Global Art Exchange “Connect One”

In the winter of 2016, Vancouver welcomed its very first snow storm in a hundred years! Yet the extreme weather did not freeze our students’ love of art and enthusiasm in making the world a better place.

On December 17th, a group of passionate students from Art Hope Foundation held the first Global Art Exchange project at Vancouver Chinese Cultural Center, located in Chinatown.

The event was made up of two parts: Global Art Exchange (GAX) and Green Apple Art Center Students’ Works Showcase - The Young Artists’ Talks.

On the day of the event, Holly and Cici, GAX founder and Art Hope Foundation President respectively, led the opening ceremony with great composure, and articulated the philosophy of GAX, its goals, as well as its visions to the audiences. After the introduction, we were honoured to have Mr. Jackson Chien to provide a speech on behalf of our partnering organization for this project, Tonghua Art Education. Before proceeding to students’ works showcase, we played a short video filmed by Tonghua, introducing Youling Elementary and GAX project. The video was edited by our Green Apple student, Selena.

The second part of the event, The Young Artist Talks, featured the works of our students from Architecture and Fashion classes via presentation format. It was these students’ first time to present their work and progress formally in front of parents and instructors, yet they were able to communicate their ideas coherently and answered the audience's’ questions with ease. Besides the presentation, we also displayed more artworks on the wall, showcasing the accomplishments of students from different ages and disciplines. This year, Art Hope Foundation gave students complete autonomy to execute Global Art Exchange project from planning to completion. Through this event, the students not only had the opportunity to showcase their work, but also learned about social issues in a global context, helping to fundraise for students in China who lack economic resources. The exhibition was undoubtedly a remarkable and successful event, and we hope to continue promoting this project to help more people in need.