Before graduating from Etobicoke School of the Arts High School in 2000 Denis started to get involved with his community. Attending community meetings and volunteering for projects that he felt would improve his home community of Weston, Ontario, were the norm for him.

He found a strong niche in a new community arts centre that opened in 2001. The centre, Y-Arts, was opened by community arts council Arts York, later renamed Urban Arts. He volunteered in renovations before the centre was opened and was later hired as a Graffiti Transformation Project assistant. Two years later, in 2004, he led the team, and continued to do so for three years straight.

In the summer of 2007 he switched roles and led the Urban Arts Dreambuilding project which aimed to re-envision the Weston community through the art.