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Carrying a large wooden box nearly overflowing with art supplies, the petite Ella Tetrault sets up for one of the twice-weekly sessions of the Riverdale Arts Project.

Little by little its participants, a small group of Canadian and newcomer women over 50, trickle into a second-floor room.

The program, a partnership between the Working Skills Centre and Newcomers Women's Services Toronto, is essentially a storytelling project that incorporates visual arts.

Its participants began gathering for the free community development program in late June.

Sessions are held Monday and Wednesday afternoons at Newcomers Women's Services' Riverdale location at 745 Danforth Ave.

With the theme of a journey, the women were invited to compose and record a two-minute autobiographical story that tells of their life and experiences in Canada or abroad.

They then began creating artwork each week to accompany their story. The women even recently did a digital photography session at the Toronto Brickworks.

"There's no 'I can't draw' allowed," said Tetrault, who is set to pursue a master's degree in fine arts at Los Angeles' Otis College of Art and Design this fall.

The next step is to scan the paintings and pieces onto the computer and slowly assemble a little video, which also includes original music.

"The idea is to have at the end a digital story," Tetrault said, adding the stories would be posted on the Working Skills Centre and Newcomers Women's Services Toronto websites.

They'll also be featured at the Working Skills Centre's 30th anniversary gala, which is set for Oct. 28.

Sabiha Erdemoglu, who came to Canada from Turkey in July 2002, learned of the program through one of her instructors at the City Adult Learning Centre, near Danforth and Broadview avenues.

"Our teacher recommended us to take this class because it will help our English," she said.

Focused on getting her English language skills up to par, Erdemoglu aspires to practice medicine again one day in Canada like she did back home.

Carolina Marques came to Canada just more than three months ago from Brazil.

Just starting to learn English, Marques learned of the program from a poster that Tetrault had affixed to a bulletin board at an English as a second language class in Parkdale.

"I like telling my story and my son loves my story," said Marques. "I like very much art because for me it's therapy. I need it."

Aside from learning new art techniques, the program is also a great way for its participants, like Marques and Erdemoglu, to connect with women their age and improve their basic English conversational skills.

Some of its participants, namely Joanne MacKay-Bennett and Joan Pennings, are local residents who serve as peer mentors.

For Pennings, the Riverdale Art Project has been a chance to learn more about digital photography and editing.

"I would never have done it if I hadn't been here," said Pennings, who came to Canada from Holland several years ago.

The Riverdale Arts Project is supported by a grant from the Cultural Human Resources Council as well as the Government of Ontario.