In-School lessons

School Art Lessons for your classroom in Toronto. Our In-School Lessons provide children in Toronto and the GTA with engaging and imaginative art projects. We provide a range of lessons for Junior Kindergarten to Grade 8, all inspired by local historical and contemporary Toronto artists.

our story

Blank Canvases began in 2011 as a partnership between a local studio and Niagara Street Junior Public School in Toronto. The Parents' Council approached our founder Ilene Sova, with a desire to have real artists come into the classroom to teach children how to be creative and express themselves in new ways. The pilot project had artists coming into classrooms every Monday for a year, resulting in a fruitful partnership. Word spread throughout the educational community, and other schools wanted to be involved.

Three years later, an official collaboration with both school boards soon evolved. Blank Canvases is proud to have expanded our lessons into over one hundred schools across the GTA. Outside of schools, we now actively bring fun and engaging art to our workplaces, festivals, events, and community gatherings. 

Goals

  • Provide children in Toronto and the GTA with an enriching experience of interacting with artists in their community
  • Provide art education on and about local Toronto Artists
  • Foster local cultural knowledge and identity in the classrooms 
  • Expose children to the artistic process in an authentic form
  • Allow children accessible arts programming that is sophisticated and impactful
  • Connect children to the surrounding community through artistic engagement
  • Use art to help students connect with social studies, local history, and other subject matter linked with the curriculum
  • Provide teachers professional development on art education in the TDSB and TCDSB with extensions for learning within their class
  • Use art as a vehicle for creative and critical thinking in classrooms

See our work in schools

Blank canvases LESSON APPROACH

Each lesson starts with showing students images, where they learn about the creative work and life of the specific Toronto artist or art collective.

Afterward, students are led through an art lesson inspired by artists’ techniques, culminating in the creation of their unique art piece.

Our lessons are designed by qualified art education specialists who work with our learning outcomes to meet the Ontario Ministry Visual Arts Curriculum standards.

APPLICATION

Art Walkthrough & Creation

FOUNDATION

Local Artist Lesson

KEY Learning Outcomes

Our Art Educators use methods that allow individual creation and expression to the best of each child’s ability. This includes best practices in arts education, reflecting the following outcomes:

Group Camaraderie

Individuality

Mutual Respect

Critical & Creative Thinking

Positive Self-Esteem

Process Focused

Open-Ended Choices

Fostering Expression

Commitment to sustainability

Blank Canvases is committed to teaching sustainable practices in art making. To address the climate crisis, we understand that our creative choices intersect with many aspects of an environmentally healthy community.

see all Lessons

BOOK WITH US

questions?

  • Payments for In-School lessons are processed through the school’s administration.

  • Yes! We provide all art supplies and materials required for each lesson.

  • One lesson is a half-day length, which is approximately 3 hours. This timeframe accounts for:

    • set-up (45 minutes)

    • lesson time (2 hours)

    • clean-up (30 minutes)

  • Blank Canvases follows the maximum class sizes below:

    • JK-SK (30 students)

    • Grade 1-3 (20 students)

    • Grade 4-8 (30 students)

    One lesson is restricted to one class. Classes cannot be combined to reach the maximum size.

  • Yes! We highly encourage booking for a full-day, meaning two lessons (one in the AM and one class in the PM).

    • For example, you can connect with another teacher interested in booking the other half-day.

    In doing so, you help our Art Educators teach a full day of at your school.

  • Yes, booking multiple lesson (more than two) is possible. Please reach out to us at info@blankcanvases.org with your specific inquiry!

Don’t see your question? Send us an email at info@blankcanvases.org