Local Artist Yafa Goawily is putting Cornwall on the map in the arts community.
The founder of Cornwall Art Hive Yafa Goawily has a deep passion for the arts and how it can be used to bring people together. Yafa recently spoke at Concordia University for a symposium on community-defined evidence: Health, Creativity and the Power of the People.
Goawily participated in a session that spoke to the use of shopping malls as social infrastructure for creativity and mental health, through a community-defined evidence Lens. Goawily was selected for the symposium after her success in creating Cornwall Art Hive and using the Cornwall Square mall as the avenue to provide events and introduce new people to the local arts community.
“The Art Hive is a gathering for people, you don’t have to be an artist. It’s for anyone,” Goawily says. “It offers people an outlet as well as a chance to make new friends in a judgement free zone.”
Yafa will continue to share her passion at the upcoming Nature Narratives Symposium held by the St. Lawrence River Institute on October 26, 2022. The River Symposium will focus on preserving the spirit of the environment and creating art from materials available in our surroundings or those that are less harmful to the environment.
To Goawily, art is therapeutic and she is on a mission to share it with as many people as she can. In the past, Goawily had been engaged in projects pertaining to human’s rights all over the world and worked on art projects with less privileged children.
Today Yafa works to bring people together and create an inclusive space for anyone that wants to create.
“Art is a healing beautiful experience” shares Goawily “and through art and our many projects we create a safe welcoming environment for each other that truly benefits our community. I believe in Art”
Goawily is dedicated to the city of Cornwall and growing it’s offering of available art outlets and events. She continues to spread the word of the amazing talent and support she has found in Cornwall through speaking engagements, publications and social media.
More about the Art Hive
Cornwall Art Hive is run completely by volunteers and gives Cornwall residents a chance to create art, regardless of age or gender. Monthly events are held in different locations. Visit their Facebook page for more details on upcoming events.
