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

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

Free tutorial: how to draw the human face and head

Here's an interesting resource to help with one of the more challenging drawing projects: how to draw the human face and head- Open Culture posted this free tutorial video here.

- Patrick

Cross-curricular Learning

Cross-curricular or interdisciplinary learning can offer so many rich educational experiences for students and teachers. Creating meaningful cross-curricular projects, field trips and learning opportunities is one of the priorities at my campus this year. Our teachers have already worked together to plan an interdisciplinary field trip to the Art Gallery of Ontario.

As an example and an inspirational starting point, I like to refer to the "Grail Diary" that Sean Connery's character Dr. Henry Jones Sr. kept in Indian Jones and The Last Crusade. You can find out more about this wonderful object at the wiki here. And here are a few pages from the diary:

What makes this diary so beautiful, and useful in the film, is how the author combines disciplines to study his subject. He works from different fields to achieve a deeper understanding and to discover new meaning, fields including: art, history, science, literature, architecture, religion, philosophy, chemistry, painting, sculpture, languages, iconography, geography, and geology. He also uses various methods to record his findings, including: drawing, writing, transferring images, collage, map-making, note-taking, quotation and references. The result is a cross-curricular masterpiece.

Another inspirational example of a cross-curricular product- Leonardo da Vinci's sketchbooks:

I saw some other great examples at the Aga Khan Museum this summer:

What I love about these artifacts (and what I think would be a fantastic classroom project) is how they are all handmade, in-depth studies of a subject drawing on multiple disciplines to achieve a more complete understanding and to create a beautiful and informative product. This is something that students can get excited about. It would also be more interesting for teachers to mark!

Class Project Idea: For a summative project, students create a object in the spirit of the "Grail Diary" or a "Da Vinci Sketchbook" - that spans 3 or more subjects. The students can research their chosen subject through the lens of each discipline, and then compile the information into a comprehensive mini-book that demonstrates their cross-curricular learning. The book can be marked by each of the three teachers based on subject-specific criteria for their class, while appreciating the diversity of products and the depth of knowledge that results through this kind of learning and where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

- 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

Cardboard House Exhibition

I just saw this on the Ontario Art Education Association's Facebook page, it looks like so much fun, and definitely a good STEAM project idea:

http://www.re-thinkingthefuture.com/article/amazing-carton-house-exhibition/

- Patrick

The Mural Project 2016

This term, I worked with the Grade 11 Media Arts class to paint another mural at the campus. The project involved covering up an older mural that was painted years ago in what is now the guidance office. The colours as well as the subject matter of the old mural were interesting but a bit unnerving for the calm atmosphere I try to create in the guidance space. 

Some Grade 9 and 10 students volunteered to sand down the old mural, a senior student did two coats of primer to cover up the black and primary colours of the old mural. Then, the Media Arts students took over covering the wall with a cool blue and green layer, using sponges to blend the two areas. They used variations of a sketch of mine to cover the wall with the line work for the paint. 

Many students who weren't in the Media Arts class wanted to help out and paint part of the mural, it was great to see the project bring so many people together!

We used eggshell house paint and finished the mural in two main stages: the mid-tone blue trees and the highlights of brighter colours in between the patterns in the branches. It was a fun project and it gave the students a chance to be creative and to work in an environment other than the typical classroom setting, listening to music and chatting as they worked. Looking forward to another mural next year!

- Patrick