DAREarts At-Risk Children Shine Through Long Winter Into Spring Showcase

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - June 5, 2014) -

Editor's Note: There is a photo associated with this release.

As we roll into another Spring Provincial Election, with candidates fielding questions about Toronto's Educational needs, funding gaps and the lack of arts and cultural activities for Ontario's school children, DAREarts Kids are preparing their own answers. Most of DAREarts' students are marginalized by circumstances for which they have no control. However, these children, through DAREarts, are empowering themselves by discovering who they are and what they want to achieve in their lives.

Marilyn Field: "Together we can make a difference, one future leader at a time."

The children anticipate more answers from the candidates who will be leading them out of an austerity driven Ontario into a leadership that understands the value of the arts for them and their communities. Until that day, DAREarts is filling the gap, splendidly.

Over one hundred and fifty DAREarts kids aged 9 - 14 will showcase their talents as delegates on Thursday, June 5 at 7pm at the Brockton Centre, 90 Croatia Street. Students from 23 Toronto schools will sing a song they wrote, model fashion items they designed and run the show they created.

The evening will showcase the culmination of the last three months of DAREarts Days, in which the students explored and engaged in visual arts, music, drama, dance, architecture, literature and fashion throughout the 15^th to 21^st centuries in workshop settings outside of their classrooms. The grades four to eight children had been chosen by their schools based on potential and need. In their DAREarts Days, they painted, sculpted, sang, danced, composed, designed, wrote and acted through past world cultures while guided by local arts professionals. The students gained leadership skills by returning to their schools and teaching their classmates what they learned.

Our partners continue to throw their support behind us and we thank-

Artists as Teachers Spring 2014:

Njacko Backo, Eleni Edwards, Lise Godel, Moshe Hammer, Ildiko Hencz, Sarah Hicks, Gloria Hope, Monika Jensen Stevenson, David Langlois, Leanna Manning, Glenn Marais, Melissa Noventa, Malgorzata Nowacka, Jane Pang, Lee Pham, Malati Rajagopalan, Matt Richardson, Jamie Robinson, Manny Sandoval, & Cortney Stephenson

Education Partners:

Art Gallery of Ontario, Bata Shoe Museum, Casa Loma, CBC Museum, Clearview School of Arts and Culture, Economic Club of Canada, Gardiner Museum, Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, Lillian Smith Library, Long & McQuade, National Ballet School, Native Canadian Centre of Toronto, Royal Ontario Museum, Sampradaya Dance Creations, St. Paul's Basilica, TIFF Bell Lightbox, Trinity St. Paul's, & The Walmer Centre

DAREarts is a Canadian not-for-profit organization, which stands for "Discipline, Action, Respect, Responsibility and Excellence in Education". DAREarts' 5-year program works with 9-14 year olds from schools in high-priority neighbourhoods, empowering them to become leaders. Visit www.darearts.com for more information about DAREarts. Visit http://www.darearts.wordpress.com for up-to-date sharing of their experiences.

DAREarts thanks its lead supporter Northbridge Insurance, as well as other major supporters: Guy Carpenter, Scotiabank, TD Financial Literacy Grant Fund, TDSB, Ontario Trillium Foundation and Ontario Arts Council.

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