Creative and Experienced Instructors
Let our skilled and imaginative instructors inspire you and your children and offer you the opportunity to benefit from the joys of art making!
Barry MacPherson, B.F.A.
Graduating from The Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 1973, Barry pursued his career as an artist and has also taught photography, painting, film making and animation to children and adults. Although having formally studied within a Conceptual Environment at NSCAD, Barry presently works mostly in oils and acrylics and strives to achieve a visual statement in his work resulting from a selected theme or word definition that seems relevant at a given moment. Much of his work reaches from influences from the past and placed into the now. Barry currently resides in Montreal and works out of his studio at The EK Voland Art Center. He was a participating artist in The Exhibition “Traffic” Conceptual Art in Canada 1965-1980, that recently ended a two year tour across Canada in 2013. Barry MacPherson’s website
Barry teaches Painting
Eberhard Froehlich, B.A., M.F.A
Graduating from the New York Academy of Art in 1999, Eberhard taught drawing and painting at colleges in the Baltimore area for six years, spent several years as a practicing artist in Leipzig and Berlin, and in 2012 moved to Montreal, where he has been working and exhibiting as a plein-air, landscape, and figure painter. His paintings are generally oil paint, applied fairly thinly and directly. The result is an understated realism based on clear tonal relationships. Working from observation whenever possible, Eberhard Froehlich also paints from memory and imagination, often including movement and implying narrative in his figure compositions. The works of Eberhard Froehlich are in public and private collections in Canada, the US, and Germany.
Eberhard Froehlich’s website
Eberhard teaches Painting and Drawing
Catherine Wells, B.F.A., M.A.
Catherine holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master’s degree in Art Therapy. A practising artist, art educator and art therapist, she has worked for the past twenty-five years in the educational, community and corporate milieus with individuals and groups of all ages.
Catherine believes that art helps us think about ourselves and the world. Confidence, competence and communication evolve together through creative self-expression on the one hand and the development of art expertise on the other. As director of the Pointe-Saint-Charles Art School, she enjoys engaging with the Montreal Arts community. Catherine Wells’ website
Catherine teaches Drawing and animates creative process workshops such as the Mandala workshop.
She and Dorothy Skutezky facilitate the Corporate Art Workshops
Louise Drouin, B.F.A., M.A.
Graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master’s degree in Art Education from Concordia, Louise is an artist /art educator and has been teaching fine arts, painting, drawing and printmaking at Vanier College in Montreal for 25 years. She has also given self-exploration and creativity workshops to all levels and has a comprehensive background working in painting, drawing and mixing different media. For the past 15 years, her passion has been painting in watercolour and organizing art vacations in Jamaica. Louise Drouin’s Linkedin page
Louise teaches Watercolour and Mixed-media
Kristina Urquhart, B.A.
Kristina holds a Honours BA in Sociology from the University of Waterloo, Ontario. She is a multi-disciplinary artist who has trained broadly in photography, ceramics, printmaking, sculpture, textiles, installation, and painting. She attended the Langara College Professional Photography program and the Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver, BC, as well as the Grennan Mill Craft School and Kilkenny College of Art and Design in Ireland. Kristina is an experienced and enthusisatic arts educator who believes that creating art in the company of others is one of life’s great pleasures, and that accessible art programs have far reaching benefits for all ages.
Kristina teaches Children’s classes to children of all ages.
Anne Brisson, B.A.A, M.A
Anne holds a Bachelor’s degree from Ryerson Polytechnic University/Simon Fraser University, another Bachelor’s degree from Ryerson University and a Master’s degree from Simon Fraser University. She has been working in the corporate and art worlds for many years. Most recently, she been working as a papier-maché sculptor. The result is her current unique body of work in which she creates peculiar and whimsical, strangely beautiful characters that appear to come to life. Her work has been exhibited in Canada and the U.S and has been featured in the August 2017 issue of Art Doll Magazine. She is influenced by book illustrations which humanize animals and insects, creating wondrous stories around these as characters. This has inspired her to develop anthropomorphic art dolls that have human characteristics but animal faces. She also loves puppets and vintage circus, so a lot of her work reflect this as well.
Her work can be seen on her Facebook page
Anne teaches Pulp Paper Sculpture
Cally Brandt, B.A., M.A.
Cally received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), Maryland, in Archaeology and Visual Arts. She went on to earn her Master’s degree in Art History from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, where she did research on the differences in technique and materials used by forgers of Auguste Rodin drawings. After her studies, she worked in development at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and taught at The Contemporary in Baltimore. In 2012, Cally immigrated to the Netherlands where she worked on the Rembrandt Database Project. Since 2016, Cally has been living in Montreal where she continues her work and research in the world of art and art history.
Cally teaches Art History
Mary Standjofski, B.F.A, M.A.
Mary is an accomplished teacher and artist holding a Masters degree in Fine Arts from Duncan of Jordanston College of Art, University of Dundee, Scotland, and a Bachelor of Fine Art from Concordia University.
With twenty years experience at CEGEP and University levels and in private Institutions, she has been teaching in the Visual Arts Department of John Abbott College for the last seventeen years. Her subjects included a range of 2-D techniques and practices; drawing, painting, printmaking, photographic methods in printmaking, photography, digital imaging/design, and technical drawing. An exhibiting artist who has been involved in many group and solo drawing and print exhibitions, Mary thrives on learning and sharing what she knows.
J. D. Isenberg, B.F.A.
With a love for visual storytelling, Jay received a DEC from Dawson College in Video, Cinema and Communications, specialising in screen and playwriting. Afterwards, Jay graduated from Concordia University in Art Education. With her love of all visual mediums, she works in styles ranging from comic/manga styles to realism. In her internships teaching those living with mental health and cognitive issues, Jay learned the power art has a therapeutic tool, and plans on getting her Master’s degree in art therapy. Presently, her practice is focussed on drawing and creating 3D models digitally for video games. Jay has drawn and posted a drawing everyday for over a year. Her drawings can be found on her Facebook artist page
J. D. Isenberg’s website.
Jay teaches Teen Classes.
Dorothy Skutezky, B.F.A.
“Because art is so good for you!”
A multi-disciplinary artist since her youngest days, Dorothy earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, where she studied Drawing, Sculpture, Foundry, Textiles, and Art History. Celebrating diversity, nature, the powers of colour and music, self-discovery and expression, travel, magic and beauty are what motivate Dorothy. Today she is primarily exploring the worlds of oil, pastel and watercolour and is also a keen writer. Making art accessible and inspiring anyone to develop an art practice is what brings Dorothy to teaching. Dorothy Skutezky’s website Dorothy Skutezky’s website
Dorothy teaches Painting. She and Catherine Wells facilitate the Corporate Art Workshops
Arianna Garcia-Fialdini, B.F.A, M.F.A
Graduated from the Burren College of Art in Ballyvaughan, Country Clare, Ireland in 2012, Arianna holds two B.F.A degrees from Concordia University in Studio Art and Art Education. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Art Education at Concordia University. Arianna has been teaching drawing, painting and ceramics for adults, teens, children and seniors over the past 6 years at diverse visual art centres in both the UK and Canada. Her studio practice concentrates on large scale murals, drawings, paintings and prints that advocate and claim voice under the umbrella of social justice and human rights themes.
Arianna teaches Introductory drawing and sketching techniques for people with little or no previous drawing competence that want to improve their skills. Her course is a foundation course that prepares students to pursue future advancement in creative skills and risk taking in artistic projects of diverse mediums. She is a firm believer in creating safe and friendly artistic environments that encourage experimentation and creative risk taking.