Beautifulcity.ca Volunteer Sedina

Sedina Fiati volunteers with the Beautiful City Alliance, a collective of over 29 community organizations from across the Greater Toronto Area which are lobbying to create a billboard fee which will go towards supporting youth arts initiatives. Originally known as the Beautiful City Billboard Fee (BCBF), the collective of organizations that have come together of the years are as diverse as its mandate, encompassing a wide variety of voices, from the Art Gallery of Ontario to the Grassroots Youth Collaborative.  According to a recently conducted Pollara poll 66% of Torontonians support the idea of charging a fee to billboard advertisers to fund more public art. Together the alliance aims to raise over 6 million dollars annually in order to support public art. Sedina fits into the collective naturally, with a background in youth engagement and theatre.  Sedina works professionally as the outreach coordinator / rAiz’n developer for b current.

1.) Why did you decide to Get Involved?

I have volunteered for most of life starting with Girl Guides when I was younger and continuing until now with my involvement with various arts and youth organizations. As human beings, I believe we are here to serve each other and volunteerism is one of the many ways that we create a better world.

2.) How many hours do you devote to your cause a week?

2 – 3 hours

3.) Pick one word or a sentence that describes what volunteering means to you.

It’s a gift to be able to help.

4.) Why is your cause so important to you?

Support of art and youth is a major part of the work I do. As a local independent artist, we need support to continue to our work which sometimes goes unnoticed by the general public. If we can bring attention to our art and continue to push that corporations who use art as a medium to sell products, give back and allow art for arts sake, we can continue to create art that the public sees and connects to.