ARAS - Splash! Fall 2000

Introducing Art and Sign Studio
A mixed media class integrates deaf and hearing children

What happens when hearing children encounter deaf children for the first time? And how do they adapt to each others' skill-sets? Art and Sign Studio will provide the backdrop for finding some of these answers.

Artist/actress/ filmmaker/writer Vanessa Vaughan will be leading her class through the magical world of mixed media. She will teach the class in sign language as well as in the spoken word assisted by Susie Whaley, a long-time staff member of the Avenue Road Arts School.

As a fine artist, Vanessa specializes in portraiture. As an actress she has played leading roles in such movies as Crazy Moon and The Sound and the Silence, for which she was nominated for a Gemini Award. She directed a film entitled Edda's Song which was selected by Air Canada for broadcast on all international flights and was aired on WTNÕs Shameless Shorts.

She has art directed a series of American Sign Language videos for children. She is the Arts and Entertainment Editor for Canada's national newspaper, Deaf Canada Today, focusing on events and developments in the arts within the global deaf community.

It is Vanessa's dream to nurture, develop and increase exposure for the artistic vision of fellow deaf artists. We welcome Vanessa to the faculty of our school. And we thank the many donors to the Arts For Children Scholarship Fund for helping to subsidize this class.

Congratulations

To Sadko Hadzhihasanovic, on receiving a Canada Council Travel/Study Award which will allow him to spend three months painting in a Paris studio. We wish him well and we look forward to his return for the Winter and Spring Terms.


Children's Art Show Moves to Bay Street	Introducing Art and Sign Studio A mixed media class integrates deaf and hearing children What happens when hearing children encounter deaf children for the first time? And how do they adapt to each others' skill-sets? Art and Sign Studio will provide the backdrop for finding some of these answers. Artist/actress/ filmmaker/writer Vanessa Vaughan will be leading her class through the magical world of mixed media. She will teach the class in sign language as well as in the spoken word assisted by Susie Whaley, a long-time staff member of the Avenue Road Arts School. As a fine artist, Vanessa specializes in portraiture. As an actress she has played leading roles in such movies as Crazy Moon and The Sound and the Silence, for which she was nominated for a Gemini Award. She directed a film entitled Edda's Song which was selected by Air Canada for broadcast on all international flights and was aired on WTNÕs Shameless Shorts. She has art directed a series of American Sign Language videos for children. She is the Arts and Entertainment Editor for Canada's national newspaper, Deaf Canada Today, focusing on events and developments in the arts within the global deaf community. It is Vanessa's dream to nurture, develop and increase exposure for the artistic vision of fellow deaf artists. We welcome Vanessa to the faculty of our school. And we thank the many donors to the Arts For Children Scholarship Fund for helping to subsidize this class. Congratulations To Sadko Hadzhihasanovic, on receiving a Canada Council Travel/Study Award which will allow him to spend three months painting in a Paris studio. We wish him well and we look forward to his return for the Winter and Spring Terms.
After an extended stay at Metro Hall, Walking in the Shoes of the Masters: Children Look at Art Through Time moved to BCE Place, where it was admired by thousands of tourists and business people over the course of a week. The show consisted of work that almost 800 children from the Avenue Road Arts School had produced over the last six months. This colourful, larger-than-life exhibit was designed to show how inspired children can become by learning about an artistic master. The centrepiece of the show was a 'Monet' garden. It included a myriad of standing flowers, a Japanese bridge, and many amusing ceramic frogs and lillipads. The exhibit was highly interactive. It encouraged visitors to: look through kaleidoscopes inspired by famous Canadian artists; move the larger-than-life features on a Picasso-esque face; or open the Ghiberti-inspired Gates of Paradise and see how children imagine their perfect world to be. One could even walk inside a Warhol-ish eight-foot high Campbell's soup can or sit by a fountain constructed by children from found objects. Portraits were produced in a variety of media: from clay and watercolour to a giant hand-sewn portrait quilt, including 150 faces, hands and names. As well, a sound portrait of Canada had been created to the music and sounds of our country from east to west. The show included miniature dioramas created by preschool children – we could peek into the workshops of artisans such as shoemakers, stained-glass window makers and needlepoint craftspeople. As well, an Emily Carr landscape made by the robotic sculpture class had moveable parts – leaves and branches that wave without a breeze! The exhibit was highly stimulating, informative and fun! Now that it is over, the large scale pieces will be donated to organizations serving the needs of children in the community. Curator: Julie Frost Avenue Road Arts School Faculty What would we do without our Sponsors? The Millennium Show was made possible through the generosity of the following: C.A. Delaney Capital Management Ltd. The City of Toronto Millennium Fund The Edward Bronfman Family Foundation The Estate of Louis Rasminsky Gluskin Sheff + Associates Inc. The Toronto Community Foundation The students and faculty are grateful for the support of these sponsors. Curator Appointed The Avenue Road Arts School is pleased to announce the appointment of Sally Frater as Curator. Sally is a graduate of the Guelph University Fine Arts Program (Photography) and has been working as an administrator at the school since January, 2000. She curated the show of Linda Prussick's students' work in May, the highly successful exhibit and sale of adult work last June at the Women's Art Association Gallery, and a presentation of the work of John Viljoen's students which opened on August 22. Sally plans to mount shows of student art work at the school every six weeks beginning in the Fall.

© 2000 Avenue Road Arts School Artistic works are © their respective creators. Please contact the School for information on obtaining permission to reproduce any text or images from this site.