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April 21, 2025
News
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TIES Centre for Immigrant Research (TCIR) is once again showcasing the powerful stories of newcomer 2SLGBTQIA + youth with its Voices in the Art Project (VIA).
Now entering its fourth and final cohort, VIA is looking for participants to join this unique project, which features journal entries, poetry, essay writings, clothing, sketches, scrapbooking, paintings, and much more.
“VIA is really important for participants,” Gurleen Matharu, Project Associate, TIES Centre for Immigrant Research (TCIR) says.
“It’s a really unique space for them to explore their experiences about what it’s like to be a newcomer. What it’s like to belong to the queer community. But also, what it’s like to navigate this as a young person.”
Every piece of art at the exhibition tells an emotional and often raw story of the participant’s journey to acceptance and inclusion.
It’s a journey Richmond Baidoo knows all too well. An immigrant from Ghana, West Africa, Baidoo came to Canada as a student and was a previous participant in VIA.
His entry included a powerful poem called “Ostracized by Home”, focusing on how differently he says he was treated once he “came out”.
“It’s been a real struggle,” he says. “Who would have thought a place I used to call home would now be a place I can’t call home?”
Baidoo says that through TIES and VIA, he finally found an accepting community, full of people who have gone through similar experiences.
His message to the community, and to others like him struggling, is simple.
“I want them to know that they are special. They should accept themselves the way they are, and you can’t always please people, so just be yourself.”
“I also hope it will touch the whole community to be accepting of queer people and know that they’re human beings the same as everyone and they deserve to be accepted,” he adds.
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Thea Galang also struggled with acceptance both at home in the Philippines and after moving to Canada more than a decade ago.
She heard about the first cohort of VIA through an artist friend and knew she wanted to be a part of it.
“Creating visual arts and writing, videography, audio design, etc. can help immigrants feel in touch with their identity but also the LGBTQ community,” she says.
Galang’s artwork is a mixture of media. She loves experimenting with a variety of materials, and her creations include acrylic and oil paintings, charcoal and graphite drawings and sculpting with recyclables. She also started crocheting.
VIA, she says, let her show her unique creativity.
“This was a great outlet, a great beginning grounds for experimentation and just seeing where it goes. It made me feel a lot more free to create the work I want to create rather than other viewpoints shifting my ways in making art.”
Making art and making friends.
“Not only did it help me connect with my own identity but to this day I still have friends from the initial focus group, which is really nice.”
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Matharu says she too has felt a strong connection to each of the 32 participants who have already gone through the VIA project.
“Experiences can of course come with the good and the bad,” she points out. “Each story and each participant’s experience has been extremely meaningful to me, and I tell all my participants that I’ve been on this journey with them.”
Her ultimate goal is that this project will not only influence but also provide knowledge to organizations about the gaps in some services available to these young people.
“They need spaces where they can come and talk about things like their intersectionality and make friends and just have this informal space for them to all come together,” she adds.
“Let’s all listen and be kind to one another.”
About VIA:
The project has been funded by Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE).
VIA is a partnership with the University of British Columbia (UBC), the University of Calgary (U of C) and the University of Michigan.
Eligibility:
Additional Resources:
Voices in the Art Exhibition: Showcasing Talent and Inclusion
Media RSVP, Interviews & Inquiries:
Tomasia DaSilva
Media and Relationship Strategist
Email: tomasiadasilva@immigrant-education.ca
Phone: 403-291-0002
Get involved with TIES on our social media platforms.
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