TORONTO, September 10, 2001 -- A group of 25 students from schools in the Jane-Finch community will unveil an eight-piece art installation at York University that they designed and built themselves as part of the bridge-building effort between the community and the university.

The ‘transformative site’, a representation of the various artistic mediums, will be unveiled on Tuesday, Sept. 11 at 7 p.m. in the lobby of York’s Centre for Film and Theatre. The students are from the 11 schools in the Westview Family of Schools Partnership with York, created 10 years ago to develop programs that would encourage young people in the Jane-Finch community to reach for a post-secondary education. The students range from elementary to high school age and were taking part in the partnership’s first Summer Visual Arts Enrichment program.

"The program aims to provide young people in the community with knowledge and skills in the visual arts that enable them to collaborate artistically and form strong community bonds," said Pat Saul, coordinator of the Westview Partnership in the Faculty of Education at York.

Each of the 11 schools in the partnership recommended two students, one male and one female, for the free program, and the students worked out of the art studio at Oak Park Middle School. The Summer Arts 2001 is directed by Ali Jahangir, arts convenor at Oakdale Park.

Family and friends are invited to celebrate the unveiling at the Centre for Film and Theatre at York University, Keele campus, 4700 Keele St.

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For more information, please contact:

Susan Bigelow
Media Relations
York University
416-736-2100, ext. 22091
sbigelow@yorku.ca
YU/096/01