Elementary and High School Workshops Catalogue: 2023-2024 School Year
This grants program provides $1500 to cover the cost of bringing Teaching Artists into your classroom. The Workshop Catalogue below is intended to be a guide to help schools, teachers, CLCs, and other community liaisons understand what is possible during an ArtistsInspire Grants project. All workshops are adaptable. For more on how to apply for this year’s grant, see our Project Overview.
Use these categories to filter workshops by Discipline, Elementary or High School:
MAKING AN ILLUSTRATED ARTIST BOOK with Venus Lukic
Students will work with a text of their choice (poem, prose, statement) and, using it for inspiration, will hand-make and illustrate a short artist book. [...]
THE ART OF MUSIC ALBUM COVERS with J.P. Mortier (Regional Artist: SWLSB)
The music industry is as dependent on image as it is on sound in order to promote its artists. The golden age of visual art [...]
DAY OF THE DEAD ALTARS with PAAL
This workshop is designed to explore the Mexican tradition of the Day of the Dead, this ritual meant to honour our ancestors with joy, and [...]
MINIMAL LINE DRAWING INSTALLATION with Tamsin Horsfall
Participants begin by selecting social media images--photographs and symbolic images that speak of a personal journey. The images will be cut and arranged on paper. [...]
Mixed Media Collage with Melanie Garcia
Using magazine images, tape or gel medium transfers, painting and drawing, mixed media collages are woven to create surreal images that can address interpersonal reflections, [...]
STYROFOAM PRINTMAKING with Lisa Glickman
This project can be adapted to almost any theme. For the examples shown, students researched endangered fish and amphibians of the St Lawrence River. They [...]
GOLDEN MANDALAS with Claudia Salguero (Regional Artist: WQSB)
After a brief review of how the ancient artistic technique of Mandalas has been used in many cultures around the world as a tool to [...]
SHADOW THEATRE with Maggie Winston
Shadow puppetry is one of the oldest and most highly developed storytelling traditions in the world. Drawing from traditional Indonesian Shadow Puppetry (Wayang Kulit), participants [...]
POPULAR MUSIC: SONG FORM, HOOKS, AND WOW TO GET STARTED WRITING with Alison Notkin
People love listening to songs, but what does it take to create one yourself? Through the discussion of song style and song form, the exploration [...]
AFRICAN DRUMMING & DANCING with Préville Fine Arts Centre
Lésouta Luc Bambara has been sharing his culture and his passion for drumming and dancing in schools throughout Québec for over a decade. In this [...]
SPOKEN SONG with Nadine Neema
Participants will explore spoken word poetry and songwriting with award winning songwriter, poet and author, Nadine Neema. They will learn rules such as rhyme, meter [...]
WRITING TO THE RHYTHM with Raquel Rivera
What does it mean to have a 'writer's ear'? In this workshop students explore the relation between rhythm and the written word, whether crafting a [...]
ANTI-BULLYING/EXPRESSING ONESELF THROUGH SPOKEN WORD with Kym Dominique
Spoken Word is the gateway to every single form of oratory expression from rapping to theatre, to debating, storytelling and beyond. This workshop seeks to [...]
IF I WERE A TREE with Joan Sullivan (Regional Artist: ESSB)
This climate change workshop is inspired by a quote from the American photographer, Dorothea Lange: “A camera is a tool for learning how to see [...]
COMICS CREATION with Laurence Dea Dionne
Students will create an 8-page zine (mini comic) from one piece of paper. They will fill those pages by telling a story using drawings and/or [...]
COLLABORATE TO CREATE with Adele Reeves
We'll be collaborating to create a meaningful gift for the school (painted murals, sculptures, maybe a combo as a mosaic?). Ideally, we’ll be able to [...]
STENCIL PRINTMAKING with Peter Gibson
Workshop participants will design and create their own stencils from which they will produce individual art prints. Various approaches to creating the initial image from [...]
BOOK SPINE MURAL with Heather Kushum Spiral Art Studio (Regional Artist: NFSB)
Murals that inspire reading/ literacy! This is the perfect way to bring to life that specific book the class or individual students are reading. A [...]
RE-FOCUS, RECONNECT, REMEMBER, RENEW, REPEAT with Valerie Kimpton
This workshop explores the ability to focus, and our personal agency through a modified version of the Pebble Meditation. Using several art materials and methods, [...]
DÍA DE MUERTOS: “CALAQUITAS – LITTLE SKELETONS MADE OF CLAY” with PAAL
This workshop is designed to explore the Mexican tradition of the Day of the Dead, a ritual meant to honour our ancestors with joy, to [...]
