Fall Semester 2023
Oxygen Art Centre’s Continuing Arts Education Programming
Oxygen Art Centre’s Continuing Arts Education Programming for Fall 2023
For more information about classes or help with registration please contact E: education@oxygenartcentre.org
Click here for instructor biographies
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Figure Drawing #3 (no instruction)
IN PERSON
4 Classes: Sept 17, 24 Oct 1, 8
Sundays: 6:30 – 8:30pm
Course Description:
Drawing sessions will provide the opportunity to draw from a model with poses ranging from 1 minute to 20 minutes. No instruction is offered. Students are expected to provide the drawing materials of their choice.
TOTAL FEE: $60
Registration Deadline: SEPTEMBER 8

Art Speak – Peer to Peer Work Sharing
Facilitated by Emilie Leblanc Kromberg
IN PERSON
4 Classes: Sept 21, 28, Oct. 5, 12
Thursdays: 5 – 6:45pm
Course Description:
Artists of all disciplines (professional or not) are invited to share their work in a safe space and engage in contemporary art dialogue with other open-minded art loving individuals. Themes will be proposed as a potential starting point for exchanges and artistic practices to grow collectively. The objective for this workshop is for artists to make, share, discuss, and learn together.
TOTAL FEE: $40
Registration Deadline: SEPTEMBER 14

Dreaming into Poetry with Rose Nielsen
IN PERSON
8 Classes: Sept. 19, 21, 26, 28, Oct. 3, 5, 10, 12
Tues. & Thurs.: 10am – 12pm
Course Description:
This course offers a poetry-writing approach that looks through the lens of Jungian dreamwork as we search for images, symbols, and metaphors in our dreams, bringing unconscious material into consciousness. In the process, we will explore a variety of fixed form and free verse poetry to learn which forms might best serve the dream’s tone and theme.
TOTAL FEE: $230
Registration Deadline: SEPTEMBER 12

Balkan Choir with Bessie Wapp
IN PERSON
8 Classes: Sept. 21 – Nov. 9
Thursdays: 7 – 9pm
Course Description:
Add your voice to the bold dissonance and clear sweetness of ancient multipart Eastern European a cappella songs of love and lust, harvest and hearth, wartime, badly arranged marriages, and drunken husbands. No prior experience required. In the last class we will enchant an audience with what we’ve learned.
Material Fee: $10
Course Fee: $230
TOTAL FEE: $240
Registration Deadline: SEPTEMBER 14

Lino Printing – Making Greeting Cards and Exploring Colour with Myra Rasmussen
IN PERSON
1 Class: Sept. 24
Sunday: 1-4pm
Course Description:
In this class we will explore a few different ways to use colour in lino relief printmaking including rainbow rolls, coloured backgrounds, and reduction technique. Each participant will then carve and print one or two lino blocks (depending on time). We will work with 4” x 4.5” blocks, which are a perfect size to experiment with new techniques and to make handmade greeting cards. No previous lino printmaking experience required.
Material Fee: $15 (all materials provided)
Course Fee: $50
TOTAL FEE: $65
Registration Deadline: SEPTEMBER 15

Drawing The Costumed Figure with Deborah Thompson
IN PERSON
4 Classes: Oct. 4 – 25
Wednesdays: 5:30 – 8:30pm
Course Description:
This four week imaginative and process-based course will focus on drawing skills through the study of the costumed figure. Staged poses with a costumed model will serve as the main prompt throughout the course. Review of primary drawing elements such as line, mark, value, and space will be covered as an introduction to the language of drawing. Specific exercises will explore compositional strategies, use of value or tonal range, and contrasting textures will be part of the curriculum. Studies will be used to develop a narrative drawing. Photographs taken of the model or from other sources will also be explored towards their use in developing a drawing. One-on-one and group critiques will be ongoing. Attention will be drawn to the use of the costumed figure throughout the history of art.
Materials: graphite, coloured chalks, charcoal, conté, and a variety of papers.
Note: This course is best suited to students with some previous drawing experience and an interest in exploring narrative qualities of the figure.
Material Fee: $20 + Material List
Course Fee: $205
TOTAL FEE: $225
Registration Deadline: SEPTEMBER 27

The Screen Printed Artist Book with Marcus Dénommé
IN PERSON
4 Classes: Oct. 3 – 24
Tuesdays: 6 – 9pm
Course Description:
A “Part 2” of the Intro to Screen Printing course from the spring semester, The Screen Printed Artist Book will take on a more ambitious project involving many colour layers and the complex nature of publication design and bookmaking. Each participant will leave with a limited edition of artist books, which will be hand bound and printed. Participants will also have a chance to learn about the process of publication design that uses tools such as Adobe InDesign. Basic screen printing knowledge is an asset.
2 classes @ Afko.Sérigraphie studio (807 Baker St.), and 2 classes at Oxygen
Material Fee: $60 (all materials provided)
Course Fee: $175
TOTAL FEE: $235
Registration Deadline: SEPTEMBER 26

Keep on Keeping on with Susan Andrews Grace
ONLINE
5 Classes: Oct. 4 – Nov. 1
Wednesdays: 1:30 – 3:30 pm
Course Description:
Sometimes the hardest thing is keeping on. This workshop is suitable for poets at all levels; it offers a new beginning and keys to a sustainable practice. Whether you want to begin new poems or finish a book manuscript this writing workshop will help you trigger new energy and habits in your poetry practice.
TOTAL FEE: $180
Registration Deadline: SEPTEMBER 27

