Fleming College

Dagmar Kovar

Dagmar Kovar works primarily in fibres and drawing. With fibres, she creates sculptural works, hangings, and installations of various sizes, spanning from palm size sculpture to room installations. In drawing, she explores roots of creativity and the human mind. With her work, Dagmar explores how we connect to the world. Since 2012 she has focused primarily on the exploration of sources of creativity through the technique of "drawing with intuition", collecting valuable content and experiences, sharing these nearly continuously since then with students of widely various backgrounds, from novices to practicing artists. Dagmar has exhibited across Canada, the US, Europe, and China; received a number of government grants in support of her work; and her work is represented in private and public collections. For more than a decade, she has been teaching various art techniques as well as giving lectures and presentations on topics of creativity and connections with materials and methods. www.dagmarkovar.com

Kelly Gauthier

Kelly Gauthier is a Registered Art Therapist, RP (qualifying), PhotoTherapy Specialist, professional photographer and mental health radio show host. She has been in practice for over 13 years, working with individuals and groups in support of overcoming concerns such as anxiety, depression, trauma, abuse, addictions, and self-identify. Kelly has a passion for photography and has successfully incorporated photographs and projected imagery into her practice and her work with clients. For the past five years Kelly has dedicated a great deal of her time and her practice to supporting children and youth working through intergenerational traumas in remote communities and on First Nation reserves. www.pictureyourselfwell.com

Barr Gilmore

Instructor for:

• Contemporary Art Investigations
• Dreams and the Collective Unconscious

Barr Gilmore is an Algonquin Highlands/Toronto-based designer and artist. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Art in sculpture and printmaking from UBC, Vancouver (1987/Head of the Graduating Class in Fine Arts); was the Studio Assistant to the renowned Canadian art collective General Idea (1991-95) and a Senior Design Associate at Bruce Mau Design (1996-2005). Barr completed his Master of Design in the IAMD graduate program at OCADU in 2011 for which he won the prestigious Governor General's Academic Gold Medal. His book and exhibition designs for an international client base, including Gagosian Gallery, Toronto International Film Festival, and the Scotiabank Photography Awards, amongst others have won numerous awards; and in 2009 he was inducted into the Royal Canadian Academy of the Arts (RCA) for graphic design. Barr Gilmore is the Creative Director of Barr Gilmore Art + Design (2005-present) and the Professor of Integrated Design at the Haliburton School of Art + Design, an unique diploma program that he conceived, to better prepare students of design for the 21st century.

Elise Muller

Elise Muller has been sculpting stone since 2001 and her large public sculptures can be found in Dorset, Fergus, and Kingsbrae Garden. Elise's granite sculpture 'Attunement' won the 2018/9 Canadian Sculpture Competition at Kingsbrae Garden in St. Andrews, NB. Elise has been teaching stone carving to both adults and children for 19 years, and enjoys nurturing her students' individual creativity. Elise lives and works at Stone Tree Studio in Muskoka with her partner, furniture maker Cirvan Hamilton. www.stonetreestudio.ca

Chris Bahry

Chris Bahry has carried his sensibilities and experiences from his mentorship under Bruce Mau in the world of print, branding, product, video and architectural design into motion design and filmmaking. Over the course of his creative career, Chris has actively sought out beauty and meaning in the places where the visual arts and sciences converge. In 2009, Chris and his longtime collaborator Alexandre Torres met EP Kate Bate and founded Toronto-based design and animation studio Tendril. Currently Tendril is represented in the US by Blacklist, in Canada by Hesty Reps and in Europe by Passion Pictures. Tendril Design + Animation Inc. is a design and animation studio with roots in Brazil and Canada, where a diverse group of directors, designers, and artists come together to push the boundaries of the visual storytelling experience, employing an always evolving kit of styles and techniques. Our vision is to rediscover the everyday through the filter of our imaginations. To inspire and be inspired.

Melanie Matthews

Melanie Matthews followed her painting and drawing studies at Dawson College with the achievement of a BFA with distinction in Studio Art from Concordia University. She shares her time between her prolific personal art practice and an ever-expanding teaching schedule. Melanie is Golden Artist Colors Working Artist for Ontario and has been the Working Artist for Quebec since 2002. She is invited to lecture, offer workshops, and teach classes for many venues and art organizations, including the Visual Arts Centre, Dawson College, Concordia University, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and the Canadian Society of Artists. She instructs on a broad spectrum of topics, including methods and materials of acrylic painting, acrylic encaustic techniques, monoprinting, bigger is better (large scale image-making), painting on Plexi, essential acrylics, mixed media, digital mixed media, contemporary water media, creative colour mixing, image transfer, and more. www.melaniematthews.ca

Ken Hussey

Ken Hussey, Ward World Champion in the Contemporary Antique Decoy category, has been carving duck decoys since 1982. Armed with a Mechanical Engineering diploma and further studies in graphic design, he enjoyed a varied career that culminated in many years as a graphic design instructor. He began carving decoys when, as an avid hunter, he noticed how much better wooden decoys performed than plastic ones. His efforts started with working decoys, progressed to decorative, and evolved into what would become the contemporary antique category of decoys. Ken has firmly established a reputation for excellence and is a sought-after instructor.

Wendy E. Bateman

Wendy E. Bateman teaches weaving, spinning, braiding, creativity, textile science, and colour and design for textiles. She is a graduate "with distinction" from the Ontario Handweavers and Spinners Spinning Certificate program, a Master Spinner, a graduate of Sir Sandford Fleming College's Visual and Creative Arts Diploma Program and has been the owner of Fibres WEB studio for over 50 years. She has received numerous design, originality and judges' choice awards for her work and enjoys teaching her craft and sharing her environmental ideas. A recipient of the Enviro Hero for the Arts Award and an OHS Merit Award, she is recognized for being environmentally attentive through her art practice.

Harriet Boon

Harriet Boon is a spinner, dyer, weaver, and retired shepherd. She earned her Master Spinner certification in 1976 and continues as an instructor in Spinning Certificate programs. Her involvement with fibres and natural dyes spans five decades, during which time her education was enriched through travels in Europe and Asia. Harriet teaches workshops in Canada and the US.

Mathieu Grodet

Mathieu Grodet is a glassblower, flame worker and illustrator born in Orleans, France. Current work brings the past of glass together with themes of the present, using traditional techniques with a modern twist. Ideas around contradiction, power, duality and the absurdity of life are explored as he marries and reconstructs form, function and design with a unique style to provoke discussion. Recent workshops, lectures and classes delivered have included cities in China, Japan, Turkey, France, Canada and the US. His work is in private collections across Europe and North America and can be seen at the Corning Museum of Glass, the Art Institute of Chicago, and various galleries in Canada. www.mathieugrodet.com @mathieu_grodet_glass

DeAnn deGruijter

DeAnn deGruijter is an award-winning actor, theatre teacher, Arts & Education Consultant and Expressive Arts Facilitator. She holds an MFA in Theatre and Teaching and is a graduate of the Expressive Arts program at Haliburton School of Art + Design. DeAnn has performed at both Stratford and Shaw festivals, as well as on stages large and small across Canada and abroad. She worked in political satire at CBC radio comedy for many years, voiced Paw Patrol's Mayor Goodway for seven seasons, and has taught for the Canadian Opera Company, York University, Young People's Theatre, and various school boards throughout southern Ontario. She brings EXA to the Social Planning Council of Peel and multiple groups and organizations both in person and online. DeAnn is an advocate of Prescribing Arts in Healthcare. Her classes are infused with knowledge, experience, emotional intelligence, and her signature sense of humour.