Haliburton School of Art and Design

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Campus Update – Thursday, April 3

All Fleming campuses and offices are open on Thursday, April 3, with classes and operations resuming as usual. Travel safely and check back regularly for updates.

Updated: 2025-04-03 05:45:03

Art + Design Education Leaders

We're known for providing unique and flexible programs taught by professionals who have shaped art, craft, design, media and heritage studies in Canada. No other college offers students this breadth of creative programming.

Learn at campuses in Haliburton and Peterborough that provide a one-of-a kind, hands-on studio experience. Our certificate, diploma and post-graduate programs will help you build a solid portfolio to take you to the next step - whether that's continuing education, embarking on a career, or starting your own practice.

Find your program

Featured Program

Build Your Foundation, Then Ignite Your Creativity

Earn a Visual and Creative Arts diploma in just three semesters with foundation courses and hands-on studio experience!

Apply Now
  • Ceramics

    Express yourself through clay! Our program provides a well-rounded foundation, from practical skills like wheel throwing to marketing and portfolio development.

    Ceramics
  • Drawing and Painting

    Level up your studio skills in just 15 weeks! Get hands-on training and experience to take your creativity to the next level.

    Drawing and Painting
  • HSAD Continuing Education Calendar

    We offer the creative experience you’ve been searching for. View our full range of art and design courses and find what ignites your passion.

    HSAD Continuing Education Calendar

Meet our Faculty

Tanya Lyons
Tanya Lyons

Instructor for:

Tanya Lyons graduated with honours from the Sheridan College glass program. She also studied at the University of Art and Design Helsinki, Finland, The Atlin Art Centre in BC, and the Toyama Institute of Glass Art in Japan. She taught glass at Sheridan College for four years, was a resident at the Harbourfront Centre as well as volunteering on the Board of Directors for the Glass Art Association of Canada. After 14 years in Quebec, Tanya has moved back to her hometown community to raise her daughter and continue her sculptural work with glass. Reflecting her passion for helping people find their way, she continues to teach in the glass program at the Haliburton School of Art + Design. She is the Co-Coordinator of the Madawaska Valley Studio Tour and a collaborating artist with the Ottawa Valley Community Arts organization. Tanya has always been a gatherer, collecting and taking in, objects, moments and memories. She uses glass in combination with natural and found objects to express and reflect her experiences, thoughts and questions about the world we live in and who we are. Her work has been exhibited throughout North America, Europe and Japan and is in many private and public collections including the Musee National des Beau-arts du Quebec. www.tanyalyons.ca
Darlene Bolahood
Darlene Bolahood
Darlene Bolahood engages in many forms of visual communication through the arts. She completed her B.Sc. at the University of Toronto, focusing on organic chemistry and philosophy, and then continued her studies in painting, drawing, sculpture and textile arts at the Banff School of Fine Arts, Sheridan College, and Fleming College. After completing her studio MFA at the University of Waterloo, she continues to focus on her own studio work in mixed media painting and sculpture. Professionally, Dar has engaged in industry as a designer/illustrator in fashion, costume and textiles, as well as architectural design for residential and commercial renovations. Partner in WHEW inc., she is a designer and producer of luxurious kid mohair textiles. Dar became involved in the art of computer animation, developing programs and presentations for private institutions, the industry and Ontario colleges, and launching Durham College's three year advanced diploma in Computer Animation. Dar currently enjoys her position her at Fleming College as full-time faculty teaching in the Visual and Creative Arts Diploma, Integrated Design Diploma, as well as other studio arts certificate programs at the Haliburton Campus.
Suzi Dwor
Suzi Dwor

Instructor for:

Suzi Dwor has a Master's in Art Education and has studied in the US, Paris, and Mexico. An accomplished artist and teacher, she taught Fibre Design at Buffalo State University and is currently working in a program called "Learning Through the Arts" in the Niagara public schools. Her students describe her as extremely creative, intuitive, knowledgeable, and energetic. Suzi makes paper of incredible colour and quality that is used for collage and three-dimensional works of art. She trained in paper-making and fibre design at Kent State, Ohio; Cleveland Institute of Art, Fleming College, and Buffalo State University. Suzi also runs workshops for Wellspring Cancer Centre and Niagara Mental Health, as well as private retreats. Her achievements are many and include juried exhibits and workshops at the Albright Knox Gallery, Buffalo; Canada Koffler Gallery, Toronto; Rodman Hall, St. Catharines, Jordan Art Gallery; 100 American Craftsmen, NY; as well as across the US and southern Ontario. For More Information: suzidwor.com
Ken Murray
Ken Murray

Instructor for:

Ken Murray is a novelist, playwright, short story writer, and essayist. In 2015, Globe and Mail called Ken's novel, Eulogy, a "powerful, poignant debut." In 2017, Ken's adaptation of his short story The Exception was performed at the Roy Bonisteel Studio in the Old Church Theatre. His work has appeared in Prairie Fire, Globe and Mail, Mendacity Review, Brooklyn Rail, Ottawa Citizen, Canadian Business, and Maclean's. Since 2009, he has taught creative writing at the University of Toronto, School of Continuing Studies and has taught at Haliburton School of Art & Design since 2014. While earning his MFA at The New School in New York City, Ken also trained as a teaching artist with Community Word Project and taught with the organization Poets House. For More Information: kenmurray.ca
Susan Watson Ellis
Susan Watson Ellis

