Artist and world traveller brings global experience to Art City

Eric Morse –

Art City is a not-for-profit organization based in St. James Town that provides free and accessible, multidisciplinary art programs to the children and youth

Jared Peters

of the neighbourhood. It has been around since 2002, having been imported from Winnipeg by founder and painter Wanda Koop.

After a tenure of five years, executive director Gillian Foster made a decision to move onward in her own artistic career, making room for Jared Peters to join the organization in mid-October. The Bulletin interviewed him in Art City’s small, bright, well-equipped and welcoming space at 545 Sherbourne St.

As an artist, Peters is a painter in oils. But it’s been as an educator and community worker that he has made his career.

His journey started from his hometown of St. John, New Brunswick. From there, he spent a year teaching English as a second language in Daegu, Korea, to kids of middle school age and a variety of English capabilities “from quite fluent to almost no English at all.”

He also acquired several degrees in fine arts from universities in Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and has a brand new Master’s from the University of Western Ontario.

He is a new Torontonian, living just north of Christie Pits with his wife Gillian and Charlie the Rabbit.

He is thrilled to be working in St. James Town. Daegu, he says, is “a city the size of Toronto,” very dense, but by no means the biggest city in Korea. His time there makes St. James Town—with its 19 high rises and about 17,000 residents—not too unfamiliar a setting.

Taking over a paid staff of five (Lily, Madeha, Julia, Leah and Melisande) and a large crew of volunteers, he finds Art City to be a wonderful fit with his life experiences.

“I worked as a volunteer family worker in Scotland a long time ago, and really enjoyed working with families and with people living in disadvantaged circumstances.

“I really enjoy teaching. After Korea I’ve also taught at UWO as a teaching assistant. It’s the kind of work that I really wanted to pursue. I love art and have a passion for art and I wanted to connect that passion to the community.”

Art City’s programming is geared loosely around the school year. “The children—about 30 every day—come in after school, they get a healthy snack, they get help with their homework, and then we gather and sit down and work on a new art project in various mediums.” The kids range in age from 6 to 14. Art City earns funding mainly through grants from the major public arts agencies, private sponsorships and donations.

Visit the Art City site at www.artcitytoronto.ca for more information about its work, plus a link for on-line donations and a generous sampling of the kids’ artistic efforts.