The Art For Aid Project

About The Program

The Art for Aid Project was developed in 2013 by Ontario Indigenous artist Colleen Gray with the purpose of collecting new and gently used quality art supplies. Those supplies are shipped to resource challenged Indigenous schools and community youth art programs in Canada.

Art for Aid encourages the public to collect and donate art supplies, initiate community drives, attend public events and speaking engagements, and stay up-to-date through social media.

  • The Project Goals: 
    To connect Indigenous youth to art learning, through access to quality tools;
  • To support educators in providing art exploration for Indigenous youth in remote communities;
  •  To be a vehicle that supports opportunities for non-Indigenous friends to engage and learn.

The passionate artist behind it all

Colleen Gray sells her powerful art to support this project, and in 2019 she was awarded the Governor General of Canada’s Sovereign Medal for Volunteering for her work with Art for Aid.

Colleen believes in the power of art as a vehicle to invite healing and intelligent self-expression.

Support The Art For Aid Project

  •  DONATE to support Art for Aid: Our zero-fee secure donation platform will send a charity receipt directly to your email.

  •  Drop off art supplies: The Art for Aid warehouse is located in Carleton Place, Ontario. To drop off supplies please email artforaid2013@gmail.com to make an appointment. You can ship your donated art supplies by Canada Post. Contact us for the shipping address.

  • Purchase items: To purchase art products in support of Art for Aid, visit our Shopify store HERE.

  •  Invite us to present Art for Aid to your school or organization and initiate an art supply drive.

  •  To view Colleen’s original work, visit her gallery online HERE

  • Follow us on Facebook and Instagram

Land Based Learning

For Indigenous people the land and the language are intrinsically linked and Art for Aid supports land based learning programs by supplying new outdoor gear.  Land based learning provides youth with a solid link to culture, language and the land, introducing youth to skills such as ice fishing, outdoor safety,
survival skills, food preparation, traditional medicines and knowledge, but gear is expensive and hard to come by.

Support The Art For Aid Project

To donate toward this program, click DONATE below.  Our zero-fee secure donation platform will send a charity receipt directly to your email.