Emily Carr at the A.G.O: From the Forest to the Sea

A new exhibition opens this weekend at the AGO: Emily Carr, From the Forest to the Sea- and it looks awesome! I've always found that the real point of her work was missed when her paintings were placed next to, or compared with the Group of 7's work. This article from the Star presents a thorough review of the exhibit and, although I do not agree with their assessment of the Group of 7's work, they do offer a refreshing take on Emily Carr's work:

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/visualarts/2015/04/11/emily-carr-rises-above-the-group-at-ago-show.html

Looking forward to checking out this show and bringing my class. I will post a personal review after and discuss the student response to her work. For more information check out the A.G.O. site.

- Patrick

Budget cuts target education and the arts.

    The recent Ontario budget announcements have some disturbing, if not surprising targets: education and the arts.

    This article from The Star identifies some of the major cuts to the Toronto Public and Catholic and Peel Boards. It is very disturbing that special education and inner city schools seem to be affected the most, along with the loss of hundreds of classroom teachers and VPs.

    Of course the arts will be hit, with the Luminato festival getting the worst of it, as discussed in this article. The A.G.O., the R.O.M. and other Toronto art institutions will be affected as well.

"Imagination is the active ingredient of thinking."

As this article from The Star suggests, when finances get tight, art is the first program to get hit. The article provides some insightful arguments that show the true value of art education.

First off, Sara Diamond (president of OCAD) argues "that the benefits of such institutions far outweigh their costs" and explains that "we hear from employers across all sectors, ‘we need your students. They’ve got the thinking and skills to turn around big problems.’”

Second, John Kissick (director of the School of Fine Arts and Music at the University of Guelph) points out that "in terms of the skill sets needed in the marketplace today, that a studio arts education is as good as it gets outside of the professions."

Then Luis Jacob (a Toronto based artist) makes a great point: “an art school is really important for giving young people a community — a set of peers all trying to create their artistic identities together."

Having been part of such a community at Sheridan College, in the Illustration program, I can attest to the importance of social interaction for the arts. Good ideas take collaboration and criticism to flourish. Innovations build on one another in a community. This leads to critical and creative thinking abilities, confidence, and true grit (See earlier post).

The title quote from this blog sums it up well, from a great thinker of our age, Alan Fletcher:

"Imagination is the active ingredient of thinking."

Two Stories of Algonquin Park

    I came across two inspiring articles this morning. Although both are about completely different people separated by almost a century, they share one common centre point: Algonquin Park.

    The first article is about a new film about the life (and not the death) of Canadian painter Tom Thomson that is opening this weekend at the Vancouver film festival.

    The second article, that features a beautiful short video, is about a Canadian Olympic Kayaker who trains in Algonquin Park, on the lakes that Tom Thomson painted. These articles make me want to get back up to the park to catch the autumn, and do some painting and kayaking.

The ETFO's "Vote Against Kids" Campaign

The Ontario Elementary Teacher's Union has produced this brilliant add campaign, discussed here in The Star, to highlight the importance of education and to get more people thinking about it before heading to the polls.