GUILLERMO DEL TORO: AT HOME WITH MONSTERS - A.G.O.

I went to see the Guillermo Del Toro exhibit at the A.G.O. last weekend and it was so good! I highly recommend it.

What makes it so enjoyable is how interdisciplinary it is. Unlike many exhibits, and galleries in general, that tend to show work separated traditionally by type: paintings hanging on the wall, the occasional sculpture, photography or print- which tend to produce the same kind of gallery behaviour by the visitors: quietly walking from one piece to the next, hands behind their back, leaning in now and then to read the didactics. This exhibit broke away from this gallery model and created what many galleries are aiming for: it was dynamic, interactive and got visitors taking and moving around experiencing the show in different ways- based on what intrigued them.

Another element that makes this show successful and refreshing is how it combines the fine arts with applied arts: painting and prints, next to costume design and story boards, next to comics and book illustration, movie props and plans for medieval stained glass windows.

I like the way it was set up: collections + influences. I think that every show would be more interesting with a section dedicated to showing what inspired and influenced the artist.

Here are a few images from the show:

- Patrick

A.G.O. Field Trip Planner

Earlier in the school year, I created this A.G.O. Field Trip Planner for teachers, highlighting some of connections that can can made to various Ontario secondary curriculum- not just for Visual Arts classes!

Several of the teachers that I work with used this to plan fun and rewarding field trips. The A.G.O. changes/updates their programming so be sure to check their site for more info: A.G.O.

- Patrick

Mystical Landscapes: Masterpieces from Monet, Van Gogh and more at the A.G.O.

This new show that's just opened at the A.G.O. looks amazing, I will definitely be checking it out soon. Find out more here: http://www.ago.net/mystical-landscapes

In other A.G.O. news, I organized a great interdisciplinary field trip last week for several high school classes. The A.G.O. educators were engaging, the students had fun and learned a lot and the teachers found new ways of using visual arts as a way into their respective disciplines.

The Grade 12 English class did the Art & Literature guided tour; the Grade 12 Challenge and Change and Photography classes enjoyed the Art & Social Justice Tour; and the Grade 9 Geography and Grade 10 History classes covered a lot in the Canadian Tour. I would recommend the guided tours to any class!

- Patrick

Yayoi Kusama Exhibition at the A.G.O.!

Some exciting news for Toronto: the A.G.O. will be the only Canadian stop for the upcoming show, find out more here: https://ago.net/ago-to-be-only-canadian-stop-for-highly-anticipated-yayoi-kusama-exhibition

2016 Summer Institute for Art Educators - Day 4

For the final day of the 2016 Summer Institute for Art Educators (organized by the AGO and the CSEA), we got the chance to speak with the new Director and CEO of the AGO: Stephan Jost. He was funny and approachable and spoke of some fascinating new possibilities for the gallery. I love the overall philosophy he uses to approach such a complex and demanding job, he said: "if it's not about great art, education or access, I'm not interested."

We then heard from Jane Lott, the Coordinator of Family Programs at the AGO and explored the Hands On Centre, a play-based learning room for little ones. In discussing where and how she gets her material for such diverse programming, she explained that sometimes she has to get creative - an example, that I like and will be using, is to use LED lights in a simple plastic container to make a lightbox for under $20:

Our group of educators then heard from Melissa Smith, the lively Program Coordinator of the Gallery Guides, about the exhibit that opened on Canada Day: The Idea of North: The Paintings of Lawren Harris and then went up to explore the show.

This painting, In The Ward, 1920, is one of my favourites from the show. I was surprised by the amount of painting Lawren Harris did of the Ward in Toronto. This run down area used to be where city hall and the Eaton Centre stand today, and was a place for immigrants- mostly Eastern European, Chinese, Black and Irish. His paintings provide a primary source for a missing part of our history. He has a beautiful way of using bright colour and thick paint application to create these images, and for me it was a fascinating departure from the landscapes that I'm used to. Definitely a great show that I would like to visit again!

