Creating art with vulnerable Edmontonians doesn't tend to lead to massive transformation on its own, but positive changes do arise, says the first artist-in-residence for Boyle Street Community Services.
"It's lots of just little things, like people choosing to be around for their kids, feeling like they have a community to support that," said hip-hop artist, producer, and composer Kaz Curtis, who performs under the moniker Kaz Mega. "That community is something that holds everyone accountable, and not in ways where ... people are frowning at you, but just reasons to choose to be the best person you can be."
Curtis's 12-month residency, which started in the fall, is supported by Boyle Street and the Edmonton Arts Council. He was "the ideal choice for this residency" because of the creative way he combines hip-hop, teaching, and community care, the arts council's executive director, Renée Williams, said in a release.
The artist-in-residence program is "an exciting step for our organization," added Jordan Reiniger, executive director of Boyle Street Community Services, which officially opened okimaw peyesew kamik this week. The new facility at 10740 99 Street NW will be one of the spaces in which Curtis will practice.
"Access to creative expression and arts learning should be barrier-free, and we are thrilled to see the inspiration, growth, and community connection that Kaz's presence, talent, and vision will spark across our organization," Reiniger said earlier this year.
In his work with Boyle Street Community Services, Curtis visits sites around the city to provide whatever he senses is needed.
"Sometimes it's just to sit and be quiet, create, but a lot of times, as people start to see me, a lot of really good conversations come out of that," he told Taproot. "These spaces carry a lot of spiritual people, with a closer, more intimate relationship with spirituality, so I get to access that, and kind of intertwine that with art and creation."
Kaz Mega is the new artist-in-residence for Boyle Street Community Services. (Stephanie Swensrude)
Curtis said he assesses which of the four elements of hip-hop — making beats, rapping, dancing, and visual art — a client might thrive in, and tries to nudge them in that direction. Some people don't realize they're creating art until he points out that they've just spoken a poem, for example.
"Art reflects a person, so when it's valued — especially by the person who created it — it is a reflection of self-value," Curtis said. "I think that's especially important in a lot of these spaces."
Curtis has been practicing at the intersection of art and social services for years. He once worked at Boyle Street Education Centre, a downtown school for street-involved youth, showing students how to record music with free audio software in the school's recording studio.
He said hip-hop is an apt art form because it was created by young people in New York City going through collective trauma. "They were able to recognize those things, come together, figure out a way of being together, and that ended up being hip-hop," he said.
Curtis grew up in Edmonton's hip-hop scene in the 1980s and '90s, which was influenced by Jamaican and Trinidadian communities who ended up here by way of Toronto and New York. He started the Hip Hop in the Park festival in 2008, and the teens he first mentored through that are now grown up and mentoring youth themselves.
"That's cool — sharing community with them and understanding that it's now my job to make sure there's space for them to operate within," he said.