THE ART BIKERS PROGRAM | 4Cs Foundation

JOB DESCRIPTION: 4Cs Foundation Art Bikers

Start date: Monday, May 7, 2012

End date: August 31, 2012

Salary: $15.00/hour

Hours: 35 hours per week, generally 7 hours per day, including weekends, holidays and evening hours.

Application by email only to info@4csfoundation.com

No phone calls or email inquiries, please. Please read the job description carefully before applying.

Submit your employment resume with the names and contact information of three references. You may include a c.v.
Please address your level of urban biking skills in your cover letter, and include any related volunteer experience, education, and training in arts-based community development, youth development, or community development as it related to the position.

Deadline for applications: March 2, 2012

The Art Bikers Program is a community arts outreach program of the 4Cs Foundation www.4csfoundation.com . The Art Bikers use bicycles pulling colourful trailers full of art materials to reach neighbourhoods throughout greater Halifax, and deliver facilitated arts-based activities that open up a world of creativity, connection, and fun for children and other community members. The program continues to demonstrate the 4Cs Foundation valued belief that making art together is a significant connector of people at a community and neighbourhood level.

The Art Bikers Program has three goals:

To provide spontaneous, fun, engaging opportunities for the general publicof all ages to engage with young artists in free, art making activities;
To make Art an event that happens at a street and community level;
To stimulate interest and participation in community arts in the Halifax Regional Municipality.

Art Biker Qualifications and Skills:

Possess a high level of imaginative and creative thinking.
Possess solid art / creative skills - ideally, interdisciplinary arts skills.
Have experience helping others to express themselves creatively.
Have experience working with children/ youth in camp, workshop, classroom or community-based settings.
Own and ride a hybrid or mountain bicycle that is in excellent working condition.
Physically fit.
Able to work outdoors for long periods of the day, bending, lifting, sitting on the ground comfortably.
Have urban biking experience and a high level of comfort biking in traffic.
Available to work for the duration of the contract with no other (work, holiday) obligations.
Willing and able to work flexible hours that can change on a weekly basis.
Have the ability to engage total strangers.
Highly adaptable in unpredictable situations.
Strong verbal communication skills.
Outgoing, extroverted, and quick thinking.
Possess excellent judgment.
Work well as part of a team or independently.
Can leave your attachment to your art practice and identity as an Artist behind, to facilitate others engagement with Art.
Want to learn more about community-based arts and community arts.

Assets:

You have:

Arts-based community development training or experience with community arts projects.
Theatre of the Oppressed or Popular Education experience /knowledge.
Conflict resolution skills.
A language in addition to English.
Bike repair and maintenance skills.
Knowledge of Halifax neighbourhoods and communities.

Responsibilities and Duties:

As an employee of the 4Cs Foundation you are responsible to

understand and communicate the mandate of the 4Cs Foundation to the general public, media, and others to help inform and encourage participation in 4Cs Foundation funded projects and activities.
Represent the 4Cs Foundation to the public in a manner that is in keeping with the values of respect, accessibility, equity, and community spirit.

Under the supervision of the Art Bikers Coordinator and working as part of a team, you are accountable for meeting the goals of the Art Bikers program and have the following responsibilities:

To understand, embrace, and communicate the goals of the Art Bikers program to the general public, media, and others.

To contribute to and work as part of a collaborative team to achieve the goals of the Art Bikers program.
To initiate, animate, and facilitate creative, fun public art activities at a neighbourhood level.
To participate fully and openly in all trainings offered over the course of the program.

To ensure a creative, accessible and safe environment for children, youth and community members to participate in the program's activities.
To take the initiative to approach, engage and encourage the general public in taking part in activities at delivery sites.

To work with people across ages and abilities.
To maintain the Art Bikers trailers, supplies, tools and art materials ensuring the safety and usefulness of these.
To contribute to the healthy functioning of the Team.
To complete or add to log books, evaluations, reports, and contribute to the Art Bikers blog and Facebook page, as required by the Coordinator.
To, at all times, follow the policies and procedure as detailed in the Art Bikers Handbook.

Finally, you may be asked to undertake other duties as determined by the Art Bikers Coordinator or Executive Director of 4Cs Foundation as necessary to fulfill the goals of the program or the 4Cs Foundation mandate.

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The ART BIKERS PROGRAM

The Art Bikers blog can be found here: http://www.artbikers.blogspot.com/

THE ART BIKERS PROGRAM HISTORY

Terri Whetstone, Executive Director of the 4Cs Foundation, had an idea to re-create her childhood experience of the "Park Shack" which arrived every summer in her neighbourhood park in Edmonton, Alberta. Staffed by young people, "the shack" provided arts & crafts materials and recreational equipment for day use to local children. Terri imagined offering a similar experience with a focus on art-making to the public in Halifax.

Inspired by the ingenuity of people in developing countries to make the best (and imaginative) use of bicycles for transporting items, she envisioned artists on bicycles equipped with colourful trailers full of art materials arriving in neighbourhoods throughout greater Halifax, opening up a world of arts-based creativity and fun for the community. Terri also saw this program as a way of providing much needed jobs to artists and arts students.

Jesse Harrod was hired as the program's first coordinator and was tasked with making Terri's dream a reality - no small job! From this vision and their collaboration, ART BIKERS was created and launched in the late spring of 2007. Since then, over 5000 people - of all ages and abilities - have joined the ART BIKERS in free art-making activities and projects in community and public spaces.

2012 marks the 6th anniversary of the ART BIKERS program. The ART BIKERS program has become a well known part of the cultural fabric of Halifax, and is invited back year after year by communities to take part in special events and celebrations in addition to the regular programming. The program continues to demonstrate that making art together is a significant "connector" at a community and neighbourhood level. Bringing children, individuals, families and neighbours together to work side-by-side in arts-based activities fosters lasting connections between the participants and deepens their understanding of the value of the Arts, arts education and publicly accessible arts programming.

The 4Cs Foundation is proud of the contribution of the ART BIKERS program to our community.