Our three-year inquiry at the Gulf Islands Film and Television School (GIFTS), a community-based media arts educational center, presents a practical model illustrating how urban youth explore their own strengths and connect themselves to a learning space in a rural environment within the context of filmmaking. It also offers pedagogical insights for art education by envisioning possibilities for learning spaces that are relevant to both out-of and in-school arts programs. We first present an overview of GIFTS in conjunction with participants' reflections, then provide discussion addressing implications for art teachers and art educators which explores the role of space in relation to the media arts practice for urban youth. (Contains 1 footnote.)