Toronto; home to some of the most talented creative minds in the world

BY GLORIA O’KOYE

Toronto is home to many upcoming inspirational creatives; from literacy, visual and many more art forms. However, too often the youth’s voices get overlooked and compared to other more established creatives. This can be discouraging for young creatives unless they have lots of confidence in themselves and have a strong support group.

Being a young creative myself, there are many times I have self-doubted my own work and had to fight the urge not to delete whole entire files off my laptop and toss my drafts into the recycle bin. I consider myself extremely lucky to have friends and family members who acknowledge my creativity and could only imagine internal battles other creatives are facing when they don’t have the necessary support.

I remember a time I had taken a long hiatus from the arts and came back to the art world by joining this amazing writing workshop led by One Mic Educators, a multi-disciplinary arts education enterprise dedicated to engaging the disengaged through the arts. They have executed consultations, facilitated hundreds of poetry/spoken word workshops, organized dozens of visits to Six Nations territories, assisted in fundraising thousands of dollars for grassroots causes and delivered dozens of open mic events through their: LA3 Raza Open Mic series and Kings for Consent workshops.

One particular thing that stood out during my time participating at this workshop was that we were given a book called ‘The Artist’s Way’ by Julia Cameron (which I personally would recommend for all my readers who are creative). There was one part of the book that inspired me a lot and motivated me to showcase other creatives within the city. The section of the book talked about protecting the artist child from within and mentioned the different key factors that creatives have to face constantly from the moment their love for art was born. It gently reminded me that there are creatives whom we know are talented and may assume they know the worth of their art, yet they could be facing negative thoughts about themselves.

Hence why I want to shed some light on some amazing youth creatives that are doing tremendous things in the city and some ways you can support them! I had the honour to meet an incredible individual a while back and also had the opportunity to co-facilitate with her in a workshop series.

Natalie “Rare” Chattargoon better known as Rare, is a multifaceted Toronto born and raised creative. Her craft involves spoken word poetry, photography, film and an educational background in Social Service Worker. She grew up facing many barriers and challenges throughout her journey that motivated her to strive for a better life.

Her work explores social issues through her art forms. She enjoys educating others on social issues, spreading love through art and helping others grow. She hopes to engage people through the mind, body and soul. Rare takes pride in her community development work and empowers young leaders to go for their dreams. She has worked in many marginalized communities to try to break the stigmas surrounding social issues. She loves what she does and is very passionate. Rare is truly one of a kind, so divine and hard to find.

Royal Bankrolls is a media and fashion business focused on empowerment in style. The platform showcases poetry, merchandise and Rare’s new book. She’s working on growing her brand everyday.

Rare’s World is a book of art created from the mind, body, and soul. It is a combination of poetry and photography in one. Covering topics of life lessons, a sprinkle of affirmations and photos that showcase beauty in black excellence. Rare is a multifaceted creative, who currently focuses on poetry, photography, and film. In her new project ‘Rare’s World’  she shares an array of poetry from her adolescence till present, alongside photos that reflect on experiences. The book covers life, as she has experienced it, growing up in Toronto.

Rare’s poems are a story of resilience through a journey to healing, closure, and eventually seeing herself in a positive light. The photos are visual representations of her influences and how she envisions her world. The aesthetics build on black and red primarily, with a theme of royalty and growth throughout the book, depicted by crowns and roses. To create the project, Rare committed a team of all black creatives and professionals to make it happen. Rare’s World is the tangible product of black excellence.

Rare is currently working with Arts Etobicoke and Glowz to create workshops around Zine making, which is a form of learning how to self publish your own work. The workshops have a variety of topics like learning about typography, poetry and creative writing skills. This program runs every Thursday and Friday. You can contact Rare by her business email Royalbankrolls@gmail.com for more information or sign up directly on the Arts Etobicoke website. We hope to see you there.