By: Mikaela Consales
Photos taken by Mikaela Consales and collaged on Pic Collage
Last week, Ms. Fabroa’s grade 12 Visual Arts class got to take a trip to various museums and events which showcase the influence of art and culture on Toronto! I was luckily able to attend this trip for a second year in a row and I was just as excited as I was last year!
Departing from St. Augustine at 9:00 am, we hit 5 locations in the span of only 12 hours, all of which conveyed the common theme of art and expression. The itinerary of the trip is as follows…
1). Aga Khan Museum
Photo by The City of Toronto, CC BY 2.0 on Flickr
The Aga Khan Museum is a museum which showcases Islamic Art from over 500 years ago. This museum is full of muslim culture and artifacts rooted deep in the art history behind the Islamic culture. Here, we got to tour the museum and learn about the history of many artifacts of religious symbols. After the tour, we were even able to create our own Islamic art inspired paintings, by curating our own paints, made of the same natural materials used years ago: turmeric, cocochine and dill.
Photo by Mikaela Consales Photo of the paints we created and painted with.
Photo by ooak_toronto from Instagram
The One-of-a-kind show is an annual event which happens every Christmas Season at the Enercare Center. Over 500 artisans from across the country get to showcase and sell their unique art products at the event. Here, we got to not only shop all of the artists’ work, but got to learn their story and the inspiration behind the artwork.
Photos by Mikaela Consales Some of the art I saw at the show.
3). MOCA
Photo by wyliepoon, CC BY 2.0 on Flickr
The Museum of Contemporary Arts, located on Sterling Road was the third stop on the tour. We were able to see many contemporary and unique art pieces from artists all around Canada, as well as many pieces circling around Black History.
Photo by Mikaela Consales Some of the Black History Artworks displayed.
4). Peach Berserk
Photo from Peach Berserk Instagram of St.Augustine Gr.12 Art Students
Peach Berserk was the one place which I was excited to visit again. Owner Kingi Carpenter made the big decision to buy the shop during Covid and make it into her own art studio and event space. Upon entrance, the space screams creativity as the walls are plastered with her large collection of paint-by-number paintings. Kingi offers many workshops such as silk screening, which we were able to use on custom tote bags, as mine can be seen below.
Photo by Mikaela Consales
5). AGO
Photo by mksfca, CC BY 2.0 on Flickr
The final stop of our tour was the Art Gallery of Ontario. The AGO is Toronto’s most well known art gallery, showcasing many centuries of art as well as special exhibits. On this trip, we were lucky to be able to experience the Keith Haring and Kaws exhibits. Both artists have been very influential on the past 50 years of art, being very different, yet equally creative.
Photos by Mikaela Consales Art in the Keith Haring and Kaws exhibits.
In all, this trip allowed us to experience all of the wonderful art and culture that is offered in our city. If there is one thing I learned throughout the day – where there is life, there is art.
Works Cited
Aga Khan Museum, https://agakhanmuseum.org/index.html. Accessed 7 December 2023.
Flickr: Find your inspiration., https://www.flickr.com/. Accessed 7 December 2023.
One Of A Kind, https://oneofakindshow.com/home/. Accessed 7 December 2023.
Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/. Accessed 7 December 2023.
MOCA Toronto – Plan Your Visit, https://moca.ca/. Accessed 7 December 2023.
Crazy-Print Couture … and Silkscreen Workshops, Too!, https://peachberserk.ca/. Accessed 7 December 2023.
Art Gallery of Ontario: Home, https://ago.ca/. Accessed 7 December 2023.
PicCollage, https://piccollage.com/. Accessed 7 December 2023.
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