Welcome to the Art Centre!
The staff at the Art Centre hope that you will have a successful time in our program. We have prepared this Student Handbook in order to provide you with information about the many activities, events, and expectations during the school year, as well as, practical art student information.
Being at The Art Centre is a great opportunity. Take full advantage of the studios and everything else that is offered. We hope that you will find this information useful and beneficial to your success.
A Brief History
Central Technical School has been producing notable Canadian artists for 80 years. Around the turn of the century the head of school board was James L. Hughes, a great advocate of art education within the public system. He formed the Central League of School Art from which two major institutions developed – The Ontario College of Art (now called OCADU) and Central Technical School.
Eventually, these two institutions moved in different directions. Art at CTS has always offered a high school program and an adult program which are both publicly funded by the Toronto District School Board and the Ministry of Education. In 1962 a separate building with 15 large studios, called The Art Centre, was opened to house the booming art program. It remains the only one of its kind in Canada. The building has won several design awards and was one of the first dedicated art facilities in the country. The Art Centre occupies a unique place within Canadian art history. After many years, in January of 2005 the Toronto District School Board granted The Art Centre at CTS specialized status.
The Art Centre is a unique environment because of its diversity and age range. The instructors are often working artists and all are certified teachers working at Central Technical School. Many of the staff studied art at CTS and are part of a generational lineage. You are a part of the future for this unique and important piece of Canadian Art Heritage.
Famous Alumni
AJ Casson – Painter
Joyce Wieland – Painter and Quilter
Doris McCarthy – Painter & Educator(1987 Recipient of the Order of Canada)
York Wilson – Painter and Muralist (The Sony Centre Murals)
Fiona Smyth – Painter
Kazuo Nakamura – Painter
John MacGregor – Painter and Sculptor
Terry Mosher (Aislin): Editorial Cartoonist for the Montreal Gazette
Paul Duval – Art Historian, painter
(One of Canada’s foremost art historians)
Scott Gwilliams – Illustrator
Harold Klunder – Painter
Virginia Luz – Painter and Educator
Richard Mongiat – Painter (A founding member of Loop Gallery)
Joe Rosenthal – Sculptor
Chris Yaaneff – Graphic Designer
Aba Bayefsky – Painter and Educator
Current Instructors and Technicians
Trish Boon, CL- Printmaker, Art-writer, Jeweller.
Elizabeth Yiannoulis, ACL- Painter, Gallerist
Ulf Bein – Graphic Designer, Commercial Photographer.
Nomi Drory – Painter, Architect
Jennifer Leis – Painter, Ceramic Artist, Conceptual Artist
Adam Brockie – Sculptor
Art Centre Handbook 