Art heals the soul, and that’s why the iHuman Youth Society must continue fostering creativity during the pandemic with their new web broadcast studios.
In its many forms, art is a passion for many, but it’s also a stress-reliever. Stress, anxiety, and depression are just a few mental health issues heightened for many people due to the pandemic. iHuman recognizes that having an outlet to relieve stress and express creativity is essential.
“Each individual’s story is different, and for some people, the benefit of iHuman is that they are in a safe space where they have the capacity to decompress and relax, and just vomit something out onto a piece of paper because their opportunities for expression are limited,” says Steve Pirot, Artistic Director of iHuman Youth Society.
Creating content isn’t a new concept, but iHuman is utilizing the pandemic to put their best content forward. iHuman realizes the best way to interact with youth is through a screen, especially during a pandemic when social distancing is of utmost importance.
iHuman Youth Society is a non-profit that “believes all young people have gifts to share.” They partner with marginalized youth to give them a creative outlet. iHuman’s many professional studio spaces allow youth to practice artistic skills and provide them with the opportunity to create art.
“There’s a lot of different possibilities, and we’re getting our toes wet in terms of the more artistic and creative components,” says Pirot about iHuman’s artistic creations. “The ones that are getting the most attention right now are the more immediate outreach social services type of communications.”
iHuman received a $9,300 grant from Edmonton Community Foundation to develop a web broadcast studio for youth to explore the world of video.
The area was initially supposed to be a theatre, but iHuman felt that a broadcast studio was more useful at present. So far, iHuman has experimented with the studio to create socially distanced informational videos to distribute to the public.
The studio is currently closed, but Pirot hopes that youth will learn to create web videos and music videos once the space re-opens.
“There’s a satisfaction of learning about the severity of this particular virus while also looking at the opportunities it provides,” says Pirot. “While we’re not necessarily doing things the way that we want to be doing them, there are silver linings.
”There are opportunities to grow into change, and we’d like to say thank you to ECF for supporting that.”
Learn more about ECF’s response to COVID-19.
