Torontoist likes being socially aware and with that, we bring you Inner City Visions. IC Visions is North America's first governmentally funded hip-hop & urban music centre. They have a full in-house studio where they invite young people with an interest in music to come in and record their songs and compositions totally free of charge. As studio equipment and recording times are hard to come by, IC Visions is providing a most fabulous service which provides professional access and support to youth who would otherwise not be able to get close to studio time. To add to the benefit of Inner City Visions, music industry professionals and key players from major labels like Sony BMG are invited to come by and talk about their roles, job descriptions, career paths, education and provide inspiration to those youth who come by and are interested in learning about the music industry. Above and beyond this, IC Visions provides mentoring and photography workshops as well.

IC Visions is run by people who grew up within hip hop culture; they stress the importance of having authentic programming and strive to create an image for themselves that portrays a "cool spot" or movement for youth to go to work on their creativity, get involved, learn and get some mentoring while they're at it. IC Visions has allowed youth who would not otherwise be financially capable of professionally recording their songs or even using photography equipment to explore their talents and enhance their artistic skills.

So come out and support IC Visions this week as they participate in the CONTACT photography festival where they will be this year showcasing both their music and photography from the youth involved with Inner City Visions at the Assembly Hall (1 Colonel Samuel Smith Park Dr. at the corner Kipling Ave. and Lakeshore Blvd. West), on Wednesday, April 26th from 6-9pm, with live music, djs, and refreshments all around. For more details, contact: nikki@circledream.com.