Community art thriving in Oshawa's Living Room

The last Saturday before Christmas was a busy day for me, as I'm sure it was for most people. I had a few shopping stops to make and not a lot of time to do it as I was headed across the border for a brief beer shopping excursion before finding my way to a Christmas party in Burlington.

I managed to avoid the mall this day, but not Wal-Mart and Target and the Christmas stress was palpable among the throngs of shoppers looking for last minute bargains.

I had one other stop on this day, however, that more than made up for any Christmas blues I may have been experiencing. The Living Room Community Art Studio in downtown Oshawa.

Mary

The Living Room is a storefront art studio for the community - especially those who are most marginalized. On any given day the place is filled with budding artists - most of them children - intent on expressing themselves through their art or learning about their craft at workshops staffed by volunteers.

Front and centre in this magical place are two people near and dear to my heart: my sister-in-law Mary and my brother-in-law Anthony. Mary in particular is like a rock star here: children would constantly come up to her to show her their work: "Look at this Mary!" and "See what I did Mary?" and "Can you help me?"

And she would look. And she would help. An actor by trade and an art therapy graduate, Mary would be ringing up a small art purchase and chatting with me, a woman who had come in to praise the studio and a budding artist or two, and then, as smooth as tomorrow's silk, take two strides to her left to welcome participants at a workshop that was just getting underway and then return to us and the conversation without missing a beat.

Like a boss.

Anthony, meanwhile, was also on hand offering advice and assistance, though his presence was a bit more restrained. A movie man himself, with a ton of experience in independent films as a producer/director and in supporting roles in bigger budget flicks, Anthony spent this day ensuring the workshop participants were able to realize their artistic potential and have fun doing it.

They make a great pair, these two. And the art community in Oshawa is the better for it.