In the afternoon we went to the Gardiner Museum and had a brief tour of the ceramics followed by a thoroughly enjoyable clay studio session. After seeing and discussing art all week it felt great to sit down and make something!

Ewer with tulips and scholar, Ming Dynasty, Chongzhen period, c.1635-40

The Summer Institute was a fun and rewarding week of art and education in Toronto. I will miss spending time with such like-minded and friendly people, and I look forward to exploring more of the art and museums in our city.

For more, check out the twitter updates about the week's adventures here, #AGOCSEA and have a look at the A.G.O. Schools and Teachers Facebook page here.

- Patrick

2016 Summer Institute for Art Educators - Day 3

On Day 3 of the 2016 Summer Institute for Art Educators, organized by the AGO and the CSEA, we started off with a fascinating talk with the Chief Curator for the A.G.O., Stephanie Smith. Then we went up into the galleries to do a workshop with the wonderful Education Officer, Bob Phillips in the exhibition Communal Courtyard by Song Dong. 

This exhibit explores changes in society and changes in spaces and we looked at how students could engage with this show through the different concepts of space, and framing, and ideas of personal versus public.

Then we went on to discuss how we can work with our students with some other challenging and engaging pieces, first, a gallery favourite: Kent Monkman's The Academy.

Next was Bonnie Devine's Battle for the Woodlands. The artist used a massive old map of upper and lower Canada that was previously installed and painted on top of it to show an Anishinaabe understanding of the map and address issues of colonialism - specifically around the great lakes. The artist installed work in front of the mural as well as painting animals running away across the walls leading into the other spaces. It was great to see this work up close and be part of the space the work was created in.

In the afternoon, we made our way down to The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery. We had some fun interacting with work in one of their current exhibits, Franz Erhard Walther: Call to Action. As the title suggests, the works are activated by the viewer and we got a chance to approach works of art in a playful way. 

We also checked out the video-based work of another German artist currently showing at the Powerplant: Ulla von Brandenburg. For more, have a look at the twitter updates about the week's adventures here, #AGOCSEA and check out the A.G.O. Schools and Teachers Facebook page here.

- Patrick

2016 Summer Institute for Art Educators - Day 2

On Day 2 of the 2016 Summer Institute for Art Educators, organized by the AGO and the CSEA, our group of art educators went to explore the beautiful Aga Khan Museum.

The architecture alone is worth the visit. We started our tour looking out over the gardens and granite pools that connect the museum to the Ismaili Centre Toronto, and you can even see the C.N. Tower in the background. We then made our way into the luminous inner courtyard.

We were lead up the free-standing blue staircase to check out the spectacular auditorium.

As we entered the museum collection, we were greeted with an animated wall of moving patterns and script and a massive map showing the wide-reaching impact of Muslim art and civilization.

The diverse collection was fascinating to examine and there is so much to see, I will definitely return to continue my exploration. One item that stuck out for me is the illuminated botanical text explaining the growth of a specific tree. A theme that emerged from the day is the concept of cross-cultural commonalities, in classrooms, lesson plans and museum collection-  like the Tom Thomson tree painting that I posted about yesterday.

Back at the A.G.O. in the afternoon, we took part in a great workshop about how to Amplify Diverse Student Voices with strategies and lesson plan ideas that we can use in our classes. The workshop was lead by Ilene Soca, from Blank Canvases and Noorin Fazal, from Story Planet. Looking forward to the rest of the week!

For more, check out the twitter updates about the week's adventures here, #AGOCSEA. And have a look at the A.G.O. Schools and Teachers Facebook page here.

- Patrick

2016 Summer Institute for Art Educators - Day 1

This week I'm fortunate to be participating in some fascinating professional development at the Art Gallery of Ontario. The 2016 Summer Institute for Art Educators that has been organized by the AGO and the CSEA (the Canadian Society for Education through Art).

