Nakhatandi Arts and Culture Programming: Supported Mental Health, Combated and reduced Lonelinea and Empowered Communities
ELDERS SHARING THEIR LIVED EXPERIENCES THROUGH ART AND VISUAL THERAPY
With support from the BC Arts Council (Arts, Culture Resilience and Supplement Grants) and the City of Vancouver (Nakhatandi Project), Great Lakes Networking Society of BC responded to the impacts of COVID-19 through youth and seniors arts programming.
These programs provided safe, creative spaces for participants to express their imaginations, stories, and resilience through painting, drawing, music training, drumming, storytelling, and stage performance.
During lockdown and isolation, many participants, especially seniors, experienced sadness, fear, anger, loniliness, and emotional pain. Through art-making, they were able to reflect on their lived experiences, processed mental health challenges, and communicated feelings that words alone would not express.
In those moments, we witnessed how our artists and perfomer transformed feelings into form, revealing how they saw life, the world, and how COVID-19 had reshaped it. Through lines, shapes, and colours, each artist chose symbols that carried personal meaning, giving voice to emotions that could not be spoken.
To us, Art remains expression at its core. The artist is a translator of the feeling expressed, acknowledged, revealed, and intervened. To us at GL-BC Art carries belief, character, and truth.
This Spring Break program became a lifeline for students who had nowhere else to go and for families with limited access to resources, we offered not just creative activity, but connection, care, and a space for participants to be seen and heard.
SENIORS MENTORING YOUNG ARTISTS DURING COVID-19
11 years old
11 years old
9 years old
Why Measure Arts and Cultural Participation, and for Whom
At Great Lakes Society, we ask these questions because participation in arts, culture, music, stage performance and education evolve. It is no longer only about who attends formal events, it is about who creates, who trains/educates, who shares, and who belongs.
As demographics and audiences rapidly change across Greater Vancouver, and beyond, many institutions have been slow to respond. At GL-BC, we instead focus on bridging and bonding diverse communities, especially underserved populations, by understanding how people engage with the arts, not just what they attend.
With adequate funding, the Greater Vancouverites, particularly those historically excluded, are deeply engaged through music training, cultural expression, and performance in community spaces. A new cultural paradigm has emerged: one that expands participation beyond traditional venues and definitions, recognizing creativity wherever it lives.
Spring Break 2022 | Children’s Art, Music and Stage Performance Program
The pandemic deeply disrupted the music and arts sector, especially for our children. In response, we created a space of healing, creativity, fun and hope. Through professional Arts training, accessible venues, and inclusive platforms, we nurture young talent while reconnecting our community to its cultural roots.
Great Lakes Society of BC stands as a hub of Black and African diaspora arts leadership, strengthening partnerships and ensuring our stories, rhythms, and identities are equitably represented. Our programs reimagine how arts and culture live in our hearts and communities, by us, for us, and with us.
We also commit to learning and accountability by collecting community-based data and exploring new tools and approaches to better measure cultural participation, impact, and belonging.