The #MonsterArts for Youth Seniors (MAY Seniors) program, which provides South Asian art workshops to seniors within the GTA, is changing with the times and offering free virtual workshops in music, dance and visual arts. The MAY Seniors program is offered by MonstrARTity, a not-for-profit arts organization in Mississauga which also produces the #BollywoodMonster Mashup festival.

The focus of the MAY Seniors program is to address community issues, as there are very few cultural and language-specific programs available to South Asian seniors. Through interactive workshops that are led by experienced and professional artists, the goal behind the MAY Seniors program is to reduce feelings of isolation and help build camaraderie through the various art workshops. 

“MAY Seniors is a special program that was created for our South Asian seniors and our goal is to ensure our participants feel they’re part of a community,” says Vikas Kohli, Executive Director at MonstrARTity. “This year specifically has drastically affected seniors, and with the immense support from our wonderful funders, we, fortunately, can provide them with workshops that will allow them to come together and put a smile on their faces.”

Seniors interested in the MAY seniors program can look forward to entertaining and fun-filled workshops. “All the seniors participated in the workshop with vigour and excitement and became more active by clapping, singing along and some dancing on the floor,” says Deepak Sharma, Coordinator of the Vaishno Devi Temple seniors group. The [music] artist, Pushpinder Rana received plenty of compliments for a good workshop and I received many messages in our WhatsApp group from the seniors in praise of this music workshop.” 

This year workshops are being offered in multiple languages such as English, Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil andGujarati. MonstrARTity will be providing the technical requirements and support needed to ensure the program is accessible, at no cost to seniors and seniors’ groups who request it. In addition, a limited quantity of free art kits will be available and seniors will have the opportunity to win prizes as well. 

If you’re 65+ and/or affiliated with a seniors’ group in the Greater Toronto Area and would like to enroll in the MAY seniors program, please visit: https://www.monstrartity.com/monsterartsforyouth/seniors/

About MonstrARTity
Born in 2011, MonstrARTity is a not-for-profit organization based in Mississauga and committed to providing arts for the young and old alike. Ever-expanding their productions, MonstrARTity is the producer of #BollywoodMonster Mashup, which is the largest South Asian festival in Canada and chosen as the #1 festival at Celebration Square by City of Mississauga, and MARTY award-winner for the Festival of the Year. MonstrARTity’s projects also include the #MonsterArts for Youth program, which brings professional artists into classrooms to provide South Asian art workshops for kids and seniors.