Teenager Sahfera fills a table with snacks for young artists in a greenspace on Young Street in the West Broadway neighbourhood. She peeks over the shoulders of kids as they paint landscapes of their home country, abstract shapes, or whatever else flows onto the page from their creative minds.
Sahfera sees this scene from a fresh perspective, since it wasn’t all that long ago when she was the little one on the other end of the brush.
“I started going to Art City with my brother. I was so nervous and scared,” Sahfera remembered about her first days at the organization. “But then there was this really nice guy named Eddie … he was just so nice to me, and he made it a really good experience.”
Eddie is Art City’s Artistic Director, Eddie Ayoub, who’s been with the donor-supported agency partner for more than 20 years and is as bright and bold a community champion as the building where Art City is housed.
“Art is an integral part of the human experience,” Eddie says. “It helps us grow as a person; it helps us get to know ourselves and each other.”
Art City is a cost- and barrier-free community studio where Winnipeggers of all ages who want to express themselves creatively are encouraged and inspired to join. The concept was conceived more than 25 years ago by renowned Winnipeg artist Wanda Koop after she realized a need for reliable arts programming while working with inner-city teenagers.
“These were kids who should have had access to innovative and fun extracurricular activities but were being underserved,” Eddie previously recalled.
Today, arts programming like that offered at Art City is widely credited with helping to promote positive youth development—like confidence, social skills, and emotional regulation—and keeping young people in lower-income communities away from unsafe activity.
“Art is an integral part of the human experience."
And creativity truly knows no bounds inside the cleverly decorated space on Broadway, which itself is a whimsical celebration of art media.
Plant paper printmaking, forest forage sculptures, photography, and Indigenous art workshops (to name just a few) are available six days a week free of charge for anyone who stops by.
Art City offered over 900 workshops and learning opportunities last year to more than 13,600 participants.
“Everyone is welcome. It’s an opportunity to get involved in something really positive,” Eddie said. “Creativity is what’s responsible for everything. If we’re not creating, we‘re just really consuming.”
While there’s an abundance of imagination inside Art City, it doesn’t end at the door. You’ll find the equally inventive Art City Outside program with Sahfera and the team in the nearby greenspace.
For four hours each weekday in July and August, Art City Outside sets up supplies and snacks and invites everyone to come and get creative at no cost or fee. A variety of themes and mediums are offered, and guest artists often collaborate with the group based on their respective art practices.
“Some things can be expensive, to do art in an art program,” said Sahfera. “I feel like it’s just a really good experience to have as a child.

United Way Winnipeg donors have supported Art City since 2002. The Essential Needs Fund—supported by the Richardson Foundation in partnership with United Way Winnipeg—also helped pay for repairs to Art City’s roof.
Ayoub says United Way Winnipeg’s reliable funding model is the best way to help keep nonprofits stable and strong in the long term, including his own. He added the relationship with United Way Winnipeg helps Art City reach even further and achieve even more for the community.
“United Way funding actually allows an organization like Art City to establish itself, grow capacity, build, and leverage … anyone who knows you’re a United Way Winnipeg agency or partner knows you’ve got the stamp of approval.
“There’s a lot of confidence that what you’re doing is very effective and valuable.”
For Sahfera, the proof is in the palette—she has moved from creating at Art City to assisting with programs so that other kids can have the same opportunities to express themselves and grow as she did.
“I’ve made lots and lots of memories.”
