Sarah-Mecca Abdourahman, 15, is preparing to compete in the Ottawa Art Battle Regional Finals, a live painting competition where artists have only 20 minutes to create a masterpiece. Audience members move around their easels as they work and at the end of the round, the audience votes for their favourite painting. Sarah-Mecca will be the youngest artist competing in Ottawa. She is a finalist in the Art Battle she competed in in March, and will be competing as a member of a select group of All-Stars chosen by the event organizers at the regional finals. The artists are competing for a spot in the Art Battle Finals in Toronto this July.

Shelina Merani has many accomplishments to speak of.

She once spearheaded an award-winning photography project that was praised for giving a human face to public service workers.  

She is a founder of Muslim Presence, a network which she says aims to promote universal values and active citizenship.

And lately, she's been performing standup comedy in Ottawa and Quebec.

The Centrepointe Studio Theatre boomed with laugher, applause, and appreciative snapping on the evening of November 9th,  as Muslim performers, including poets, comedians, and singers, entertained an audience of over 200 people at “Hope Eternal,” the 6th annual show organized by Expressions of Muslim Women (EMW).