Join us for our second annual holiday silent auction benefiting The Arts Scholarship Fund. The event will feature works from our talented instructors, and will include drawings, sketches, pottery, jewelry and more!

If you would like to donate an item, please contact alexa [AT] avenueroadartsschool [DOT] com. You will be issued a charitable receipt for your gift-in-kind.

Where: The School
Starts: Saturday, Dec. 12 at 8:30 am
Ends: Friday, Dec. 18 at 6:00 pm.

The Arts Scholarship Fund is proud to offer support to deserving young people who would otherwise not have the opportunity to pursue artistic excellence under the guidance of professional artists.

Workshops

Each term the Avenue Road Arts School will present a series of engaging and innovative workshops geared to the budding, as well as more seasoned artist. Workshops consist of half-day or one- to two-day sessions and include:

• Sketching at the AGO
• Interior Design
• Master Class in Painting with Artist Daniel Hughes
• Improv for Singles
• Holiday Family Clay Workshops
• Memoir Writing

Visit the workshops section for more details.

Satellite Programs

This fall, ARAS announced two satellite locations where art programs will be made available to both kids and adults.
The Toronto Lawn Tennis Club (44 Price Street) - available to their members only and
The Russell Hill Retirement Residence (262 St. Clair Avenue West) - open to all, with parking available.

To view the winter term art classes at these locations or to remain updated with any new locations opening up, visit the satellite programs section.

We've known for years that friendships, and even romances, have developed in our adult art classes. We had not heard of babies being produced, at least not until last August when Benjamin was born, the son of clothing designer, Virginia Johnson and software developer, Louis Trochatos.

Virginia and Louis met in Martha Johnson's Figurative Art class in the spring of 2006. We knew there was mutual admiration when they traded paintings one night! We fully expect Benjamin to be enrolled in one of our Toddler Start with the Arts classes, in the very near future.

Roy Thomson Hall will be the setting for another creative partnership between the Arts School and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Families attending the TSO's Children's Holiday Concert on December 6th will receive a special treat – a chance to make a holiday ornament, with the fabulous Arts School faculty, during the concert intermission.

To learn more about this Family Concert visit the TSO site.

In June, Avenue Road Arts School founder Lola Rasminsky was presented with a Local Hero Award by the Canadian Urban Institute "for engaging the creative spirit of adults, children and youth in the Greater Toronto Area with a variety of art-making and education programs."

Other recipients of CUI awards that day included MaRS Discovery District, The Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, The Centre for Social Innovation, and Mayor Hazel McCallion.

See the full press release in our Press Room.

The Jumbo Book of Art and The Jumbo Book of Outdoor Art – two beautiful collections of art projects developed by the faculty of the Avenue Road Arts School, written and illustrated by past faculty member, Irene Luxbacher are wonderful additions to any child's library, as well as the libraries of any adult wanting to create art with children. Consider purchasing these incredible books from the School this holiday season and provide an enjoyable gift that is long lasting. Both books can be bought in person at the front desk or in our online store.

Irene Luxbacher has recently been nominated for the 2009 Governor General's Literary Award for her illustrations in The Imaginary Garden. The Arts School would like to congratulate Irene on this creation, as well as on her other special creation – the recent birth of her baby boy, Luca!