Who We Are

The Tri-Cities Arts Door Project is a youth-led, adult-supported, community asset-mapping project with 2 main objectives: Creating a youth-focused on-line map of Arts and Culture businesses and organizations in the Tri-Cities, and conducting a survey on ‘Cultural Competence’ within the Arts and Culture industry.

The Arts Door project is delivered by S.U.C.C.E.S.S. in partnership with BC Healthy Communities and is funded by the Government of BC's Welcoming and Inclusive Communities initiative.


What We Do

Since the Youth Leadership Team was formed in September 2010, we have been very busy. We created a survey that measures Cultural Competency in businesses, conducted interviews with Arts and Culture businesses and organizations, compiled and analyzed data from the surveys, identified assets and barriers for Immigrant and Newcomer Youth, assigned grades to the Arts and Culture Industry based on cultural competency indicators, and identified recommendations for improvement.


In the News!

Top 4 Culturally Proficient Arts and Culture Businesses

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 29th, 2011

ARTS DOOR TOP 4 CULTURALLY PROFICIENT ARTS AND CULTURE EMPLOYERS REVEALED! CHECK OUT WHY THE YOUTH LEADERSHIP TEAM CHOSE THESE ORGANIZATIONS AND SEE IF YOUR ORGANIZATION MADE THE LIST!

Immigrant & Newcomer Youth Leadership Team highlights the top 4 culturally proficient Tri-Cities Arts and Culture employers

Coquitlam, BC – The Tri-Cities Arts Door Project is proud to announce the youth-identified “Top 4 Culturally Proficient Employers” in the Tri-Cities Arts and Culture industry. These organizations were identified by the Arts Door Youth Leadership Team based on site visits and survey responses from 28 businesses and organizations in the Tri-Cities Arts and Culture industry and are centred around indicators of cultural competence and the youth’s experiences of feeling welcomed and included at the venues.

Terry Fox Library – Port Coquitlam – The youth team chose the Terry Fox Library as one of their Top 4 culturally proficient employer examples after learning that program pamphlets are printed in 14 different languages. They also noted that the library has an extremely welcoming physical environment and staff.

Leigh Square Community Arts Village – Port Coquitlam – The Youth Team chose Leigh Square as one of their Top 4 culturally proficient employer examples based on their extensive variety of arts and culture programming. The youth also noted that “The Livingroom” space in Leigh Square felt very youth-friendly.

S.U.C.C.E.S.S. – Tri-Cities – The Youth Team chose S.U.C.C.E.S.S. as one of their top 4 culturally proficient employer examples because of their primary focus of providing services to immigrants and newcomers. The youth were also very impressed by the variety of programs offered in diverse languages, and that there were translators available.

4 Cats Art Studio – Coquitlam – The Youth Team chose 4 Cats Art Studio after visiting the location and being warmly welcomed by the staff. In addition, the youth were impressed by how fun the and youth-friendly the business felt.

The Immigrant and Newcomer Youth Leadership team of the Tri-Cities Arts Door Project was assembled in August 2010 with two main goals: to build an on-line resource map of youth-focused arts and culture resources, and to examine the accessibility of opportunities for immigrant and newcomer youth within the Tri-Cities Arts and Culture industry. The Tri-Cities Arts Door project is delivered by S.U.C.C.E.S.S. in partnership with BC Healthy Communities and is funded by the Government of British Columbia's Welcoming and Inclusive Communities Initiative.
Wendy Loudon - Youth Project Coordinator -

Arts Door Project VIDEO

Check out this short video that explains what the Arts Door Project is all about!
Sasha Fort on behalf of the Arts Door Project -
»View Original

Arts Door Project Celebration PROMO VIDEO

Check out the promo for our March 10th event "Youth Celebrating Diversity and Businesses"!
Tri-Cities Community Television - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dZXfhihNCM
»View Original

Teens rolling out the welcome mat for immigrants

Diane Strandberg - TriCity News - http://www.bclocalnews.com/tri_city_maple_ridge/tricitynews/community/106992388.html
»View Original


Our Team

The Arts Door Project Youth Leadership Team is made up of:

•14 youth who live in the Tri-Cities
•3 from Port Coquitlam; 1 from Port Moody; 10 from Coquitlam
•3 males & 11 females
•A variety of ages between 13 and 17 years old
•From 10 different countries: Russia, China, Korea, Colombia, Bolivia, Mexico, Iran, Canada, Pakistan, and Kurdistan

Current Members


Angelica Nino (15 years)



Born in Colombia, Angie has been living in Port Moody for 2 years. She is really excited about building her leadership skills and contributing to her community through this project. She says, “Arts and Culture to me is a way to portrait who I am, where I come from, my thoughts and feelings. I think that through Art we can turn negative things into more pleasant ones.” Working in the graphic design group, Angie has learned how to use Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.

