around three main goals:
1. To improve mental health for young people
2. To increase youths’ sense of community & civic engagement
3. For all youth to commit to education
We are convinced that these goals can be attained through the arts, firstly organically but especially intentionally. There is a rapidly growing body of research from around the globe that shows that art-making can be extremely beneficial particularly for marginalized groups, so our work aligns with this research in order to improve the overall wellbeing of youth who participate at Art Forms. This implicates the greater community as well, since youth have the opportunity to share their creative work with the broader community at Art Crawls and other showcase events, and since youth are a vital part of the community.

WHAT WE DO
All forms of art-making are welcomed with excitement at Art Forms. Our space is a large, modular room with a gallery wall, mural corner, stage risers, Mac work station, projection screen, and a large open area for any variety of art making. During our two years of operations, we have offered drawing, painting, writing, print-making, hip-hop, book-making, street art, beat-making, videography, mural, photography, and song-writing activities, all at our adaptable space.