CALL AND ECHO with Anna Jane McIntyre and Venus Lukic
This workshop explores creativity through playful call and echo “conversation” art creations and collage collaborations. Guided by established artists' approaches to creative collaborations, students will [...]
EXPRESSION THROUGH SUGAR with Shelley Miller
In this unique workshop participants will learn how to use piped icing as an art medium, drawing colourful and expressive lines of sugar. As part [...]
PEACE, LOVE & HOPE (BATIK WORKSHOP) with Avy Loftus
Through fabric art inspired by batik technique, students engage in a series of activities based on the expression of compassion and kindness. The students make [...]
REFLECTIONS H20: DRAWING WORKSHOP with Emily Rose Michaud (Regional Artist: WQSB)
Have you ever looked at a water molecule under a microscope? It has six sides, just like a snowflake. In this workshop you will: i) [...]
EMOTION WEATHER MAP with Tamsin Horsefall
This workshop begins with an exploration of words that describe weather and associated feelings and emotions ( i.e. rain/sadness/growth or wind/excitement/fear). The words will be [...]
SEED BALL KIT: CREATE WITH A PURPOSE with Elaine Lassonde
Also known as seed bombs, this technique was used in ancient Egypt to repair farmland after annual spring flooding. First Nations Iroquois also used similar [...]
DRAWINGS FOR THE EARTH with Jessica Houston
What do we want to tell the earth, the plants, the trees, the animals? If you ever wished you could speak to the elements or [...]
PAINTED & COLLAGED STILL LIFE with Lisa Glickman
In this workshop, students will be given a brief overview of the history of still life painting, and a comparison of how it relates to [...]
INDIGENOUS ARTS & CRAFTS with Préville Fine Arts Centre
Students will be guided in interactive Indigenous arts & crafts workshops while learning about the cultural significance behind the art form. Choose the craft you’d [...]
THE POP-UP LAB with Kate Battle
Make paper come alive! With basic materials and a few simple techniques students transform a sheet of paper into a 3D creation: a spaceship, a [...]
PAPER BAG LANTERNS with Iris Kiewiet (Regional Artist: WQSB)
The students will look at filling a volume with textures, patterning with pressure, grading, hatching, etc. The landscape is drawn on tracing paper with these [...]
BIO-ART PROJECTS with Angela Marsh (Regional Artist: CQSB)
This interdisciplinary hybrid art-science project engages students in art projects centred around biodiversity in our local environments. Possible projects include creating a collective wild plant [...]
COLLECTIVE MURAL with Emily Read
Turn those blank school walls into something beautiful and meaningful! This is an inclusive experience where everyone contributes to create a collective mural. The inspiration [...]
M’OUTTA HERE with Anne Lewis
We’re off on a metaphorical journey!-- We’ll create our passports, tickets, maps, packing lists, decorated suitcases, souvenirs and safety talismans, trip journals--whatever participants want. Can [...]
WHAT MAKES ME, ME? METAL EMBOSSING with Deirdre Potash
Heraldry is the science and art of describing coats-of-arms, which were originally used in the Middle Ages to distinguish participants in battle. Using symbols to [...]
UPCYCLE THAT PAPER! AN INTRODUCTION TO MAKING JUNK JOURNALS with Carol-Ann Hoyte
Junk journals are made from an assortment of new and recycled types of papers. Participants will learn how to make a cover for a junk [...]
FREE FLOW BUTTERFLIES with Claudia Salguero (Regional Artist: WQSB)
Participants will learn how to create a unique and colourful fluid drawing of a butterfly using colouring pencils. Students will learn to blend and combine [...]
PLAY WITH CLAY: LEARNING WHILE EXPLORING WITH CERAMICS with Teresa Dorey
Students will use art as a modality for education with an emphasis on clay. This project aims to enhance mindfulness and enjoy the experience of [...]
PAPER PEOPLE PUPPETS with Maggie Winston
Students will understand the basics of puppet manipulation through playing with paper as a material that moves. We create quickly made human figures using just [...]
SONGS AND STORIES, THEN AND NOW with Patrick Hutchinson
Various composed and traditional songs will be presented and analyzed in light of their origins and context, and how they reflect the history and society [...]
EXPLODE THE MOMENT! AUDIO STORYTELLING AND SOUND ART with Guillaume Jabbour (Regional Artist: SWLSB)
Students learn about the craft of storytelling using song lyrics and poetry as the medium. Award-winning songwriter and sound artist Guillaume Jabbour guides students in [...]
