2009 Canadian Art School Hop
Canadian Art is delighted to partner with the Images Festival for our spring School Hop, which introduces Toronto-area public-high-school students to contemporary visual art through three days of artist-led tours, on April 2, 7 and 8, 2009.
The Canadian Art School Hop is a FREE program designed to complement visual-arts education in Toronto’s secondary schools. The program is in its eighth year, and this spring 13 schools will participate, with approximately 350 students visiting galleries and artist-run centres in the historic 401 Richmond arts building in Toronto. Students will tour up to six galleries, each of which will be showcasing works in video, film and new media as part of the Images Festival, which runs from April 2 to 11 in Toronto.
“The spring School Hop provides an amazing opportunity for students in the Toronto District School Board region to view cutting-edge experimental media art as presented by the Images Festival and to speak to artists, curators and cultural workers,” says Canadian Art’s Development and Administrative Coordinator, Alia Toor, who oversees the program. “The program challenges students to view art as both an environment of knowledge and a place of dynamic participation.” Teacher Heather Corriveau, from Bishop Marrocco/Thomas Merton, agrees, saying: “The students left having a great feeling. They were respected and challenged…it was a great experience!”
The program is a boon to art teachers whose students may not otherwise have the chance to encounter contemporary visual art. The Teacher’s Guide allows educators to prepare students for the School Hop and help them optimize its lessons after the visit. The guide covers various media, including drawing, printmaking, painting, sculpture, installation, photography, film, video, new media and performance. Each section includes links to relevant feature articles in Canadian Art magazine.
Students tour the 401 Richmond arts building with professional artists and curators, who introduce them to the works on view. The spring 2009 artist guides are Carla Garnet, Pamila Matharu, Andrew Harwood and David Donaldson. “It’s interesting to hear [the students’] views on art,” says Harwood. “I try to get the conversation going, to get them to talk by asking questions. There’s an informal quality to the tours that encourages them. I try to make the kids feel more comfortable—our job is to teach them how to see art.”
The Canadian Art Foundation gratefully acknowledges the sponsors of the spring School Hop: CIBC, the Ontario Arts Foundation and Gerald Sheff and Shanitha Kachan.
For more information and to download the Teacher’s Guide, click here.
