Arts Education & CYC

Eliza has been working with children and youth in a variety of roles for over a decade. Her work has spanned early childhood education, outdoor education, arts education, enhanced support education, community arts, and child and youth mental health.

Eliza pursued graduate studies in Child and Youth Care (M.A.) at Toronto Metropolitan University, in the therapeutic stream. During her Masters she was awarded the Dean's Graduate Writing Award in her faculty. As an interdisciplinary artist and CYC-P, in addition to arts education and facilitation, Eliza's work focuses on therapeutic arts-based programming and services for child and youth populations experiencing adversity. She is particularly passionate about disability justice, psychosocial health, and accessibility in the arts.

Eliza has worked with arts organizations and charities such as YMCA-GTA, Creating Together Child and Family Centre, Moorelands Community Services, Shakespeare in Action, Children's Arts Theatre School, Girl Guides of Canada, Lakeshore Arts — Youth Climate Collective, SkyBlue Studio, the KWYMCA Outdoor Centre, and the City of Toronto. She is currently doing curriculum development for Bravo Academy for the Performing Arts, as well as working with Purple Carrots Drama Studio, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, and The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). Read below to learn more about her current roles and programs.

Purple Carrots Drama Studio

Eliza has been a member of the Purple Carrots community for the past eight years, and currently sits on the Purple Carrots Leadership Team -- serving as the Program & Services Coordinator. Purple Carrots is a space for growth in connection and communication with self and other through drama. Combining elements of drama, art, play therapy, speech therapy, improvisation, singing, dancing, and music, Purple Carrots specializes in inclusive and accessible arts-based programs for individuals with disabilities. Visit their website to learn more about programs offered here.

Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital

Eliza works as an Artist in the music and arts department of Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, joining as part as the Spiral Garden Day Program, Creative Arts March Break, and Integrated Education Therapy programs. Holland Bloorview offers exciting year round arts programming to children and youth with disabilities and their siblings, in addition to the Spiral Garden outdoor art, garden, and play program. Learn more about music and arts at Holland Bloorview here.

Guest Artists Workshops

Eliza works as a guest artist across the city - offering author talks as well as drama and creative writing workshops. She is currently a drama artist in residence with tdsbCREATES.

Eliza is next hosting a workshop at Queen Books in Toronto's east end, in support of Canadian Independent Bookstore Day! Join her on April 26th 2025.

Little Bee Creative Arts

Eliza offers children's creative social emotional learning programs for schools and early years settings through her program Little Bee Creative Arts. Inspired by her graduate CYC research exploring the use of creative interventions in early elementary settings to foster the development of emotional regulation skills, Eliza has designed several SEL programs to bring into classrooms through Little Bee.

Queen Bees Drama

A program stream offered through Little Bee Creative Arts, Queen Bees Drama is a performing arts program with the goal of fostering personal growth, creativity and self confidence through dramatic art and storytelling. Queen Bees welcomes all, yet focuses particularly on girls and gender diverse children. Originally created as Queen Bees Arts Education by Eliza Martin, and co-founded by Cornelia Audrey and Olivia Orton, Queen Bees Drama has been offering co-curricular programming since 2017.

For further information about guest artist workshops, or any co-curricular and extra-curricular program bookings, please contact Eliza directly.