WEST AFRICAN DRUMMING with Fana Soro (Regional Artist: WQSB)
Fana Soro introduces participants to traditional rhythms and songs of the djembé, West Africa’s most popular drum. Participants will gain a basic understanding of the [...]
BODY MUSIC: BODY PERCUSSION, BEATBOXING, AND VOICE with Geremia Lorenzo Lodi
Body Music is making sound with what is immediately available to every person: one’s voice and body, creating rhythms, beats, and melodies. The activities proceed [...]
MUSIC AND THE PLANET: CELEBRATE OUR PLANET AND ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP THROUGH SONG with Alison Notkin
Songwriter and musicologist Alison Notkin teaches students about the wonders of nature and natural processes, how to be a Zero Waste Hero, and how to [...]
RAISE THE ROOF: INTRODUCTION TO CELTIC MUSIC with Roy MacLaren (Regional Artist: ETSB)
These interactive workshops expose students to traditional Celtic and Quebec dance music. Students experience the joy of acoustic music by singing, dancing and interacting with [...]
BUCKET DRUMMING, BODY AND ALTERNATIVE PERCUSSION with Taia Goedert
Students will learn how to make music using buckets, everyday objects and also the body itself as a musical instrument. Beats, musical arrangements, musical games, [...]
BRAZILIAN CARNIVAL ARTS with Luciano Porto (Regional Artist: WQSB)
The journey to the exciting world of Brazilian Carnaval begins. Drums, movement and colourful costumes collide to create a mobile celebration of freedom and self-expression. [...]
COMIC CREATION AND COLLABORATION with Jay d’Ici
Students will make an 8-page comic to share with their families & friends, either on their own, or in a group, following a step-by-step process [...]
MODELING MEMORY with Liana Cusmano
Participants will build on memory and recollection to write vivid pieces. Discussions of experiences that have marked us will be followed by writing prompts that [...]
THE ART OF COLOURING WITH WORDS | SPOKEN WORD with Svens Telemaque
We all know what is in the gap between who we are and the best version of ourselves. As we explore the power of Spoken [...]
STARTING YOUR STORY with Catherine Austen
Students will begin a short story by creating a setting, introducing a character, and then writing an opening scene. Mini-lessons on setting and character development [...]
WHAT IS FREEDOM TO ME? with Rachel McCrum
A poetry workshop that asks students to think about what freedom means to them: how they imagine it, how they find it, and how they [...]
GRAPHIC NOVELS – TELL YOUR STORY! with Kate Lavut
Graphic novels and comics are a great way to build literacy and drawing skills. In my workshop students are given low pressure writing and drawing [...]
A DAY IN THE LIFE AT MY SCHOOL with Monique Polak
Writers observe, record and sometimes, invent. This workshop will help students become better observers and writers. Monique will share tips for gathering information through observation [...]
WALK IN MY SHOES: STEP INTO STORYTELLING with Janet LeRoy (Regional Artist: WQSB)
Participants discover that trying on someone else’s shoes is a great way to step into character–as storyteller and as listener. Students learn to embody and [...]
CREATING MUSICAL STORIES with Matthew Bennett Young
The best way to describe this workshop is as a ”translation of the senses.” Music (7 instrumental recordings) is used to stimulate feeling. Those feelings [...]
WORDS OR PICTURES? MAKING STORIES FOR OUR EYES & EARS with Raquel Rivera
In your favourite picture book, who tells the story: the author, the illustrator...both? In this workshop children learn what goes into making a picture book, [...]
DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE? with Tanis Saucier (Regional Artist: SWLSB)
Students will be introduced to photography concepts such as composition (rule of thirds, leading lines, framing), lighting (natural, ambient, artificial), and perspective (bird's eye view, [...]
PHOTOGRAPHIC EXPLORATIONS with Kiran Ambwani
Students will be guided on photographic explorations on a range of different themes or environments. Materials: Image recording device (smartphone, ipad, digital camera). Cameras can [...]
INSPIRING THE ART OF PHOTOGRAPHY: CAPTURING WHAT THE HEART FEELS THROUGH THE MIND’S EYE with Kathleen Walsh-Moleski (Regional Artist: ESSB)
A picture “may be worth a thousand words,” but does it evoke any feeling? Various elements of photo composition are used to capture what the [...]
DIGITAL STORYTELLING with Hands On Media Education
Students explore what it means to belong to a community as they participate in a Digital Storytelling project, with support from digital media experts. Students [...]
