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

Lisa Barry

Instructor for:

• Marketing/Portfolio Development
• Ceramics - Soft Slab Cup Workshop

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

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

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. For More Information: @elisemuller_art | stonetreestudio.ca

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.

Miranda Britton

Instructor for:

• Marketing/Portfolio Development

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

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

Rosemary Vander Breggen

Rosemary Vander Breggen is an Honours graduate of Studio Process Advancement at Fleming College and was the first Reclaim Resident Artist at HSAD in 2015. She spent seven years at Dundas Valley School of Art in Advanced Studio in Fine Art and also attended Sheridan College School of Design. Rosemary exhibits widely and is a published artist with work in international, corporate and private collections. She works primarily in the mediums of collage and paint, to which she has recently added sculpture and photography. For More Information: @rosemarysart

Hope Thompson

Hope Thompson is an award-winning filmmaker and screenwriter, most recently picking up best feature screenplay at Toronto's Female Eye Film Festival, with co-writer Patricia Chica. As a writer, Hope is passionate about crime and true crime genres. She has written extensively for the top-rated podcasts Crime Hub and Whereabouts Unknown. Her crime fiction has been published in anthologies, including in the Crime Writers of Canada's 2022 collection, Cold Canadian Crime. Her television credits include Iceland's Tulipop (Serious Kids) and The Fabulous Show with Faye and Fluffy (Wild Brain). She also wrote on two seasons of CBC's Baroness Von Sketch Show. Hope has two series projects in development. For More Information: @hopethompson70 | hopethompson.net

Suzi Dwor

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

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