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.
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-
Visual and Creative Arts
Train like an artist and build a powerful foundation in visual art. No matter your medium, this diploma helps you grow your skills and perspective with hands-on studio learning.
Visual and Creative Arts -
Summer Course Registration Open!
Weeklong and single day workshops to build your skills.
March Break Creative Adventure Starts Soon! -
Create, learn, and live where inspiration surrounds you.
We’re happy to share that for the first time ever, HSAD students can enjoy the convenience of on-campus housing. Learn more about your future accommodations in Haliburton.
Coming this Fall 2025. Learn more.
Art Certificates
Diploma Programs
Continuing Education
Centre for Making
Haliburton Accommodations
Diploma Program
Post Graduate Programs
Meet our Faculty
Helen McCusker
Instructor for:
Helen McCusker is a graduate of the Sheridan College Illustration Program and has been a practicing artist for more than 40 years. A member of the Etobicoke Art Group, she has work in private collections, and exhibits in solo, juried and group exhibitions. For over 20 years, Helen has taught art classes throughout the GTA, specializing in drawing, figure drawing and painting, portraiture, and paper sculpture. Helen's teaching is based on a solid understanding of drawing and design principles and personal attention to each student. She is enthusiastic about helping students discover their potential and encouraging artistic exploration. For More Information: @helen mccusker | eaglewoodstudios.blogspot.ca
Margaret Ferraro
Margaret Ferraro work has been described as Tom Thomson on amphetamines. She takes that as a compliment. Margaret is an artist and teacher, specializing in pastel, life drawing and plein air painting workshops. The two disciplines of life drawing and pastel combine what she loves, drawing and the spontaneous use of colour. Working en plein air, she is at home in the woods and in nature. For thirty years she has been teaching workshops. For decades she had a studio in Ottawa but in 2017 moved north of Toronto to the Georgian Bay region. She published her first book in 2009, A Time to Dance. And in 2017, she was named Master pastellist-EM by the Pastel Artist of Canada. Her work has been shown in many National and International Art Exhibitions, including the Pastel Society of America (National Arts Club, NYC), The Pastel Artists of Canada (Toronto, Etobicoke, Vancouver and many other locations), and the Pastel Society of Eastern Canada, which exhibits out of Montreal. She has also exhibited in commercial galleries, including her own studio gallery. For More Information: margaretferraro.com
Fly Freeman
Fly Freeman trained as a sculptor in Scotland, where she started her career as a stone carver, carving everything from gargoyles to gravestones and large-scale public commissions in granite. A mid-career move to Canada led to a radical shift in her sculptural practice: carving has been joined by construction as a sculptural method, and wood and other media are now worked alongside the stone. www.flyfreeman.com
Albert Cote
Instructor for:
Albert Cote graduated from Brock University with BA degrees in Visual Arts and Education. His natural artistic abilities, imagination, visual arts background, and his experience in operating a quilt store for many years has served as a starting point for a very successful longarm and fibre arts career. He has many commissioned pieces in the Niagara area as well as throughout Canada and the US. His innovative classes and trunk shows are an attraction for many people in the quilting world. For More Information: imaginationtextile.com
Tanya Lyons
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
Jane Lewis
Jane Lewis has been leading vocal groups since 2008, from "finding your voice" and "how to sing harmony by ear" workshops to various choirs, Circle Singing, and community singing events. She has been studying improvisational singing with Rhiannon, and during the pandemic, attending Musica do Circulo music improv training workshops online. As a singer-songwriter, she is often compared to Carole King, playing piano-based music that draws on her strength as a lyricist and singer. She performs most often with the folk duo Gathering Sparks (with Eve Goldberg), nominated for a 2014 Canadian Folk Music Award for Vocal Group of the Year. Jane has released two solo recordings, and Gathering Sparks released their newest album on Borealis Records in September 2019. For More Information: @janelewismusic | janelewis.ca
Susan Fisher
Instructor for:
Susan Fisher earned her BFA in Visual Arts and an Art Education Diploma at Concordia University, majoring in Graphic Design and Sculpture. Her Master's in Cultural Anthropology through Trent University focused on Indigenous Art Expression. Susan taught in Northern Alberta as an elementary teacher in a Metis Colony and then as a French Immersion teacher in Peace River. Since the mid '80's she taught art in various media and is now completely devoted to teaching Encaustic techniques with beeswax with HSAD, privately, and in various commercial galleries. Susan has shown in many galleries in Quebec, Ontario, and Alberta and was chosen to exhibit at the prestigious annual group show in Sagamihara Japan. Her work is currently shown at Meta4 Gallery. For More Information: @fencaustic | fisherencaustic.com
Paulus Tjiang
Paulus Tjiang graduated from Ontario College of Art in 1988 and continued his studies both at Pilchuk Glass School and as a resident at the Harbourfront Craft Studio until 1989. Utilizing primarily Venetian techniques with remarkable skill, he brings intense colour, precise detail, and an elegant disposition to his work. Paulus owns and operates Frantic Farms Clay and Glass gallery in Warkworth, ON. www.franticfarms.com.
Janine Marson
Instructor for:
Janine Marson is a graduate of the Design Art Program at Georgian College and received a BFA from the University of Guelph. Her 30-year career has established a strong sense of direction, garnered several exhibitions and awards, and has provided the opportunity to influence hundreds of students with her calm, encouraging spirit. Janine loves to inspire others with art, teaching private art lessons in person and online via ZOOM. A trained, professional picture framer, she has provided her services with a keen eye for colour and design for over 25 years. Her commission work includes painting on a canoe for the Huntsville Festival of the Arts, and painting a paddle for the Algonquin Outfitters Paddle Art Contest. She is one of the muralists for The Group of Seven Outdoor Gallery in Huntsville and has painted six murals to date. Janine received a Woman of Distinction Award for Arts, Culture & Creativity in 2018. For More Information: @janinemarsonartmuskoka | janinemarsonart.ca
Rose Pearson
Rose Pearson earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from York University, majoring in painting and drawing. She went on to receive her education degree and has over 30 years of experience teaching art in both the public school system in Alberta and Ontario, privately from her studio in Haliburton County and for the Haliburton School of Art + Design. Rose is the coordinator of the Visual and Creative Arts diploma at Fleming College. In addition to creating bodies of work for public gallery exhibitions, she is a member of the Haliburton Highlands Studio Tour. For More Information: rosepearson.com
Elise Muller
Instructor for:
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. For More Information: @elisemuller_art | stonetreestudio.ca