Studio 393 Builds Skills and Community Downtown; One Beat, Brushstroke, and Backflip at a Time.
From the first hello to the last goodbye, the culture of safety and belonging is deliberate at Studio 393. Located in the Portage Place Mall in the heart of downtown Winnipeg, staff at 393 are aware of the complex dynamics at play for their programming. “Safety isn’t just about locks and alarms,” says Ethan Baranyk, Operations Director. “It’s having a place to rebalance. A room where trying, failing, and trying again is normal.” He tells the story of a young dancer working on a backflip for weeks. There were dozens of misses, a few hard falls, steady encouragement from peers, and then the clean landing that made the room erupt. That response—supportive, not performative—is the standard.
Originating out of Graffiti Art Programming Inc, Studio 393 has always been a downtown program offering workshops and space for youth artists aged 12-29 to acquire skills, and community to help them grow and reach their potential. Programming and curriculum are shaped by participants, including creative writing, breakdancing, music production and recording, DJing, visual arts, and podcasting.
Staff and participants walk Portage Avenue every day. On any given day, they may see neighbours who are housed and unhoused, storefronts shifting, Jets games and other events that draw thousands, or ordinary weekdays where people are simply coming and going. “People label the whole area ‘unsafe,’” Baranyk says. “But I’ve walked it for years. Mostly, I see people getting through the day. Inside 393, we offer what helps: respect, rhythm, and a reason to come back tomorrow.”
“I see downtown in two worlds,” continues Baranyk. “There’s the very real, hard stuff we all notice, the sirens, shouting, security, tension, people getting through a tough day. And there’s the world inside this studio, where youth are building skills, confidence, and community. Our job is to help that second world grow.”
Baranyk has been with Graffiti Art Programming for more than five years, coordinating Studio 393 for nearly four. A visual artist by training, he came up through Winnipeg’s arts scene himself and uses his experience to inform his relationships with the participants at 393. “Everyone who walks in is carrying something,” he says. “We meet them where they’re at and give them a place to make something of their own. We’re an outlet, an opportunity to access creativity, how [participants] want to be creative.”
Studio 393 is a space to express yourself artistically, with a focus on hip-hop culture and multiple artforms—Dance, visual art, music production, live performance, as well as the newest and fastest growing medium, DJing. “We have phenomenal instructors who are just incredible artists,” says Baranyk. “I can’t speak highly enough about them, just the work they do, the love and care they have for our organization and for the participants.”
Community Fridays happen on the last Friday of every month, where artists show what they’ve been working on for 393’s immediate community, which includes live performances, dance battles, musical features, and more.
Beyond art programming and monthly events featuring live performances, Studio 393 also keeps a job board, helps with resumes and cover letters, and creates paid youth roles and internship opportunities when they can. There’s reciprocity paid forward when participants become community leaders, or sometimes instructors. “A common path is participant to volunteer to mentor, or even instructor,” says Baranyk. “Alumni know exactly how the space should feel from both sides, and we have multiple instructors who are working artists.”
Youth being able to see a path out of their challenging circumstances is what it’s all about. “The most rewarding thing is when someone tries a first painting or recording their first track and realizes, ‘I made this,’” says Baranyk. “That ownership changes what they believe is possible next.”
“It’s the people. Our community. Sometimes the studio is just a place to be yourself for a couple hours,” says Baranyk. “Seeing folks use it in healthy ways, or when they come in to celebrate big wins… that’s what drives me.”
