Youth art classes
Each Saturday, for a year

The Visual Arts Brampton Junior and Teen levels let your child develop their creative skills in a studio setting.

We accept students of all skill levels, so long as they love art. From there, Keith helps them individually to improve at their own pace, while exploring various mediums and subject matters. They all have the chance to then exhibit at the Fridge Front Gallery in Shoppers World.

Classes start just after New Year’s and run to just before Christmas; students however can sign up at any time of the year. It costs just $250 for fifty weekly two-hour creative sessions.

There are two classes for juniors (8-12), and one for teens (13-17).
All classes are currently full for 2008; you can submit your name for a waiting list, however. The times are:

Note that students ages 6 to 8 can still join the Young Creativity Classes.

What students learn
The students will learn perspective, pencil, coloured pencil, scratchboard, acrylic painting, watercolours, cartooning, printmaking, portraiture, various forms of still life and animal drawing, as well as many other mediums. In general, the classes work towards creating works for VAB’s Artway exhibit space in Shoppers World.

Later in the year, students are taught how to use professional computer graphics programs in design. Throughout the year, students will be introduced to animation, particularly the traditional 2D form. If there is a great enough interest from the class, we may do a small project on Flipbook, a program used in many college animation courses.

Each class starts with a 30-minute independent drawing exercise. Rotating from week to week, the subjects are portraits, animals, and still life objects. On portrait weeks students may choose between two faces, one male, one female. In all cases, these half-hour opening assignments are meant to loosen the students up, and draw a loose interpretation of the subject.

For the rest of the class, students work on a piece in the monthly subject or medium.

Special event classes
Occassionally classes are held at off-site locations in Brampton and the surrounding area. We've drawn from artifacts at the Peel Heritage Complex, historic reenactors from the Upper Canada Living History Association, and real-life and toy cars at a car dealership, to just name a few.

Youth achievement awards
Each student will be judged on skill, at the end of the year. A panel of the VAB board of directors will judge his or her work.

The student will judge what is their best works, which they will display on the wall mounted display units at the studio. Also, students must complete 12 home assignments, from a list of 30 possible mini-projects assigned at the start of the year.

Also, students are encouraged to participate in a year-end project. This year students will design a Canadian stamp, and a corporate identity. Past years have included name illustration, packaging design, a CD cover, and a magazine cover.

Students are judged against other students of their age, so all have a chance at a high standing.

Each child will be awarded at the end of the year: either a certificate of completion, an honourable mention, a bronze level award, or silver or gold level. There is no limit to how many awards of each level are available.

The higher level you receive, the more apt that Mayfield and St. Thomas Aquinas art high schools, or Sheridan College and Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) will think that they are serious about art, increasing their odds of acceptance.

Student art can go on display
Any works that students complete can be displayed at VAB’s Fridge Front Gallery in Shoppers World. Fridge Front is right near Artway Gallery, which shows the works of professional and semi-professional artists. Students also participate in the World Art Gallery, exhibiting their works alongside worldwide artists.

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