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-
Glassblowing
A rare opportunity in Ontario. Transform molten glass into stunning works of art with over 600 hours of hands-on studio time, expert guidance, and access to state-of-the-art equipment.
Glassblowing -
Jewellery Essentials
Craft your vision. Learn from leading Canadian artists as you master traditional and modern techniques in design, fabrication, stone setting, and more.
Jewellery Essentials -
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
Margot Miller
Margot Miller , recipient of a Design Canada Award, is an Honours Graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design University, (College Medal Winner) and a graduate the Ecotourism Management Program at Fleming College. She has exhibited at numerous galleries and shows including the Art Gallery of Ontario, the National Film Board of Canada, and the Ontario Crafts Council. As a lecturer and instructor in the arts and the business of art, she has taught at Sheridan College, St. Lawrence College, Queen's University and Fleming College. For many years Margot has taught workshops, designed and sold printed clothing, yardage, floor cloths and furniture from her shop and studio. In 2018 she was awarded her second Township Community Grant to fund the Rockport Spring Art Fair and Dry-Stone Wall Event-Celebrating Contemporary and Traditional Heritage Arts. Her work has sold in shows and stores in Canada and the US. She has travelled extensively in the Far East, documenting traditional textile techniques, and has worked as a designer for a British and Canadian company in India. Recently she has organized cultural walking tours, titled "Walk the Walls" to destinations such as Scotland (Mull, Iona, Orkneys), Ireland, England, Mallorca and Menorca with the organization Dry Stone Walls Across Canada. For More Information: margotmiller-summerhouse.com
Heather Vollans
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
Kirei Samuel
Kirei Samuel's fascination with glass started purely by accident 25 years ago, when a friend gave her some scrap glass. For many years she travelled the Ontario art and craft show circuit and then, in 2009 she opened her studio/gallery which houses her one-of-a-kind pieces in jewellery, plates, bowls and artwork. In 2019 Kirei designed 550 pendants for the Women's Half Marathon in Wellington, ON. She also designed and built the bases for the pewter sculptures for the Dora Mavor Moore Awards for Toronto's annual theatre, dance and opera. She is happy to continue the Dora Award bases commission in 2023. Kirei has been a member of the PEC Studio Tour for the last 14 years.
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
Susan Fisher
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
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.For More Information: @degroovy123 | degroovyarts.com
Michael Flaherty
Micheal Flaherty was born in St. John's and continues to call Newfoundland his home, while his work, research and studies in ceramics have taken him across Canada and beyond. He earned a diploma in Visual Arts from College of the North Atlantic, a Bachelor of Fine Arts from NSCAD University, and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Regina. Michael has previously taught sculpture and ceramics at NSCAD, University of Regina and Memorial University of Newfoundland, and worked as ceramics technician at Red Deer College. Spanning the past fifteen years, Michael's studio practice has explored diverse themes including politics in art, interdisciplinary craft, and human and natural geography. In 2011 Flaherty's work was recognized when he was a semi-finalist for the prestigious Sobey Art Award. Flaherty was a finalist for the RBC Peoples' Choice award and won the Large Year Award from Visual Artists Newfoundland and Labrador in 2013.
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. For More Information: @mathieu_grodet_glass | mathieugrodetglass.com
Eve Goldberg
Eve Goldberg is a compelling songwriter and interpreter whose music spans folk, blues, country, swing, bluegrass, and more. Known for her watercolour voice and solid guitar style, she is a favourite at festivals and concert series across North America, and she has released three albums to widespread acclaim. Currently performing with the duo Gathering Sparks, Eve is also a much sought-after music teacher and leader of workshops on guitar, ukulele, singing, and songwriting. She emphasizes making music for the joy of it and believes that everyone can do so. In her teaching, she strives to create a fun, supportive environment for students to learn and grow. Eve was deeply honoured to receive the 2021 Estelle Klein Award, recognizing her contribution to folk music in Ontario. For More Information: @egoldberg | evegoldberg.com
Jan Anderson
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
Susan Watson Ellis
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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