ESA Visual Arts Highlights
2013 – 2014 was a truly phenomenal year.
There was a period of two weeks in the spring when we had 8 exhibitions running in Toronto, Buffalo, and New York.
Between April and June we participated in 26 exhibitions in two countries, including our fourth exhibition at the Albright Knox Museum in Buffalo, NY. Our works were flanked by shows including Anselm Kiefer, Louise Bourgeois and Kiki Smith. A huge accomplishment.
Our Department Exhibition in May included 1500 artworks hung throughout the school. 500 people come through the show during the opening and we sold approximately $13000 worth of student work split 50/50 with the artists.
Scholastic Art and Writing Awards 2014 Regional Awards
This year, of the 1368 International Art awards given around the globe in the first round of competition, Etobicoke School of the Arts won 697 – or more than 50%! ESA also won 20% of all the writing awards.
In Canada, 191 Gold Keys were awarded – 141 of which went to students at Etobicoke School of the Arts.
In the National Round, Etobicoke School of the Arts won more awards than any country in the world other than the USA (Korea was third).
During the weekend of the Scholastic Awards Ceremony we participated in three exhibitions in New York City: the Art Write Now exhibition at the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center at Parsons the New School for Design and the Pratt Institute’s Pratt Manhattan Gallery, and two students participated in an exhibition at TAG:
To top that weekend of openings and awards off, Nigel Westgate had one of his paintings make an appearance in Teen Vogue!!!!
Portfolio Day 4 and Scholarships
As a result of Portfolio Day 4 and hard work through the application season the grade 12’s applying to art programs were offered approximately 2.6 million dollars in scholarships.
This year we received our highest number of full scholarship offers to programs in Canada, Europe, and the USA.
Our students received more than a dozen school’s most prestigious scholarships. For the first time we experienced having student work purchased by university representatives at Portfolio Day and having students flown to schools in the US to be courted.
Portfolio Day 4 Participants
1. Harvard University
2. Paris College of Art
3. University of Michigan
4. Parsons The New School
5. School of the Art Institute of Chicago
6. California Institute of the Arts
7. Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts
8. San Francisco Art Institute
9. College for Creative Studies
10. Kansas City Art Institute
11. School of Visual Arts
12. York University
13. Algoma University
14. Concordia University
15. Maryland Institute College of Art
16. Emily Carr University
17. University of British Columbia
18. Maine College of Art
19. Ontario College of Art and Design University
20. Nova Scotia College of Art and Design
21. Fleming College – Halliburton School of The Arts
22. Pratt Institute
23. School for Arts and Creative Innovation (Visual Arts) University Of Windsor
24. Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design
25. Yukon School of Visual Arts
26. Lesley University College of Art and Design
27. Max the Mutt College of Animation, Art & Design
28. Columbia College Chicago
29. Bishops University
30. McMaster University
31. Pratt MWP College of Art and Design
32. Savannah College of Art and Design
33. Kendall College of Art & Design
34. Emily Carr University of Art and Design
35. Alberta College of Art and Design
36. Columbus College of Art and Design
37. Waterloo University
38. Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning
39. Queen’s University
40. Mount Allison University
Schools that visited on other dates:
1. California College of the Arts
2. Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art
3. University of Edinburgh
4. Queen Margaret University
5. Heriot Watt
6. University of Glasgow
7. Glasgow School of Art
8. Strathclyde University
9. Glasgow Caledonian University
10. University of Dundee
11. University of Abertay
12. University of Stirling
13. Robert Gordon University
14. University of Aberdeen
15. University of the Highlands and Islands
Photography
This year Etobicoke School of the Arts was included in Magenta Foundation’s publication Flash Forward 2013. This is a truly remarkable event given the magnitude of the prestige involved in this organization and this exhibition – perhaps the most significant competition for photographers under 35 years of age in the world.
Our 2013 – 2014 grads are participating in the Flash Forward Incubator Program Exhibition right now! This will be our most significant fundraiser for the department supported by Magenta at TD Bank for which we are very thankful!
Art Talk 1 and 2
We had 150 people attend Art Talk 1 at the school on December 16. It was a remarkable event and once again the feedback proved that taking risks like this is always worth it.
15 students spoke about their connection to creativity and education and making things in a way that allowed the audience access to real understanding about what we do here. There were many tears and laughs and some moments of absolute focus and silence. It was a huge success.
Little did we know that just a few months later we would find ourselves in a sold out auditorium at OCADU for Art Talk 2 with an audience of more than 320 people.
Behind all of this is the most caring and intelligent community I have ever encountered. Our real success here at ESA is how well we support and assist each other in taking on challenging and significant experiences designed to help us be the best versions of ourselves every day.
To do that we need trust, support, freedom, confidence, and ambition. This really is a four year program and the development that occurs by Portfolio day is, always, stunning and remarkable. I cannot imagine a better place to be that with all of these wonderful people.
2012-2013
Six ESAVA grade 12 students received more than $2.1 million in scholarship offers.
ESAVA exhibited on three continents and in four countries
We participated in the largest photography festival on the planet – Contact 2013
ESA Photography students were accepted into the Magenta Foundation’s Flash Forward 2013 and appeared in the Flash Forward 2014 publication and the exhibition.
ESAVA exhibited at the Albright Knox Gallery in Buffalo, New York
ESAVA exhibited at Samuel J Zacks Gallery at York University
ESA won 248 Scholastic Art and Writing awards (including 128 Regional Gold medals!) representing almost 50% of all awards given to students around the globe outside of the US. In the National Award round, of the 44 Gold and Silver medals awarded to Canadians, 24 went to students from ESA! Selections from those works exhibited in New York are on tour for two years.
ESAVA student exhibited at Saatchi Gallery in London, England
In the three years ESAVA has run Portfolio Day, students have been offered more than $5.3 million in scholarships.
2011-2012
Students were accepted into more than 30 different programs around the world and broke our record for most scholarships in one year