New anthology gives young artists a much needed platform

Making content as a young artist can often feel like shouting into the abyss, but local youth collective Ink Movement Edmonton is hoping to change that with their first ever youth anthology.

Ink Movement is an arts-focused youth collective initially founded in 2012 in Mississauga, which has since opened chapters in Hamilton and Montreal, as well as here in Edmonton in 2019. The collective began as a response to what was seen as a lack of outlets geared towards young artists — whereas students in other fields seemed to have a host of professional development opportunities, students in the fine arts were being frozen out. 

“For people in STEM, computer sciences, entrepreneurship, debate, that sort of thing, there are many resources where people can go and get mentorship and expose themselves to that field,” said Athena McCusker, a student at the University of Alberta and Ink Movement Edmonton’s vice-president of community relations. “I find that the arts are not supported in quite the same way and with quite the same vigor.”

The solution to the problem was clear: create opportunities for meaningful exposure by building platforms for young artists. For the Mississauga branch that meant everything from hosting workshops, poetry slams, contests, and conferences, in addition to publishing an annual anthology showcasing the poetry, photography, illustration, and storytelling of local artists ages 14 to 24. Although much newer, the Edmonton branch is hoping to engage in similar kinds of platform building, starting with their new anthology featuring young local artists.

“[The anthology] seemed like a good opportunity because I don’t think many young people have the opportunity to be published,” McCusker said. “There are many ways to share your own work, but to have something so official and to connect [artists] with resources such as publishers is definitely a new thing here in Edmonton.”

Submissions were collected between January and March of this year, with the over 100 selected works compiled into the first ever instalment of the Edmonton Youth Anthology Series. The theme of the anthology is “Future and Nostalgia,” and it officially launched this past August with a celebration that featured appearances from celebrated poet Alice Major and Edmonton City Councillor Andrew Knack. 

“[The theme] has to do with the people who were in our original council. We had all just graduated from high school and we were entering university and we were sort of reflecting on our own experiences and what we wanted to say,” McCusker said.

The anthology is just the beginning though, and although the intention is for it to be Ink Movement Edmonton’s signature annual project, there are plans in the works to create even more opportunities for young local artists.

“We are looking forward to what we call a ‘succession contest,’ which will be on Instagram and Facebook, and it will be awarding prizes based on a work that is inspired by someone else’s work,” McCusker said. “So we’ll have photography [and then] the winner of the photography contest will become the prompt for the poetry contest, and so on and so forth. That’s just one example of what we want to do, but we also want to do online workshops and seminars.”