FILMMAKING 101 with Alyssa Kuzmarov (Productions Oracle)
All of Productions Oracle’s workshops are designed to provide a safe and dynamic space for youth to express themselves and gain technical video skills as [...]
CREATIVE VIDEO CLASS with Jay Lemieux
Each class is tailored to suit the appropriate age group. For grades 1-4, the focus is on storytelling and acting. For grades 5-11, the focus [...]
CLASSROOM DANCE SESSIONS with Luca “Lazylegz” Patuelli
In these "Classroom Dance Sessions" students/staff will get a more intimate and in-depth approach to dance and the "No Excuses, No Limits" Philosophy. Luca will [...]
FOUNDATIONS OF B-BOYING with Bboyizm Dance Company
Members of Bboyizm Dance Company transmit their passion and respect for the history and art of street dances, educating participants on the roots and various [...]
EAST INDIAN DANCE with Sonia St-Michel (Regional Artist: WQSB)
Guided by classically trained Indian Dancer, Sonia St-Michel, participants learn the art of East Indian dance. The workshop begins with a Yoga warm-up. Participants then [...]
FIRST STEPS ON BROADWAY with Corinne Roucoules
Your students will learn and star in original scenes from musical movies, animated films, or Broadway musicals, and they’ll have a blast doing it! Here [...]
TIME TO MOVE, FEEL, EXPRESS! with Eryn Dace Trudell
Fun, physically charged, interactive dance workshops that stimulate kineasthetic learning. Children connect to curriculum and self-expression through movement, inciting creative thinking, empathetic space sharing, taking [...]
CARIBBEAN FOLK DANCE with West-Can Folk Performing Company
Participants take part in fun and interactive virtual and/or in-person Caribbean folk dance workshops. Workshops give participants an understanding of the origins and history of [...]
SNEAK PEEK INTO CIRCUS & DREAM IT, DANCE IT! with Anna Protsiou
Students will be introduced to the circus disciplines of hand-balancing and contortion. The workshop will start off by providing information about the history of circus, [...]
THE STORY AND SONGCRAFT OF AMAZING GRACE with Rob Lutes
Canadian Folk Music Award-winning songwriter Rob Lutes brings students on an inspiring journey through the creation and rise to prominence of one of the most [...]
BLACK CULTURE & STORIES with Black Theatre Workshop
Black Theatre Workshop offers workshops based on story creation and the performing arts. Our artists will engage students with activities that will increase their understanding [...]
THEATRE PERFORMANCE/WORKSHOPS with Geordie Theatre
Theatre is meant to be seen AND experienced! Give your students the opportunity to engage more fully with Geordie’s famous 2Play tour through this unique [...]
UNLEASHING THE IMAGINATION –DOODLE COLLAGE, STORY WRITING AND PRESENTATION with Patti Warnock (Regional Artist: ETSB)
Creating a ‘Doodle Collage’ inspires students to find ‘their own voice’ as they are guided through the creation of an original text (a story, monologue [...]
STORYTELLING; FROM FAIRY TALES TO HOW? AND WHY? with Patti Warnock (Regional Artist: ETSB)
Inspired by age old storytelling; Students will create their own original stories and storyboards, then using storytelling techniques, they will learn to make use of [...]
GIANT PUPPETRY with Daniel Hickie
Giant puppetry is an artform that brings together constructions skills with sculptural work with team work and storytelling. It requires problem solving and collaboration, imagination [...]
A VIDEO MAKING ADVENTURE: THE SUPERSTAR SHOWCASE with Sam Asmar
An Ad. A Movie-Trailer. A public Service Announcement. You choose the adventure! This dynamic hands-on workshop is powerful and practical! Students will learn some great [...]
TAKING IT OUTSIDE: MAKING MUSIC & ART INSPIRED BY NATURE with Louise Campbell
Whether your school is in an urban, rural or remote area, the natural environment is full of inspiration for student creativity and learning. Artist Louise [...]
1, 2 STEP with Montreal Steppers
A stepping workshop with Montreal Steppers includes an introduction to foundational step routines. Participants will learn how to clap, stomp and chant as a team. [...]
ZINE & COMIC BOOK WORKSHOP (SERIES OF 4 CLASSES) with G. Scott MacLeod
Students begin by viewing my short documentary film After the war with Hannelore and/or The Water of Life animated series. In class 1, I present [...]
