Avy Loftus

Visual

Contact Info

Email address

paixpeaceproject@gmail.com

Website address

peaceloveandhopeproject.blogspot.ca

Where Artist lives

Montreal

Resides in

English Montreal

Social Media

Experience working with

Cycle 1 Elementary
Cycle 2 Elementary
Cycle 3 Elementary
Secondary 1 & 2
Secondary 3 & 4
Secondary 5
CEGEP
Senior Citizens

Lifelong Learners

Adult Learners

I regularly explore the following Broad Areas of Learning/Themes in my work

Health and Wellbeing
Environmental Awareness and Consumer Rights and Responsibilities
Citizenship and Community Life (Identity & Belonging)

Listed in the Quebec Culture in the Schools Repertoire

I have experience working with

Culture in School program

I can facilitate virtual creative experiences

School board areas you are available to work in

Central Quebec - Quebec City & Environs
Cree School Board
Eastern Shores - Lower St. Lawrence
Eastern Townships
English Montreal
Kativik School Board
Lester B Pearson - outside Montreal transportation areas (STM)
Lester B Pearson - within public transit area
New Frontiers - Chateauguay
New Frontiers - Chateauguay Valley
Riverside
Sir Wilfrid Laurier – Laval
Western Quebec - Northern area
Western Quebec - Southern area (Hull, Wakefield etc)

Travel

I am available for travel within the same day
I am available for travel overnight
An extended residency is an option

I am a practicing Montreal-based visual artist and batik designer. As a visual artist, I already had a number of collective and solo exhibitions in Canada and abroad. As a batik designer, I conduct batik workshops at schools, museums, cultural centers, and other institutions. I am also a dynamic art educator who believes in teaching and learning with compassion and empathy. I have been privileged to work with students from different backgrounds/walks of life. I also facilitate senior workshops

Photo: The City of Hiroshima (International Relations Division)

Photo: Avy Loftus

Creative Approach and Experiences Offered

The workshop allows students to engage in a series of activities based on the expression of compassion and kindness, through the creation of textiles, inspired by the technique of batik. This project is part of an anti-bullying awareness campaign that began in 2007.
The pupils make a drawing on a sheet of paper representing the idea they have relating to the themes of Peace, Love, and Hope (symbols and letters are not allowed to encourage creativity). Students then transfer their drawing onto cloth and apply liquid wax (for older students) or flour (for younger students) to block their design for the coloring process. After a drying period of 6- 24 hours, students use the batik process to apply a variety of colors to their creations. After a brief drying period of the colors, the artist oversees the removal of the wax or flour from the artwork, which is now ready to be assembled into the quilt of collective work. (*virtual workshop: material will be sent a week/2 before the workshop)

One-Day Event Description

3R by Using Shibori Techniques

The workshop will teach the students about the 3Rs - Rethink, Reuse and Recycle. The students will learn how to recycle their old cotton shirts by using Shibori techniques. Different Shibori techniques will be demonstrated after a short talk about the 3Rs, and then the students can choose which technique they will chose for their old cotton shirts. The purpose of this workshop is to give the students awareness that they can recycle their clothes to refresh them and also sustain the environment better.

0-30 students per group

*The school can communicate with me about how the 4 hours will be divided up during the day.