Safe Flight Home is a community-based public art project, offering free participatory arts workshops on Zoom for all ages, resulting in a public art exhibition across North York. We will be joined by project partner, FLAP Canada, a global leader in protecting birds from the hazards of our urban environment, to learn more about how we can best protect migratory birds in our community.

Participants will learn mixed media and mark-making techniques as they work alongside Lead Artist, Fatspatrol, exploring themes of local bird species, migration and life cycles, while fostering understanding and community connections.

This workshop is open to participants who live, work or play between Sheppard Avenue West and Bathurst Street to Finch Avenue West and Weston Road.

Access Notices:

• Participants will require access to a computer with a webcam and ability to connect to Zoom.

• Live Closed Captioning and ASL Interpretation will be offered during the Tuesday, November 3, 6pm session. We request to hold space for d/Deaf community participants for this session.

• Registrants must share a mailing address upon registration. STEPS will be delivering an art material kit to participants in advance of their selected workshop.

Available Workshop Dates and Registration Deadlines (as of Sunday, October 18):

• Thursday, October 29, 2020 from 4:00 - 6:00 pm

*Deadline to register is Friday, October 23, 2020 at 4pm

• Tuesday, November 3, 2020 from 6:00 - 8:00 pm (Closed Captioning, ASL Interpretation)

*Deadline to register is Friday, October 30, 2020 at 4pm

We may be physically distanced, but our desire to create, share and learn brings us together.

For more information on this project, visit the Safe Flight Home project page or email Program Coordinator, Renee Castonguay at renee@stepsinitiative.com

Header image credit: Jo Askew

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Fatspatrol is an Indian-Canadian artist born and raised in Dubai. Her work is a study of symbols and semiotics and our drive to make sense of the world through mythology, folklore, and storytelling. Fatspatrol's style of drawing takes inspiration from illustration and comic books alongside Indian block printed fabrics, Arabic calligraphy, and other ethnic patterns and visual influences. Her art is a fusion of cultures aiming to connect people.

Fatal Light Awareness Program (FLAP) Canada is a registered charity widely recognized as the pre-eminent authority on the bird-building collision issue. For more than 25 years, FLAP Canada and a network of over 100 partners, thousands of supporters, hundreds of volunteers, along with many other nature organizations, have engaged millions of people in the bird collision issue with dozens of campaigns and initiatives, but one goal: keep birds safe.