NATURE JOURNALING with Rebecca Soulis
Nature journaling is a playful practice that encourages wonder and exploration of the natural world. Through a simple format of writing and drawing ideas about [...]
PORTRAITX – THE FULL PACKAGE with Raison d’art
portraitX is an innovative youth-driven classroom program with an app on iPads that propels art and digital media to educate students on how to build [...]
MY PUZZLE IS YOUR SOUND: FIELD RECORDING with Joey Zaurrini
My Puzzle is Your Sound is a workshop exploring sound as a portal into the everyday happenings around us, and how to capture these moments [...]
AUTHENTIC CREATION THEATRE AND WRITING WORKSHOPS with Felix Robitaille
I propose a series of exercises drawing on theatrical and creative writing techniques that strengthen students’ body-mind connection; validating their self-worth, creativity, and innate knowledge, [...]
MINDFUL MOVEMENT with Paola Sterling
We start with a short meditation to connect with our breathing and body. Then we move on to doing a warm-up, feeling each part of [...]
IMAGINATION MAKES THINGS REAL with Katie Ward
This workshop is a celebration of dance as an act of imagination. In class, I will offer exercises and activities to support experiencing our physical [...]
SLAM POETRY with Mael Pelletier (Regional Artist: ESSB)
I want to meet you! Who are you? I use automatic writing to unravel creativity: the thoughts that cross your mind now appear in front [...]
TIME TO ACT with Mark Krupa
Through fun improvisation exercises that promote spontaneity, creativity, team-work, and enhance self-esteem, students learn the basics of acting for the stage, TV, & film. Students [...]
CREATION OF SOUNDTRACKS FOR FILM with Auro Sanson Moura
In this music creation workshop, students will have the opportunity to explore music composition and sound design for the world of cinema. As a group [...]
A JOURNEY TO BRAZIL with Les Brasileirinhos
In this workshop, students will be in contact with important Brazilian rhythms and culture. They will learn traditional Brazilian rhythms and chants, experience the most [...]
CLASSICAL MUSIC APPRECIATION with Sheri Pearlman
Classical Music Appreciation Workshop: Learn about great composers' lives and music through storytelling. Listen to their music. Dance and move to their music. Create art [...]
THE VOICES OF MANY PROJECT with Nadia Bashalani
The workshop explores the tradition of children’s music through songwriting, performance and production. Inspired by a variety of narratives some deem too difficult for children [...]
CYANOTYPE GRATITUDE CARDS – PRINTING WITH LIGHT with Sabrina Bejba
Using the traditional cyanotype printing technique, participants will explore how to create with light. Participants will collect objects, choose photographs, create drawings and play around [...]
USING FEAR TO CRAFT MEMORABLE CHARACTERS with Lea Beddia
We all have fears, so why not use them to create memorable characters! We also all possess strengths to problem-solve. In Lea’s workshops, students will [...]
STAND UP COMEDY CREATION AND PERFORMANCE with Jeff Schouela
All students have funny and original thoughts based on their past and present experiences. These workshops are intended to encourage students from all walks of [...]
OUT OF MIND, INTO BODY: EXPLORING EMOTION THROUGH ART with Julie Pomerleau
This workshop helps participants identify emotions and process those emotions by creating art. Using a combination of mindfulness, movement, and breath work participants will be [...]
TO LEARN BY HEART: RHYTHM, PULSE AND GROOVE with Kerwin Barrington
First, the participants will learn through`with/from/about the anatomical, symbolic and "felt sense" of the heart. Next, with a body scan we will accent the dominant [...]
BREATHING THROUGH OUR DIFFICULTIES: AN INTRODUCTION TO PAINT POURING with Julie Pomerleau
If we have control over our breath we have control over our lives. Using complimentary colours we will explore the acrylic paint pouring technique. Participants [...]
POET IN CLASS PROGRAM with Poetry in Voice
Invite a poet to your classroom. Poetry In Voice works with a diverse group of poets who are passionate about what they do and understand [...]
MUSIC IN OUR LIVES with Alireza Tarviji (Regional Artist: WQSB)
What does music do in our lives, and how important is it? My approach is to give students a deeper understanding of music, and how [...]
LIQUID LEAD DANCING with Alida Esmail
Liquid Lead Dancing creates spaces where individuals of all genders can feel empowered, included, and free to express themselves fully. Participants will learn some basic [...]
THE ART OF STORYTELLING with Nadine Neema
Participants will explore the art of storytelling with award-winning songwriter, poet, and author Nadine Neema. We will explore themes related to the students’ lives and [...]