Yesterday was our first day and the program is off to a great start! Art educators from around Ontario teaching in elementary, secondary, post-secondary and museums studies have come together to explore how we can use galleries in our teaching practice. We spoke with the eye-opening and inspirational guest curator Wanda Nanibush and explored the Canadian galleries on the second floor.

I have always loved bringing all my classes (not just art!) to the gallery and I regularly use artwork in my lessons in the classroom, this week I hope to expand these practices and find new ways of engaging my students.

The AGO is updating on twitter about the adventures we have this week, check it out here, #AGOCSEA - and check out the A.G.O. School and Teachers facebook page here.

One of my personal favourites is Tom Thomson, and I got to spend some time with his oil sketches, here's "Dead Pine":

- Patrick

5 Reasons why Art is Good for Your Health

Happy World Health Day! I saw this article on the A.G.O. Facebook page:

https://www.10mag.com/5-reasons-art-is-good-for-health/

- Patrick

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

Jean-Michel Basquiat at the A.G.O.

The new exhibit at the AGO looks amazing: Jean-Michel Basquiat: Now's The Time. This is the first major retrospective of the artist's work and I cannot wait to check it out. I've already heard good things about it and the educator's night was well attended. 

One of the reasons that I'm excited about this exhibit is the accessibility of Basquiat's images. It's a refreshing move away from the often snobby, pretentious high-brow art world (seen in too many shows- where viewers stand around sipping drinks and pretending to understand the meaning behind artwork that really speaks to no one). This unfortunate part of the art world gives all art a bad name and distracts from the power of visual creativity to actually communicate something. This criticism is not directed at the A.G.O., who always have something thoughtful to check out, but to an unfortunate majority of other galleries. 

Just a little rant. I hope you enjoy the show!

Where to find inspiration for artwork online

We are bombarded with images all day from every direction. Especially through our devices: phones, tablets, and computers. The students rarely tear themselves away, (except in my class, when I will confiscate the phones if they are not actually part of the lesson- but that's a classroom management issue that we don't have to get into here).

Many teachers try to take advantage of this electronic compulsion, to harness the power of this addiction for good instead of evil. Sure, phones and laptops can be great research tools, and as long as the students are engaged in the project that they are researching, it can work.

To support this initiative, teachers of all disciplines must build lists of good sites for students to visit. For artwork, there are plenty, the trick is to find ones with classroom-appropirate content. Many online sites are great but veer away from PG content too easily. So teachers have to preview the sites regularly. Here are a few for art classes that are amazing for research and inspiration:

http://soulpancake.com/

http://www.canadiandesignresource.ca/

https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/project/art-project

http://romkids.tumblr.com/

www.ago.net

http://www.rom.on.ca/en
http://miamuseum.ca/

This next one has the best currently-created work from creatives around the world, but unfortunately is only suitable for senior level classes as the content can easily become questionable. Definitely one for teacher preview, however, worth the effort for the wonderful variety of artwork:

https://www.behance.net/

A few more with a similar situation:

http://www.juxtapoz.com/
http://www.booooooom.com/
http://www.woostercollective.com/

Enjoy!

- Patrick

Blyth Academy Visual Arts classes at the Varley Gallery and Ai Wei Wei at the A.G.O.

    It's been longer than usual since my last post so I'll make up for it by covering two posts in one: Blyth at the Varley Gallery and Ai Wei Wei at the AGO. The start of this school year has been so busy - but I guess they always are! I 've been less involved in art education this term because I've been teaching exclusively grade 12 Social Science courses. Even though I miss Visual Arts, the new courses have been very rewarding to teach. I organized a field trip to the Coroner's Courts in Toronto, to sit in on the Inquest into the Death of Ashley Smith. I also brought in a social justice lawyer to visit my classes and discuss the inquest after.

