Off the Wall Stratford Artists Alliance celebrates return to full programming thanks to provincial funding

The Off the Wall Stratford Artists Alliance will be back this summer with a full slate of classes and programming thanks, in part, to provincial pandemic-recovery funding the not-for-profit arts organization received last year.

On Friday night, the artists alliance hosted a St. Patrick’s Day dance party at which Ontario Trillium Foundation representatives and Perth-Wellington MPP Matthew Rae joined Off the Wall to celebrate how the organization used a $29,000 Resilient Communities Fund grant issued last year to strongly recover from the hardships of pandemic restrictions.

“It is wonderful to see the Province of Ontario and the Ontario Trillium Foundation continue to support the important work Off the Wall does in our community,” Rae said in a press release. “This funding has helped Off the Wall continue to provide programming so many individuals and families enjoy. Their resilience and determination are inspiring.”

The funding is being used to help Off the Wall create an outdoor teaching and break space for students through the purchase of outdoor furniture, recruitment of two health and safety co-computers and the purchase of necessary safety equipment and supplies.

“This is the second of two major Trillium grants we’ve received to assist with pandemic recovery,” Off the Wall board co-chair Michele Boniface said. “The funding basically helped us through the pandemic as we had reduced capacity in our studio. It has also ensured people can come in safely.”

April Burns, a former student with Off the Wall, is one of two safety co-computers hired to assist with daily COVID-19 testing, the provision of masks and other personal protective equipment, and oversee the general health and safety of all participants, instructors and volunteers.

“When the students come in, I greet them, I test them, they fill out their safety paperwork and I get them ready to go to class,” she said. “We want to keep everybody safe and healthy, so we need to make sure we’re continuing to do these things going forward.”

“And she’s (in the studio) to monitor people to make sure everyone’s OK,” Boniface added.

The outdoor teaching and break space, meanwhile, is being outfitted with furniture from local businesses like CR Plastic Products. Not only does this space give Off the Wall some flexibility as to where classes and programming can be held, but it also gives students somewhere outside to eat lunch, get some fresh air and socialize with each other.

“Were it not for the grant, we wouldn’t be building that space,” Boniface said. “But as a result of the new space, it develops camaraderie among the students.”

Off the Wall, a collective of Stratford’s theater production arts specialists, offers training to students of all ages who aspire to enter the theater world or want to explore a personal interest. With a total of 12 to 14 courses being offered this year. including artistic welding, costume design, prop making and theatrical makeup, each course is led by a local theater artisan who has spent their career perfecting their craft.

For more information on Off the Wall Stratford Artists Alliance, visit www.stratfordoffthewall.com.

[email protected]