About the Founder
Orfe Millán
Orfelina Millan Narváez, is an environmentalist artist and creator of an eco-friendly community art program for children, Orfe Eco Art Program. Her passion for art, an environmental and community commitment, and the invaluable experience teaching art to students at several schools from the Toronto Catholic District School Board, have strengthened even more her determination to motivate and teach children and youth to protect the planet.
Orfelina was born in Barranquilla, Colombia and from an early age, she has loved art, so she chose a career where she could create and shape her ideas. Orfelina graduated from the Autónoma Del Caribe University in Textile Design, where learned diverse art techniques to create and transform textile fibers. Since moving to Canada in 2011, she has been working as an artist, creating eco-friendly products made from recycled and organic materials and showcased her products in different fairs. She was also invited to join a non-profit Canadian art organization, Raw Artist, which helped her to build her brand and extend her audience throughout North America.
In 2014, Orfelina had the incredible opportunity to volunteer her skills teaching art at Blessed Trinity Catholic School. She created workshops for students in grades 1 to 8 and immediately felt connected with the passion they had for their work. Wishing to share and instill a sense of environmental awareness with the students, she was motivated to create the Orfe Eco-Art Program that emphasized the use of recyclable and natural materials.
Orfe program has been running in several Catholic schools in Toronto, and have had the support of the Toronto Arts Council, Neighborhood Art, North York Art, STEPS Initiative, Art Start, and New Arts Toronto Organization.
In June 2019, Orfe EcoArt Program was accepted as an educational programming partner for the Toronto District School board.
On September 15, 2019, Orfelina was chosen beside of Greta Thunberg and 3 more organizations to receive the first Climate Arts Awards in Canada, from the NewArts Toronto, a Canadian Organization that launched the Climate Art Award to recognize artists and arts organizations who are changing the narrative on climate change.