**Craft Department: Glass, Ceramics, Metal and Textile Studios
Exploring Contemporary Art, Gallery Programming
The core of the Craft Studio is its Artist-in-Residence Programme. Founded in 1974, this unique institution is devoted to assisting emerging craftspeople, chosen from across Canada (and, at times, the world!), to establish professional careers. Operating in full view of the visiting public, the residency creates an environment where craft artists can further develop skills and ideas, and take advantage of thoughtfullydesigned professional development programmes, mentorships, exhibitions, marketing opportunities, and resources. September 15 – November 4
imPrint ceramics and print have enjoyed a rich history. This exhibition features the work of four contemporary Canadian ceramic artists, and highlights functional and non-functional ceramic work that incorporates a variety of printing techniques. Artists include Rebecca Robbins,
Laura Mckibbon, Jasna Sokolovic, (all from Vancouver) and Susie Osler (Ontario). November 10 – December 31 Generations of a Sweater Solo exhibition of work by textile artist Peggy Mersereau. Mersereau uses recycled wool sweaters and sweaters owned by her mother to generate new objects and installations. Curated by Melanie Egan.
More information about the Craft department
**Museum of Inuit Art Queen's Quay Terminal
Exploring Contemporary Art, Gallery Programming
Canada's new Museum of Inuit Art (“MIA”) located at Harbourfront, is Canada's first public museum of Inuit art. The museum experience traces the timeline of artistic expression in Canada's Arctic from the historic Thule people of about 1000 years ago through European contact to the period of contemporary Inuit art. MIA reveals the thematic foundations of Inuit art: their traditional belief system (transformation, shamanism and the sea goddess), animals, the human figure, community life, the role of men and women, modes of transportation and hunting by land and by sea. MIA also explains regional differences in artistic styles that have evolved in Canada's Arctic. The spectacular design of the 4800 sq. ft. museum creates the illusion of an iceberg. The MIA experience speaks directly to the core Ontario elementary school curricula for the Arts, Literacy, and Social Studies & History. Teachers' preparatory materials are available.
Phone number: 416-603-7591 www.miagallery.ca
**The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery
Exploring Contemporary Art, Gallery Programming
The Power Plant offers the freshest in contemporary art from around the world. Sculpture, photography, video, painting, and more will be on view in a variety of exhibitions that appeal to viewers of all ages. The fall exhibition features the work of Francesco Vezzoli, whose work is inspired by the landmark works of modern cinema, camp aesthetics, and filmic conventions. In this first major survey of work by Canadian artist Steven Shearer, the winter exhibition wittily delves into blue collar male culture, reclaiming heavy metal and death metal as marginal forms of social expression. The spring exhibition will showcase a solo show of new and recent work by internationally acclaimed artist and Turner Prize winner Simon Starling. More about The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery
4-8
FULL DAY
Acrylic Landscape Painting
Exploring Contemporary Art
Students discover why artists today are inspired by the outdoors. They will investigate a range of landscape-based works, contemporary and historical, while discussing the importance of the power of place and the purpose of making art.
• Engage in outdoor sketching activities inspired by Lake Ontario and the waterfront community outside our studio windows
• Complete a small acrylic painting based on the sketch
• Learn a range of landscape painting techniques: discover colour and its application, the importance of tonal values in a work, and elements and principals of design
Curriculum Connections:
Visual Arts (Grades 4-8)
K-8
HALF DAY
FULL DAY
Clay Building Beasts
Exploring Contemporary Art
Welcome to the exciting world of sculptural beasts! More then just scary creatures that haunt our dreams, these silent critters have been known to protect our homes, offices, cathedrals, temples and sacred spaces all over the world. Students will learn about gargoyles, chimeras, sphinxes and grotesques from a variety cultures.
