National Youth Arts Week will be the largest celebration of creative expression of children and youth in Canada, taking place on May 1-7, 2012. It will provide an opportunity for young people to express their ideas, showcase their talents, have their voices heard on issues that affect their lives and celebrate their positive contribution to the community and Canadian society in general.

By working together and taking an active part in creating events, the youth will not only build a strong connection with their community and relationships within it, but it will also contribute to the creation of national network of youth artists and leaders. They not only represent the future of Canada, but even more importantly, its presence. The contribution of contemporary youth artists, entrepreneurs, arts organizations, program deliverers and to the development of Canadian culture is enormous and needs to be recognized and celebrated. The celebrations will include all art forms and the events will include all those interested to participate.

Another goal of celebrating youth arts and exhibiting the work of talented artists is to expand the whole children and youth arts sector. This includes: creating new opportunities to introduce arts to all children from young age through adding new infrastructure, supporting existing organizations that provide programming for children and youth, increasing the presence of the arts in education, and promoting diversity by funding youth artists who are not using traditional art forms to express themselves. By celebrating the talent and and showcasing youth artists the National Youth Arts Week will become a catalyst for further development and celebrations to come.

The arts are an integral part of our lives. A celebration of this scope will give youth artists and all those who support them a chance to excel in what they do and offer an additional opportunity to get their message heard.

Ultimately, it would be a celebration of itself to see a nationaly connected network of youth artists that can express themselves and showcase their creative talents while helping further youth led initiative across the country.