By David Opinko

Resilient Art YQL

Soup Kitchen program helping clients through art

Nov 18, 2020 | 2:10 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Volunteers at the Lethbridge Soup Kitchen are not only working to fill peoples’ stomachs but to fulfill them creatively.

After starting as a volunteer back in the spring, Tannis Chartier says she noticed that the non-profit was satisfying their basic needs but was not “making the catalyst for change which is finding purpose and meaning in their lives.”

She started a weekly art program called Resilient Art YQL where she works with clients at the Soup Kitchen to paint and draw.

“It’s just a really open time for them to create and so I have lots of mediums – watercolours, paints, markers, pencil crayons, and they just create what they’d like. I soon realized that they didn’t have a place to store their artwork and so I came up with the idea to sell the artwork on a Facebook page with the help of a couple of friends.”

In recent weeks, Chartier has been able to sell several pieces of art online auction-style with all money going back to the original artist.

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Rather than simply writing a cheque, however, the goal is to fulfill their needs such as clothing, medication, or Tim Horton’s gift cards.

“Say a painting sells for $30. I tell the person you have $30, what would you like me to buy?”

Two artists, Richard and Louis, have been working on putting together a 32-page colouring book that should be ready towards the end of the year.

“One of them does very, like, tribal-looking work, lots of animals and Aztec-type drawings. The other one does a lot of abstract circles and shapes and stuff like that. It’s quite a unique book and it’s got a few different designs in it.”

The book will be geared more towards an adult audience in terms of complexity.

The colouring books sell for $20 each, and depending on publishing costs, at least $15 from each copy will go directly to the artists.

After being listed on their Facebook page for less than a day, Chartier tells LNN that more than 70 books have been pre-ordered so far.

More details can be found the Resilient Art YQL Facebook page. The colouring book can be ordered by emailing resilientartyql@gmail.com