Local teens have the opportunity to express their creative side with a free filmmaking workshop.

Okotoks Culture and Heritage is hosting the workshop for ages 13- 18 at the Art Gallery where they'll learn about experimental film with professional filmmaker Joe Kelly. He'll also guide youth in making their own film around town using only their cell phones. Footage will be edited with Kelly's guidance before their work makes its debut at an exhibition at the Art Gallery.

Jaime-Brett Sine, Culture and Heritage Programmer for the Town of Okotoks, says there's no financial strain involved.

"It's using accessible technology, if they have a phone and most of them do it's immediately accessible to them, and in addition to that we wanted to make sure we were offering this course for free so that this is really, again, an accessible opportunity to any of the youth in town whether they have the financial resources for these opportunities or not."

Participants will also be made members of the Art Gallery allowing them future opportunities to access programming and represent themselves as professional artists with merchandise in the Gallery shop.

Sine says the program also helps get youth more involved in local culture.

"I think it is important they do have productive and creative ways to learn new skills, but also just engage in the community. Be out in our community spaces, be walking around Olde Towne, and doing it in really an interesting way that allows them to interact with people in town and then create this wonderful product at the end of the day at the Art Gallery."

The workshop's four weeks long and takes place on Saturday afternoons starting Apr. 7. The experience will wrap up with the exhibition on May 12 from 1- 3 p.m.

Teens can register online by clicking here.

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