• Learn about sculpture and discuss how it is used in architecture
• Explore form, pattern and texture, articulating techniques of 3-D form
• Learn and use terminology and vocabulary specific to working with clay, and discuss the physical properties of clay
• Create a ceramics piece inspired by the building beasts history, from the design to the execution, employing hand building techniques and textural decorative methods
• Visit The Craft Department: Ceramic Studio
Grades K-4 (half day)
Grades 4-8 (full day)
Curriculum Connections:
Visual Arts (Grades 1-8)
Life Systems: Animals (Grade 2)
K-8
HALF DAY
FULL DAY
Clay Masks
Exploring Contemporary Art
Using a variety of hand-building techniques create a 3-dimensional mask! Explore the history and use of the mask from a diversity of cultures, and visit The Craft Department: Ceramic Studio.
• Discuss ways which artists communicate and the purpose of the mask
• Explore form, pattern, and texture
• Discuss the physical properties and many uses of clay
• Learn to terminology and vocabulary specific to working with clay
Grades K-4 (half day)
Grades 4-8 (full day)
Curriculum Connections:
Visual Arts (Grades 1-8)
Heritage and Citizenship (Grades 5-6)
6-8
FULL DAY
Clay Sculpted Environments
Exploring Contemporary Art
Discover the places and spaces in which we live, and create a unique 3-dimensional environment – a habitat, an idyllic place, or your own room – out of clay! Learn and use a variety of hand-building and embellishment techniques while creating a magical world
• Explore form, pattern and texture, and techniques for articulating 3-D forms
• Learn to use terminology and vocabulary specific to working with clay
• Visit Harbourfront Centre's Craft Studio and Artists' Gardens for inspiration!
Curriculum connections:
Visual Arts (Grades 6-8)
2-8
HALF DAY
FULL DAY
Clay Vessels
Exploring Contemporary Art
Using various hand-building techniques (slab, pinch pot and coil), create your own clay vessel. Take the full-day programme and create a more ambitious piece. Learn about the history and use of clay vessels around the world, from Greek amphorae to contemporary craft.
• Work with a variety of hand-building techniques, and embellish vessels with patterns and textures
• Learn to use terminology and vocabulary specific to working with clay
• Discuss the physical properties of clay
• Visit The Craft Department: Ceramic Studio and explore contemporary creation of ceramic objects
Grades 2-4 (half day)
Grades 4-8 (full day)
Curriculum Connections:
Visual Arts (Grades 1-8)
Heritage and Citizenship (Grade 5)
4-8
FULL DAY
Collograph Printmaking With Museum of Inuit Art Tour
Exploring Contemporary Art
Start with a tour of the Museum of Inuit Art in the Queen’s Quay Terminal. Discover the beauty of contemporary Inuit art and learn how the Inuit use the elements and principles of design in their prints to express notions of every day life and community. Rediscover texture through the art of collograph-design, create, and print a series of amazing prints. View artwork from some of the most celebrated artists in the history of the western world!
• Examine contemporary prints made by Inuit Artists
• Discuss Picasso and Braque's contributions to the evolution of printmaking in the 20th century
• Create a collage plate using a variety of low relief textures and materials, exploring texture and form
• Learn the printmaking process and produce a series of coloured prints
Curriculum Connections:
Visual Arts (Grades 4-8)
5-8
FULL DAY
Drawing
Exploring Contemporary Art
Learn a range of drawing techniques, including gesture drawing (live!), contour drawing, and the exploratory art of self-portraiture.
• Explore a variety of contemporary drawing materials
• Experiment and gain an understanding about the importance of line and texture in drawing
• Learn about the history of drawing and how it exists as an important contemporary artistic medium today
• Create a self portrait using newly acquired skills
Curriculum Connections:
Visual Arts (Grades 5-8)
4-8
HALF DAY
FULL DAY
Exploring Contemporary Art
Exploring Contemporary Art
Half day (Gallery-based tour): $6 per student
Full day (Gallery-based tour and studio art programmes/workshops): $11 per student
These exploratory investigations of contemporary art, featuring an interactive tour of the current exhibitions in The Power Plant and/or York Quay Centre, and The Craft Studio and Artists' Gardens. Full-day programmes also include a studio workshop in the afternoon, connecting the exhibits to Harbourfront Centre's current ideas-based programming themes – FOCUS: Our Lens. Your View.