Instructor for:

Susan Watson Ellis followed graduation from the University of Toronto with an apprenticeship to a German Goldsmith. In 1981, she opened Paradigm Designs, creating handcrafted jewellery that sold across Canada. Her work won recognition in 2000 as part of the Craft Ontario's "Looking Forward" exhibition, which was curated by the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England and represented contemporary Canadian craft. She was also chosen to be part of their "Craft in the Making II" exhibition in 2003, their juried exhibition "Ontario Craft '07", and to be one of eight jewellers chosen to be part of their "8 X 10 Jewellery" exhibition series in 2012. Her work is part of the permanent contemporary Canadian silver collection at the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre in Guelph, Ontario and is available from her studio in Haliburton, at the Toronto One of a Kind Shows, the Craft Ontario Shop, and online. For More Information: @paradigmjewellery | paradigmjewellery.com
Jan Anderson
Jan Anderson

Instructor for:

Jan Anderson became a committed fabric artist-quilter after taking her first course at the Haliburton School of Art + Design. After experimenting and creating with glass, wood, stone, paper and wire, she is addicted to the texture, diversity and colour of textiles. Jan manipulates wax, wool rovings, rust, paint, dye, pigment, canvas, cotton, origami, embellishments, and more to produce unique wall hangings. She has over seventeen years of teaching experience at colleges and universities in Ontario and is recognized for her passion, creativity and innovation, touched by humour and motivation. For More Information: bytheriverstudio.com
Saskia Wassing
Saskia Wassing

Instructor for:

Saskia Wassing is an artist trained in embroidery and weave at Glasgow School of Art, Scotland. She creates joyful textiles, inspired by her past experiences, observations and memories. Referencing her sketchbook drawings, Saskia works freely onto a textile ground. Embroidering by hand and by using a basic domestic sewing machine as her drawing tool, layering fabric and thread into colourful narratives. Saskia has exhibited her work extensively and been commissioned to design and produce custom furniture, textiles, embroidery and prototypes for individuals and industry. Saskia teaches to all ages and levels and is currently faculty in the textile department of Sheridan College. For More Information: @saskiawdesigns | saskiadesigns.com
Jessica Steinhauser
Jessica Steinhauser

Instructor for:

Jessica Steinhauser is a Master potter on the wheel and continues to share her talents to students at the Haliburton School of Art + Design. Jessica's passion for the Kachelofen (wood-burning ceramic stoves) has had her travelling to clients worldwide installing over forty custom designs for the past ten years. She has won a major award at the Masonry Heater Association of North America's annual design/build contest for 8 consecutive years. Recent honours include: solo exhibition at the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery (2014); Women of Distinction Lifetime Achievement Award (2016); winner of the 40th Anniversary Ontario Crafts Council Award (2016). Jessica is a graduate of the State school for Art and Design and the State School for Ceramics in Germany and resides in Guelph, Ontario. http://www.facebook.com/KachelofenArt
Heather Vollans
Heather Vollans

Instructor for:

Heather Vollans explored many pursuits - paper-mache sculpture, furniture restoration, acrylic and oil painting, quilting, collage, and decoupage until eventually mosaic became her passion. She has been teaching indoor and outdoor mosaic for a number of years in her studio and at venues including Mohawk College in Hamilton, Glenhyrst Gallery in Brantford, schools in various school boards, as well as locations in Mexico, her native Australia, and Ireland. Heather created public art for the Children's Memorial Gardens, Brantford and has spearheaded a number of community and large-scale school projects. In her studio practice, Heather's mosaic work is mostly abstract. The combination of textures, working either harmoniously or disparately, is what fires her interest. She finds the process of experimenting with materials to be the most enjoyable and important part of the process. The value of using discarded or found objects for art is an essential tool in her teaching and her art practice. For More Information: @heathervollans | dawningdecorstudio.com
Miranda Britton
Miranda Britton

Instructor for:

Miranda Britton is a jeweller, multi-disciplinary artist and gallery owner based in Muskoka, Ontario. As a jeweller, Miranda creates pieces that explore the multitude of ways that humans converge with the natural world. Using abstracted and simplified representations of organic motifs, her pieces celebrate many facets of the natural world, reminding the wearer of their place within the natural order of things. Together with her father, Miranda opened the Britton Gallery in Bracebridge in late 2019 and the experience has re-invigorated her love of art in its many forms. For More Information: @mirandabritton | mirandabritton.com
Lisa Barry
Lisa Barry

Instructor for:

Lisa Barry is a graduate of Sheridan College's Ceramics Program and has also achieved a BFA from the Alberta College of Art and Design. Lisa has a broad range of experience with various pottery techniques as well as kiln firing processes. An artist of note, she has exhibited nationally and continues to develop herself as an artist through workshops and learning opportunities. Lisa brings a passion and energy to her teaching that ensures a lively and creative atmosphere for her students. For More Information: @homesteadpottery | homesteadpottery.ca

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