Angela Brown

Board Member and Artist in Residence for mixed media, singing and dance

During the day, Angela Brown is a surgical assistant with a large dental practice in Ajax. In her spare time, she is a part-time student, a working artist, a board member and a facilitator for Art With A Heart. She dances multiple forms including tap, hip hop, jazz, worship, indigenous contemporary, masked and storytelling. Recently, she added face and body painting to her artistic repertoire, which includes being a mixed media artist.

For Angela, Art With A Heart is about working with people to help them heal themselves. Before joining the arts-based charity, she ran a one-on-one talk therapy group through Community Living for COPE, the mental health agency. She also ran an art program for Lakeridge Health in Oshawa, where she worked with elderly people who had experienced a stroke or had some level of dementia. Her volunteer work also included travelling to Cambodia and Malawi on trips to help people. Angela is trained in suicide prevention, communications skills and facilitation.

When asked why she joined Art With A Heart, she said: “I have had the most growth, peace, introspection and insightful ideas when I was engaged in artistic creativity. I believe being creative shows a way of communicating that traditional learning doesn't. I hope that the people we reach through Art With A Heart find similar growth. I love people and love bringing out the best in them.”

Angela is an award winning artist. She won first and second prize from the Canadian Legion for a Remembrance Day poster she submitted after high school. And, she was recently honoured with the Women’s Opportunity Award from Soroptimist. In Fall 2011, Angela performed with the Daystar Dance Company.

She continues to develop her art by exploring different styles and mentoring with Executive Director Sheri Gundry. In 2011, she earned her Artist-Educator – Level One certificate as part of the Royal Conservatory’s Learning Through the Arts program (LTTA). Angela is studying for her bachelor degree in psychology through Trent University, and already holds a dental assistant certificate from Durham College.