PosAbilities arts program joins East Side Culture Crawl
Michelle Strutzenberger

Several more community members are now involved with posAbilities, sharing their talents and resources and providing new employment opportunities, and much of the credit for this goes to Joseph, a passionate artist, says posAbilities staff member Simone.

Last November , the posAbilities arts program Alternatives, had the opportunity to be part of a local art tour event, the East Side Culture Crawl.

For the Culture Crawl, more than 300 artists in east Vancouver open up their studios for three days allowing people to visit and see their displays, buy pieces and watch the artists at work.

More than 450 people toured the posAbilities art studio.

Joseph was especially thrilled to take people on a tour of one project, which runs around the walls of the entire room. The project is essentially a design of the world, with a road, ocean, train track to New York and a zoo. Various artists helped create the mural, but it was a series of drawings of vehicles by Joseph that got it all started.

“I liked it,” says Joseph of the Culture Crawl, noting he especially enjoyed having all the people come into the studio.

“I like to draw,” he adds.

He says he especially likes drawing vehicles.

After one visitor had taken the tour with Joseph, he asked whether he had any other work, a conversation that ended up with the visitor buying a piece of Joseph’s — an airplane display — that had not been for sale but with which Joseph was very happy to part.

The visitor then mentioned he’d like to begin donating some materials to the art and culture program from an art supply company he is just in the midst of purchasing.

One woman who overheard the conversation said she too would be interested in getting involved with posAbilities .

Later in the event, Joseph was again touring a number of people, his excitement obvious about both his art, selling his airplane display and the connections that were starting to happen.

As a result, another couple asked how they could get involved and there are now arrangements for another posAbilities team, separate from the art and culture group, to begin working on a recycling project.

“Because of Joseph, and because he was so excited and so interested in telling everybody his story, we now have three community connections that never would have happened had this Culture Crawl and Joseph’s (contribution) not happened,” says Simone.

This was the first year the posAbilities art and culture program participated in the Culture Crawl, but it is definitely not going to be the last, she adds. 

— Check back for a story with the community members who are now volunteering at Alternatives.

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