Current Staff

Karen Richardson, Arts Program Manager, SummerArts / After School Arts Program is a graduate from Dalhousie's acclaimed post-graduate journalism program, and an active journalist, and poet aside from her great programming at UrbanArts. She is an on-air contributor as "Nurse Karen" to Soca Therapy airing Sunday nights from 6pm-9pm Sunday nights on Flow 93.5 and a regular entertainment writer for Toronto-Lime.com. She is the co-editor of T.Dot Griots: An Anthology of Toronto Black Poets (www.mustardseeds.net), available as one of the best collections of its type.

Denis Calnan, DreamBuilding Project Manager is an alumni of UrbanArts past programs graduate of Nova Scotia College of Art & Design in 2007 and will be another UrbanArts staff to go through the Dalhousie post -graduate journalism program in 2008. He has traveled to Ethiopia and other developing world destinations and has completed amazing community arts projects wherever he goes.

Tasha Schumann, beats.mind.movement Head Producer is an honours graduate from University of Toronto who majored in Psychology and an accomplished young music producer. She writes, produces and performs for her own urban music project, Candy Coated Killahz (www.candycoatedkillahz.com) as well as being a recent addition to the Stronghold Entertainment Group.

Colanthony Humphrey, beats.mind.movement Associate Producer is an alumni of UrbanArts past programs and after recently finishing his high school diploma will head to Humber College Design and Advertising program in fall of 2008. He is an acclaimed Graffiti Artist whose work has been showed at everything from the Commonwealth Games to Youth Challenge Fund press events and the Mobilizer and is an aspiring music producer.

Francesca Nocera, Graffiti Transformation Lead Artist has studied alternative and healing arts and has worked at the acclaimed arts organization Sketch. 2007 will be her first summer with UrbanArts.

Emilee Barrington, UrbanArts Y-Arts Space Manager comes form a background of Design at Humber College and has experience as a stage manager for Curse of Ham in 2007 as well as UrbanArts' own Domestic Science. She is a part of UrbanArts' STEP UP poetry collective.

Summer 2006 Staff

SummerArts
Karen Richardson, Program Manager
Mandissa Keyi, Leader
Chanson King, Leader

DreamBuilding
Lily Tannis, Project Manager
Memo Cabrera, Leader
Khadijah Abdullah, Leader

Grafitti Transformation Project
Denis Calnan, Lead Artist
Roland, Youth Artist
Eusra, Youth Artist
Derrick, Youth Artist
Sisi, Youth Artist
Osayanmo, Youth Artist
Stephanie, Youth Artist

Clairandean Humphrey, Videographer

UrbanArts Artists

UrbanArts relies on hundreds of contracted artists per year to provide our neighborhoods with stellar programming.

Just some of the artists that have helped this year:

• Klyde Broox and the Dub Poets Collective
• Jesus Mora
• Freeze DNA Comics
• DJ Eloquence

Urban Arts Interns and Volunteers

UrbanArts benefits from hundreds of hours of volunteer time per year from gifted persons, including internship students from colleges and universities.

Some of this year's students and volunteers include:

• Wendy MacMillan
  Queens University
  Arts Community Education Program
• Lesia Cole
  Humber College
  Social Work Programzz
  
• Devon Adorjan
  Humber Collegiate Institute, TDSB Co-Op Program