6-8
FULL DAY
Lino Print With Museum of Inuit Art Tour
Exploring Contemporary Art
Start with a tour of the Museum of Inuit Art in the Queen’s Quay Terminal. Discover the beauty of contemporary Inuit art and learn how the Inuit use the elements and principles of design in their prints to express notions of every day life and community. Then, in the Harbourfront Community Centre Studio learn the techniques of relief printmaking using a soft linoleum block- design, carve and print a small series of Lino-block prints
• Explore printmaking in contemporary Inuit Art
• Discuss the notion of community and everyday life in Toronto
• Experiment with printmaking tools and techniques to create a soft linoleum printing block which expresses life in the student's neighbourhood
• Discover the elements and principals of design, including texture and patterning through printing media
Curriculum Connections:
Visual Arts (Grades 6-8)
4-8
FULL DAY
Paper Mask
Exploring Contemporary Art
Also available as an in school programme!
Explore the rich history and tradition of mask-making in many different cultures – students use their imagination to create their own mask.
• Discover the history of mask-making around the world from A range of cultures, from the past into the present day
• Using paper sculpture techniques, create a life-sized mask
• Explore and experiment with 3-dimensional forms
Curriculum Connections:
Visual arts (Grades 4-9)
Heritage and Citizenship: Cultural History &use of masks (Grades 5-6)
4-8
HALF DAY
FULL DAY
Studio Workshop: Generations
Exploring Contemporary Art
Available September-December
Full day with a morning tour of galleries
FOCUS: Generations
From June to December 2007 Harbourfront Centre is talking about your Generation, as part of an ongoing focus on ideas in programming. A generation can refer to a time or a class of people. It can refer to the time you are born to the time of a parents death. It can also refer to an era of style, culture and political movement. At Harbourfront Centre’s Galleries explore how artists have responded to the theme of Generations. Then, in our studios, students uncover what this theme means to them-their family, their culture, their experience of living in Toronto-through a visual arts workshop with our Art Educators.
To learn more about Harbourfront Centre's ideas-based programming, visit FOCUS: Our Lens. Your View.
4-8
HALF DAY
FULL DAY
Studio Workshop: Sacred
Exploring Contemporary Art
Available January-June
Full day with a morning tour of galleries
FOCUS: Sacred – January through May 2008, Harbourfront Centre questions all that is sacred. Some believe that sacred refers to that which is religious or spiritual. Others define the word as something that is held with reverence and importance in life. Through a gallery tour, students will explore how artists have responded to Harbourfront Centre's programming theme; Sacred. Then, in our studios, students will uncover what this theme means to – their family, their culture, and their experience of living in Toronto-through a visual arts workshop with our Art Educators.
To learn more about Harbourfront Centre's ideas-based programming, visit FOCUS: Our Lens. Your View at harbourfrontcentre.com.
K-3
HALF DAY
The Painted Face
Exploring Contemporary Art
In our new and improved painting programme students will learn the history of the painted face in hunting, ritual and celebration, finding inspiration in a myriad of world cultures and traditions. Using pattern, students will create their own self-portrait inspired by their own unique visual language.
• Experiment with a variety of painting techniques
• Learn to develop symbols and shapes to express individuality
• Discuss grade appropriate colour theory concepts and terminology
• Use a variety of mediums within on piece (markers, paint, pastel)
Curriculum Connections:
Visual Arts (Grades 1-3)
2-6
FULL DAY
Young Collograph Printmaking With Museum of Inuit Art Tour
Exploring Contemporary Art
Visit the Museum of Inuit Art and see examples of Contemporary Inuit printmaking. Students explore the wonders of printmaking, including line, texture and pattern. Design and create a small series of prints to take home
• Examine prints made by Inuit artists
• Learn about the printmaking process, different ways of making prints, and vocabulary specific to printmaking
• Produce a small original series of coloured prints, inspired by the animals living in our city
Curriculum Connections:
Visual arts (Grades 2-6)
Life Systems: Animals (Grade 2)
