People are stronger when they are together — it’s a feeling a local theater company is challenging youth and young adults to explore during its annual week of free arts programming at the University of Winnipeg .

Meraki Theater hosts “Stronger Together” artistic weekwhich offers varied performing arts classes until Sunday for children and adolescents aged 7 to 18.

New to the program this year is a “college night” on Fridays, where people ages 18 to 25 can gather at the Asper Center for Theater and Film for an evening of free art classes.

“I learned so much from their programming. I had a great time, made lots of friends and I’m really excited to go back this year,” Quinn Zwarich said.

The 17-year-old is ready to start her week of music, theater and improvisation with the Meraki Theater. She said the program over the past two years had such an impact on her that she kept coming back for classes.

“Before (the program), you were a little alone. You don’t know what to do. And then it’s like, okay, here are the people I can talk to. Here’s the next step. Here’s what to do,” Zwarich said.

Meraki Theater associate artistic director Kennedy Huckerby said the theme of the week was to focus on freedom of expression, which goes hand in hand with concern for personal mental health.

“We hope that by continuing these workshops and connecting theater and mental health, people will understand that they are not alone because they are not,” Kennedy said.

Meraki Theater’s mandate is to offer student-led programming, so offering classes for a week’s worth of classes also meant listening to the needs of the community, one of which was removing the financial barrier to children and families.

“One of the biggest barriers to accessing arts education here in Winnipeg is financial. By hosting this completely free “Stronger Together” event, we hope to lower that barrier so people can come and enjoy free arts programming,” Huckerby said.

The “Stronger Together” message seems to resonate with the young people involved in the Meraki Theater event.

“Having a week like this, where you have a whole week of free resources and information, is really, really important because sometimes the cost is the reason people don’t take advantage of it,” added Zwarich.

Zwarich, still a high school student, said more programs like “Stronger Together” are desperately needed for young people because at this time in their lives, many are looking for support and resources, but don’t know where to turn for help. get help.

“I know people always say it’s going to get harder and harder as you get older, but in reality, high school is a time when so many students are struggling and don’t know what to do. No one tells them where to go or who to talk to,” she said.

“I learned a lot about how you never really know what someone else is going through and how to approach everything with kindness. I learned a lot about myself. I learned that I was not alone,” Zwarich said.