Expressive Arts for LGBTQ Newcomers
Access Alliance seeks to create spaces where lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer newcomers, immigrants and refugees can explore individual and shared experienced through art-making. We run Expressive Arts groups specifically for LGBTQ newcomers, immigrants and refugees of all genders twice a year, and all of our other Expressive Arts groups are open to all women, including lesbian, bisexual, trans and queer women. Please check our calendar to see if there is a group happening soon.
Stepping Up to the Plate: Developing Best-Practices in Arts-Based Programming for Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Newcomer Immigrant and Refugee Women
The Stepping Up to the Plate project was a 2-year project (2008-2010) funded by the City of Toronto’s Community Safety Initiative to develop best practices in arts-based programming where issues of violence and community safety are explored by lesbian, bisexual and trans newcomer immigrant and refugee women.
The project included several phases:
- Review of existing Expressive Arts program model
- Literature Review
- Interviews and focus groups with community members and service providers
- Implementation of 2 pilot Expressive Arts groups, one for lesbian and bisexual women and one for trans women
- Development and dissemination of a Promising Practices Toolkit (Part 1 - pdf, 34 pages, 4.5MB; Part 2 - pdf, 29 pages, 1.6MB) for service providers, which is a guide for implementing arts-based programs for lesbian, bisexual and trans newcomer immigrant and refugee women
Additional resources (click on the title to download document):
LGBTQ+ Resources for Referral, Training and Capacity Building (pdf, 4 pages, 155 KB)
- Local agencies that provide health and psychosocial support for Trans and LGBQ newcomer, immigrant and refugees.
Resources Checklist for a Successful Expressive Arts Program (pdf, 4 pages, 46KB)
- This list outlines the resources, staffing, and infrastructure required to support an Expressive Arts Program within your agency. This document is included in the Promising Practices Toolkit, but can be used as a stand-alone document.
Some Local Agencies serving LGBTQ+ Communities (pdf, 3 pages, 22KB)
- This document is the product of an environmental scan assessing the breadth of services for LGBTQ+ communities in Toronto and across Ontario with a brief description of their services and programs.
