Innovative student program enhances art curriculum in high schools this week
This week from April 9 to 11, 2008, the Canadian Art School Hop is topping up depleted art educational resources in schools by providing artist-led tours to studios and art galleries for secondary school students. The Canadian Art School Hop is a free program offered to secondary school students in the Greater Toronto Area. Seven days of artist-led art tours introduce students to galleries, artists and the world of contemporary art. Now in its seventh year, the program expands its annual fall program with three additional dates this spring. The tours take place in Toronto’s 401 Richmond arts centre and through the Queen West gallery district.
The School Hop was inspired by the success of the long-running Canadian Art Gallery Hop, an afternoon of free talks and art panel discussion stationed in galleries across Toronto each fall. The Canadian Art Foundation’s commitment to serve learners of all ages inspired the connection of younger audiences with contemporary art.
“Art programs in Ontario schools are consistently underfunded and it seemed that few high school students had ever visited the many smaller art galleries that Toronto is so fortunate to have,” says Canadian Art Foundation executive director Ann Webb. “It’s important that they know that these places are accessible to them, and, in most cases, free.”
Organized under the auspices of the Canadian Art Foundation, the Canadian Art School Hop is offered free of charge to secondary school students from the Toronto District School Board and the Toronto Catholic District School Board. The program was designed to provide enriched learning opportunities for the public school system. To ensure equal access, over half of the tours are reserved for schools designated by the TDSB to have a significant population of underprivileged students.
“The School Hop gave my students a whole new perspective on art,” says teacher Janet Myers. “The fact that we walked outside and were part of the cityscape allows the students to participate on a whole new level... The best part of the trip was that we felt that we had become a part of a community that was interested in and supportive of what we do in an art classroom.”
Eight tours are conducted on each day of the Hop, with a maximum of 15 students in each tour. The students visit two artist studios and about five cultural spaces including commercial galleries, artist-run centres and museums, where they are encouraged to ask questions and experience the artwork. Transportation is provided, and each student receives a free sketchbook and copy of Canadian Art magazine.
This year the School Hop expands its program into the spring with three newly added dates from April 9 to 11, which will coincide with the Images Festival of film, video and new media art. Artists and curators involved in the festival will be speaking about their work in the galleries, allowing interested students to engage directly with arts professionals in this specialized area of contemporary art.
The Canadian Art Foundation is grateful to the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, to the Ontario Arts Foundation and to Gerald Sheff and Shanitha Kachan for their support of the School Hop.
Established in 1991, the Canadian Art Foundation is a charitable, non-profit organization that fosters and supports the visual arts in Canada. The foundation celebrates artists and their creativity with a nationwide educational program of events, lectures, competitions, publications and other initiatives.
To learn more about a Canadian Art Foundation program, please visit our website: www.canadianart.ca
