Creating Kindness

Inspired by an act of kindness at a small Nova Scotia high school, Pink Shirt Day, also known as Anti-Bullying Day, has become a global movement against bullying. In 2007, a grade 9 student received threats for wearing a pink shirt on the first day of school. Having witnessed the bullying, two grade 12 students organized what they dubbed a “sea of pink,”1 buying dozens of pink shirts and contacting classmates. A wave of support poured in the next day, with hundreds of students donning pink to stand up to the bullies. The movement has grown from there, raising awareness and support for anti-bullying charities worldwide. In Canada, Anti-Bullying Day is celebrated on the last Wednesday of February.  

The Ottawa Art Gallery, Giant Tiger and Kids Help Phone are collaborating for Anti-Bullying Day 2026. In the spring of 2025, we ran two t-shirt design workshops for youth artists led by illustrator and comic-book artist Andy Akangah. Participants learned how to develop a design concept and digitize hand-drawn work for clothing.  

From the resulting designs, Hailey-Lynn Fallon’s was selected for this year’s fundraising t-shirt in support of Kids Help Phone to be sold in select Giant Tiger stores and online with 100% of profits raised from the sale of the shirts donated to Kids Help Phone to support e-mental health services. 

This exhibition showcases the designs created by some of the participating artists: Amal Ahmed, Ghazal AlKassab, Hailey-Lynn Fallon, and Ollie Milling.   

This exhibition was realized with the support and partnership of the Giant Tiger and Kids Help Phone.  

Curator: Haley Menard
Installation: Stephanie Germano, Dan Austin, Rob Keefe and Robert Chester
Graphic Design: Amity Bradbury 

¹Jiang, Kevin. 2023. “What Is Pink Shirt Day? How One Act of Kindness Kick Started a Global Movement.” Toronto Star. February 22, 2023. https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/what-is-pink-shirt-day-how-one-act-of-kindness-kick-started-a-global-movement/article_ce4acedb-9b14-5c28-a672-a4b8491c4511.html.