Chelsey Ng (13 years)



Born in Canada, Chelsey joined the Arts Door Project with the goal of improving her leadership skills, but she has gained so much more than that. She notes, "I've improved on many skills like organization, time management and dedication but I have also earned many valuable life experiences along the way. I am proud to have been a part of this wonderful project!"

Delniya Zahedi (16 years)



Born in Kurdistan, Delniya is passionate about learning about other cultures. She writes, “What arts and culture means to me is finding beauty in different people or cultures around the world, seeing or learning from art and what it shows you and it having an impact on your life.”

Haider Nayani (17 years)



Born in Canada to Pakastani parents, Haider is keen to make an impact at many levels of the community through his involvement in this project. Reflecting on what he would like to get out of the project, he writes, “I would love to improve my leadership skills.….Most importantly however, I would like to help make this project something which leads to a more affable community.” Through the Arts Door project he improved his leadership skills and gained insight into the ways that our society could improved community dynamics.

Helen Huang (17 years)



Having immigrated from China 7 years ago, Helen is acutely aware of the struggles that immigrant and newcomer youth experience. She notes, “When I first came to Canada, I had a hard time assimilating into the new culture. I want to use the skills I have learned these years and help the newcomers and immigrants to assimilate quickly and feel more comfortable being in the community.” Through working in the media group Helen has how to write an article with a clear purpose.

Jonathan Kwak (15 years)



Born in Canada to Korean parents, Jonathan is excited to be a part of the Arts Door Project. He writes, “Arts and culture are what diversify us as a people; it adds a certain vibrant color to the human race. To me, arts and culture are invisible clothes woven from strings of opinions and traditions that we all should wear proudly to express what makes us unique.“

Karoling Yan (16 years)



Karoling was born in China and immigrated to Canada 8 years ago. Karoling was motivated to become involved with the Arts Door project by her passion to help her community improve and her ability to help others. Through the Arts Door Project Karoling has learned brainstorming techniques, how to work in a group and how to plan events.

Ke Deng (16 years)



Born in Canada to Chinese parents, Ke loves to be really involved in her community. Reflecting on why she joined the Youth Leadership Team at Arts Door, she writes, “I want to get more involved with my community, make friends with the same intentions, gain experience, and improve leadership and organizational skills.” Working in the celebration committee Ke has learned the many steps involved in organizing a large event.

Nicolas Tellez (15 years)



Born in Montreal and raised in Bolivia, Nicolas immigrated to Canada with his family 2 years ago. He writes, “Arts and culture for me, would be having a background, and being open minded to whatever people’s thoughts are. It is also inspiration and knowledge. Of course in order to be able to create art, you need imagination, and passion . On the other hand, culture is more of having the capability of understanding and respecting people’s ideas." Working in the media group, we says that he learned "how to write a newspaper article that has deep meaning, that relates to the reader, and that belongs to me and nobody else."

Pegah Niktash (13 years)



Originally from Iran, Pegah moved to Coquitlam 3 years ago. She writes, “Art and culture is the portal from artistic knowledge and discovery. People across all of the arts come together to learn, share, and work together.” Pegah has learned that "people really respect our community" and is optimistic about the future of the Tri Cities.

Sara Paola Beltran (15 years)



Having emigrated from Mexico less than 2 years ago, Sara has experienced some of the challenges of adjusting to a new community and culture. Passionate about photography and the arts, Sara describes Arts and Culture as “what allows us to capture our essence and our feelings.”

Shabnam Azizi (15 years)



Originally from Russia, Shabnam joined the Youth Leadership Team to both improve her leadership skills, as well as to help her community improve. Through her involvement with the Arts Door Project she had the opportunity to be mentored in writing a newspaper article that will be published in the Tri-City News and the Global Chinese Press. She notes, "through the Arts Door Project, I have learned to be a more confident person and communicate more effectively both verbally and through my writing."

Stephanie Shi (15 years)



Stephanie is the groups newest immigrant to Canada having moved to Coquitlam in June 2010. Stephanie joined the Youth Leadership Team to improve her self-confidence, public speaking and writing. On the presentation committee she has improved her confidence speaking in front of groups of people and says that she has made a lot of new friends along the way as well.

Tianna Lee (13years)



Born in Canada to Chinese parents, Tianna lives in Port Coquitlam. She has joined the Arts Door Project to Learn more about Art and culture in the community, to earn work experience and volunteer experience. She has learned how to use PowerPoint to create a PhotoVoice presentation and has developed better organization skills.