A West Broadway non-profit is teaching children the joy of giving, and at the same time, offering accessible art programming for everyone to enjoy.

Art City hosts a wide variety of art programs for free to allow everyone the opportunity to be creative without worrying about financial costs.

For the next few days before Christmas, Art City has festive programs where kids can express their imagination and give it as a gift to someone for Christmas.

"During the holiday season, programming really leans toward the theme of generosity and celebration," says Art City artistic director Eddie Ayoub. "And some of the artwork is going to be given out to community members who wouldn’t otherwise receive a personal card or object from anyone else."

At the beginning of December, participants made holiday cards with the medium of their choosing such as collages, watercolour, and screen printing. The cards were then gathered together and distributed to the community through some of Art City's partner organizations.

Ayoub says that these programs give children the chance to feel a sense of pride for what they have made and that their art pieces will go towards making someone joyful during the holidays. This teaches them the intrinsic satisfaction of the act of giving.

These programs run from Monday to Friday, from 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., and they are tailored for children to participate.

Something new that Winnipeggers will see is Art City asking for participants to register for a program, the Indigenous Art program. Originally the program was on Fridays but has been switched to Saturdays (excluding Christmas Eve), also between 3:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., and anyone is able to register.

"We’re building a more consistent participant group because a lot of the projects require multiple visits. It might take a few weeks to finish a ribbon shirt or skirt or when making a project out of actual leather. We find the results are a lot better when people are coming to the program week after week."

Among this new change to Art City, they are also cited to announce something else that will take place after December.

"In the new year, we’re looking forward to participating in the first West Broadway Snoball winter carnival that we’ve had in a few years."

The West Broadway Snoball winter carnival will take place sometime in February.

If interested in participating in one of Art City's programs, visit its website.