    That will all change soon- my courses end in mid-November and I will be establishing a Visual Arts program at Blyth Academy, Thornhill. The arts program that I've been working on with the wonderful team at Blyth is based on a parntership with the Varley Art Gallery in Markham. The students will tour the collection, paint in the studios and curate their own show that will be held in the gallery at the end of the course. I am very excited about this partnership and can't wait to get started!

Back in Toronto... the Ai Wei Wei exhibit at the AGO is one of the best shows I've seen in a while. The works are thoughtful, surprising and truly creative. The pieces communicate important messages about social justice issues with a bold, thought-provoking directness. Even though he is not allowed to travel outside of China due to his open criticism of the Chinese government, Ai Wei Wei uses art to visually communicate all over the world and, luckily for us, especially in Toronto.

A.G.O. Field Trip

I always enjoy a field trip to the AGO. This time was especially amazing! It was a beautiful spring day, I got a warm welcome from some colleagues that I hadn't seen in a while and the students had a great time.

I brought my World Religions class to look at how Aboriginal spirituality has influenced art. One student chose the Raven Rattle above. This wonderful carved and painted wood piece is Tlingit from southern Alaska, from around 1860.

The Louis Riel quote above is always inspirational and reminds the viewer of the power of art and its central role in culture.

The Canadian Galleries.

And of course one of the favourites: Chuck Close's Kent - a massive photo-realistic painting that always captures the students' attention.

Ai Weiwei show at the AGO in August 2013

Great news: it has been confirmed that the artist Ai Wei Wei will be making the AGO part of his North American tour of According to What? 

The Globe covers it briefly here.

I have always been intrigued by his work, but, like many others, it seems like work best appreciated up close.  I'm definitely looking forward to this one.

Reinventing Summer School

A new and encouraging trend has started in Toronto and is gaining momentum this summer. A few high schools are providing some interesting summer school programs for kids who want to get ahead in credits and have an amazing experience at the same time. As discussed in this Post article, Eclat School of Performing Arts is focusing on drama and writing, Blyth Academy will have kids working with art, photography, animation and film at the A.G.O., the R.O.M. and Tiff Bell Lightbox and Outward Bound Canada is participating as well, offering courses as part of their Urban Discovery program.

These sounds like some exciting and diverse classes, very different from when I was in school and kids mostly went to summer school because they failed math!

A.G.O. joins the Google Art Project

The A.G.O. has joined other museums in contributing to the Google Art Project to make work accessible online.  Here's a National Post  article with info from A.G.O. staff and more details about the project.

And you can see more at the Google Art Project.

This is such a good idea, ever since I saw the Sistine Chapel interactive online site, (from an earlier post) I've been wanting to see more museums providing high definition content online.

By allowing the public to interact with artwork from home for free, museums can generate interest and help people make connections and build curiosity or familiarity with their collection.

This is especially useful for education, and a great tool for art teachers and students. This could be used to help with research, thematic exploration, and to prepare a class before visiting.  I hope we will see more and more great work accessible in this way.

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.

TDSB and AGO working together

    The T.D.S.B. and the A.G.O. are working together to enhance art education! This collaboration makes sense in so many ways and is based around the Weston Family Learning Centre. Find out more at the A.G.O. site, here. I am thrilled to hear about this great development in art education and look forward to seeing what the partnership brings.

    The A.G.O. is such a fantastic resource and can help educators make the curriculum more engaging and interactive for students. As a former gallery guide at the A.G.O., I have witnessed this first-hand and have always felt that more students deserve to benefit from what the gallery has to offer.

The Two Most Famous Paintings In Canadian Art...

I wondered what was going on when I was in the A.G.O. last week and noticed that Tom Thomson's "West Wind" was missing. Arguably the two most famous paintings in Canadian art are hanging side by side in a gallery in London, England this week: Thomson's "West Wind" and "Jack Pine".

Both images are considered icons of the Canadian spirit and it must be wonderful to see them together. They are part of a larger exhibit of Thomson and the Group of Seven that is touring Europe for the first time since the first quarter of last century. The Globe covers the details in this article.