"Thank you again for providing my mother Monica with the amazing opportunity to learn, feel good and explore. She completed two courses: candle making and soap making... She absolutely loved it and plans to continue doing courses. This made a big difference in her life." — Mireya
"The act of making music is something I have dreamt about for years, and this was the first time I truly got to experience it. It was and is nothing short of magic. I am so grateful to VS. Arts Grant that allowed me to pick up this beautiful instrument." — Diya
"For course Art 511, I developed a series of six large works on paper titled The songs of Lalleshwari, a visual rendering of the verses of fourteenth century mystic saint Lal Ded from Kashmir, India. The verses of Lalleshwari have been handed down through the generations in the oral tradition in Kashmiri households. The poems reflect the spiritual journey of a woman, in search of self and her rising above the social, political and religious confines of the time." — Seema
"There's not enough words to express my gratitude. The grant gave me the opportunity to experiment, fail, but continue the journey in arts. Still doing pottery, but also open my mind to other techniques, or ways to express myself." — Ana
"When I set out to take this course, my goal was to learn how to do bandhani, the resist dye technique of my Gujarati ancestors. During the course I reflected about my classmates, all white women, who have taken many different fabric design courses as means of adding interest to their quilting practice. And me, who grew up knowing that my mother and aunts would not wear their saris outside of the house in order to not draw unwanted racist attention to themselves, now compelled to show up visibly as a South Asian woman. Most rewarding was using my newly acquired skills and materials to paint backdrops for the Tamil Digital Storytelling Fellowship at my workplace, UTSC, a program for which I am a volunteer mentor. Thank you again for the grant, it has allowed me to add another artistic modality to my life." — Nisha