The Principle of Design: Pattern

As I work through the elements and principles of design with my students, I try to find engaging and achievable projects to highlight the potential of each. The School of Islamic Geometric Design is a great site for patterns and got some fantastic ideas for a memorable pattern design studio project here: http://www.sigd.org/resources/pattern/

There are so many beautiful patterns all around the Aga Khan Museum. It would be great to include a field trip to the museum to explore pattern and find inspiration.

I first visited the museum a few years ago, see some photos in a previous post: here.

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

Sci Art Field Trip to Allen Gardens!

The art studio blog that I contribute to: Saw-Whet Studio is organizing a field trip for anyone interested- and not students for once! This is definitely in line with the post I made a few weeks ago about Cross-curricular Learning. Here's a chance for you to start (or add to) your own "Grail Diary" project. This Science/Art trip will take place in Toronto at the beautiful (and free) Allen Gardens, on Saturday, October 22nd, 12-2pm. All are welcome!

- 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

Museum of Inuit Art

I have enjoyed visiting this museum and I would like to bring my art classes next year.

The Museum of Inuit Art is located downtown Toronto, at 207 Queen's Quay West- right on the water by the Harbourfront Centre.

The beautiful and well-lit venue contains a variety of Inuit art in different media and presents great opportunities for students to analyze visual communication and cultural connections to art making. 

Here's their site for more info: miamuseum.ca.

Cham Shan Temple Visit

This week I spend some time at the Cham Shan Temple with my World Religions class. We've been enjoying studying Buddhism and had a great time walking around this beautiful temple. I've passed it so many times on the bus and always wondered what it looked like inside. 

The most interesting part of the tour are the sculptures. They have wonderful monuments to the various representations of Buddha throughout the buildings. 

This one is the Buddha of 1000 arms, a Bodhisattva of compassion (Avalokitesvara).

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.

T.I.F.F. Field Trip

This term my Grade 12 Film Studies class along with an English class and a Writers Craft class visited TIFF to try the "Make a Movie In a Day" program.

We had a great time and the students got the chance to experience a high-paced version of the whole film-making process using industry standard equipment. They wrote screenplays in small groups, pitched them, voted on one, practiced and shot it and we received a copy of the edited final a few weeks later. 

This is a trip I will gladly do again!

Metalworks Field Trip

Last week I took my Communications Technology classes to visit Metalworks studios and institute to see how audio engineering is done at the post-secondary and professional level.

We were taken on a tour of the studio to see where artists record, where engineers use the million dollar soundboard to mix music, the post-production equipment and even the stage and lighting warehouses. We saw where musicians such as Rush, Prince, Feist, and Drake have worked and recorded and how many different kinds of jobs there are in the industry.

The million-dollar soundboard:

The sub-woofer that Prince gave the studio after recording with it:

The final production details are added in the final mixing room:

R.O.M. Field Trip

Last week I brought my classes to the R.O.M. for a guided visit  in the morning and a small group photography exploration in the afternoon. 

The museum offers such diverse exhibitions that there is something for every student's interests. 

Here are a few of the highlights: 

Graffiti in Toronto, Downtown Field Trip

The Torontoist recently posted an interesting piece about how the Mayor has selected a panel to judge whether grafitti around the city is art or vandalism. The city will destroy the vandalism and keep the art. There are so many different kinds of grafitti in our city and different standards of acceptability and legality. Here is the article: http://torontoist.com/2012/10/city-staff-will-decide-whether-these-murals-are-vandalism-or-art/ .

These photos were taken in Graffiti alley on a field trip with my art classes last week. They are a good example of the variety of graffiti that we have. Much of it is protected but who knows how the panel will vote.