We are living in times of intense crisis and massive global transformation. Everywhere around us is evidence that the old order does not sustain us. Young people know that it is time for change, but rarely are they given the tools they need to be the change we are always asking them to be.
We consider art as a critical human endeavor and transformative action, one which is intricately connected to our developing a healthy relationship with self, society, and land. We strive to connect the conversations that are catalyzed by artistic exploration with active social justice work by curating safer spaces and supporting projects that engage these intersections.
We are curating spaces for new kinds ofcross cultural dialogue and deepening of relationships where real learning, and re-learning, occurs. As an organization, we are harvesting our learnings and honouring our responsibility as a cultural catalyst in Toronto and as a producer of socially engaged artistic projects locally and internationally.
Children’s Peace Theatre’s image of itself is that of a community container — a place where people come in, connect and interact and learn, cross pollinate their knowledge to scatter in many places, while more young people join in and spark new conversations — in a continuous cycle of new possibilities.
Fundamental to our artistic vision is the belief that art is the single best way to spark the fires of civic engagement. It engages the moral energy of people making them more reflective, more compassionate and more creative in imagining new possibilities. To be human and a democratic citizen requires that one muster the courage to think critically for oneself. Art invites an examination of each participant’s own life, identity, and purpose and aims to immerse them directly with critical issues, in a way only art can, to prepare them to be fully human and to play a vital role in democracy and community.