Painting from a Model #3 (No Instruction)
IN PERSON
1 class: Oct. 8
Sunday 1-5pm
Course Description:
Participants will have the opportunity to work from a model holding a single pose for an extended session (3.5 hours). No instruction is offered. Participants will be asked to bring their own materials in their preferred medium.
TOTAL FEE: $35
Registration Deadline: OCTOBER 2

Poetry & Bookmaking with Rayya Liebich and Myra Rasmussen
IN PERSON
1 Class: Oct. 14
Saturday: 10am – 3pm (1hr lunch)
Course Description:
Join visual artist, Myra Rasmussen, and poet, Rayya Liebich on an interdisciplinary journey to create a handmade book with your original poetry inside. We will start by reading poems for inspiration and then move into a “patchwork poetry” writing activity. We will then explore a few techniques for creating handmade books. The afternoon will be devoted to each participant working on their own handmade book using mixed media, collage, and poems from the morning session.
Material Fee: $5
Course Fee: $95
TOTAL FEE: $100
Registration Deadline: OCTOBER 6

Sunday Painters – Learning to Paint with Catherine McIntosh
IN PERSON
2 Classes: Oct. 15 & 22
Sundays: 10am – 4pm (1hr lunch)
Course description:
This studio-based course will get you started painting with acrylics. The focus will be on still life painting where students will benefit by drawing and painting from direct observation. We will cover the use of materials, composition, colour, light, shadow, creating shapes, and building three-dimensional forms.
Material Fee: $25
Course Fee: $145
TOTAL FEE: $170
Registration Deadline: OCTOBER 6

Figure Drawing #4 (no instruction)
IN PERSON
4 Classes: Oct. 15 – Nov. 5
Sundays: 6:30 – 8:30pm
Course Description:
Drawing sessions will provide the opportunity to draw from a model with poses ranging from 1 minute to 20 minutes. No instruction is offered. Students are expected to provide the drawing materials of their choice.
TOTAL FEE: $60
Registration Deadline: OCTOBER 6

Playing with Shakespeare with Valerie Campbell
IN PERSON
2 Classes: Oct. 21 & 28
Saturdays: 10am – 4pm
Course Description:
Calling all lovers of the Bard!
This class is an immersive and experiential study of Shakespeare through the lens of the actor. Bringing Shakespeare‘s works to life with truthfulness and clarity is no small feat but as actors and non-actors alike will attest, the rewards of the work are incredible. This two-day workshop will deepen both your understanding and enjoyment of Shakespeare through performance, voice, and movement explorations.
Come play, laugh, cry, and marvel at the genius of Shakespeare.
TOTAL FEE: $170
Registration Deadline: OCTOBER 16

Remembrance Luminaries with Myra Rasmussen and Rayya Liebich
IN PERSON
1 Class: Oct. 29
Sunday: 1 – 3pm
Course Description:
In this class, visual artist Myra Rasmussen and poet Rayya Liebich invite participants to make a lantern or luminary altar for an ancestor, friend, or relative that has passed on. We will explore collage, incorporation of text, and images, and some paper lantern making techniques. All participants are encouraged to bring their luminary to the Polka Dot Dragon Arts Society’s celebration of All Souls on Saturday Nov, 4th. (https://polkadotdragon.ca/)
Materials: Provided by the Polka Dot Dragon Arts Society
TOTAL FEE: $10
Registration Deadline: OCTOBER 20

Hand – Eye – Heart – Drawing and Painting intensive
IN PERSON
4 Classes: Nov. 6, 7, 8 & 9
Mon – Thurs: 10am – 3pm
Course Description:
This four-day intensive explores the affinities of art’s beloved siblings: drawing and painting. The day will begin with playful drawing based exercises that explore form, space, and material. The afternoon will move into a translation of the drawn experience into a painted one. Topics to be covered will include; pictorial space, use of colour and value, and scale and mark making. Photographs, writing, objects, a life model, and still life materials will be referenced as departure points. Process over product will be emphasized in this dynamic intensive. The intensive is suited to anyone who wishes to create a lot of new work by digging into the drawing process and its relationship to paint! Critiques will be part of this course to ask ourselves: “ What if?”and “What would make it better?” and “What is working?”
Material Fee: $25 + Material List
Course Fee: $235
TOTAL FEE: $260
Registration Deadline: OCTOBER 30

Magic of Memory 2 with Rayya Liebich
ONLINE
4 Classes: Nov. 8 – 29
Wednesdays: 6:30 – 8:30pm
Course Description:
Memories can be written and recorded out of sequence and can stand alone. They can also be part of a larger collection (a memoir) that doesn’t follow a linear arc. By borrowing the safety of craft structures, we can express our life stories in authentic and innovative ways. Each week we will take a deep-dive into a different literary form (Flash Nonfiction, Micro Memoir, the List Essay, and the Decentered Hermit Crab Essay). Each class will include a study of the craft, guided writing prompts, and readings by authors who push the boundaries of creative nonfiction (CNF). Come ready to experiment with form and structure and discover how constraints can create both safety and freedom.
TOTAL FEE: $95
Registration Deadline: NOVEMBER 1

Painting from a Model #4 (No Instruction)
IN PERSON
1 Class: Nov. 12
Sunday 1-5pm
Course Description:
Participants will have the opportunity to work from a model holding a single pose for an extended session (3.5 hours). No instruction is offered.articipants will be asked to bring their own materials in their preferred medium.
TOTAL FEE: $35
Registration Deadline: NOVEMBER 6





