Across Newsletter June 2022

JUNE 2022 ISSUE

Across U-hub Let's get together!

CONTENTS Message from Executive Director - 01 Youths are riddles, artworks are also riddles - 03

Message from Executive Director Beginning in early May, we have gradually reopened our center. Indoor activities are conducted in a manner that limits the number of participants, while outdoor activities serve a larger number of participants. Whether it's new friends or friends we’ve known for a while, all Across members are taking proactive steps to practice social distancing and keep themselves and each other safe. This collaborative spirit appropriately reflects our core value that everyone goes above and beyond to respect one another.

On a warm Saturday in June, our young people met at Across for an outdoor gathering. As a warm summer breeze drifted through the air, some young people painted murals, some played live music, some started dancing, and others played group games. As the day wore on, others gathered at the back of Across to cook a barbeque.

This was a scene not seen at Across since prepandemic times.

For the young people who joined us, some were born here, some were new to Toronto, and others had settled here for a few years. Some were new to Across, while others were long term members. Conversation flowed in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin. Despite the lack of a single common language and the shyness that strangers feel the first time they meet; the group had a common craving for friendship.

Nicole Wong

Message from Executive Director We can all imagine the hardships that Across has been gone through over the past two years, but the tougher road is yet to come. As I reflect on that breezy day in June, I am reminded that what keeps us going is seeing our young people express a unified desire to be together, to build social connections, and to know that they are not alone; and that at Across, they will always have a home.

Youth are riddles, artworks are also riddles Trying to understand a young person is like trying to understanding a painting: Much unrecognizable, and the recognizable seems to be in odd relations to each other. We know or feel that there are emotions and ideas stirring beneath the surface, and just when we thought we can grasp them, they slip away.

Can we overcome the initial shock of something foreign looking or sounding? Can we suspend disbelief to enter these strange new worlds created from life experiences different from our own? Can we maintain our curiosity, or care, when their narratives develop away from our expectations?

A key to knowing a young person or an artwork is to withhold judgment. It is easy to pass judgment, but that often makes us stop seeing more.

We like to be given an answer when we ask ‘what does it mean’. But paintings, and young people, were not created to have an answer. There are no answers because they are not problems. They are more like questions, open-ended ones that inspire thoughts and discussions, hopes and introspections.

They are like the riddles told by Jesus as depicted in the Bible. The riddles generated discussions, reflections and even arguments and frustrations. Just as people’s reactions towards the riddles reflected who they are, the ways we see young people and art also reflect who we are. .

Samson Wong

Youths are riddles, artworks are also riddles Young people and paintings are of course different, but they were both created by loving hands to take on lives of their own. As such, we can also know their creators by engaging with the creation.

How far can the analogy of young people and art take us? For now, let’s just say that you might be surprised by what you discover if you spend time to see, listen and feel an artwork, as you would when spending time with a young person