The Specialized Visual
Arts Program at O’Neill
A unique concept in Secondary Education
featuring a regular academic program enriched
with a concentration in:
The Visual Arts
An opportunity for all O’Neill Area students beginning
in Grade 9 and for selected Grade 9 &10 OCVI students
who demonstrate the required skills and dedication.
Visual Arts
Information Package
Application Due Date:
The Specialized Visual Arts Program at O’Neill
A labourer works with his hands.
A Craftsman works with his hands and his head. But the artist is superior to them all; he works with his hands, his head, and his heart.
So wrote the fourteenth-century visionary St. Francis of Assisi. While the tools and subject matter used to make Art may have changed since St. Francis’s time, the
truths he is speaking of have not. We at O’Neill C.V.I. view Art, and indeed Art education, in much the same way as St. Francis. There is something very special about a person with an Arts education, something that sets him or her
apart from the rest. Some have called this quality ‘artistic vision’ or simply ‘great insight’. Whatever it is called, we invite you to explore it, to read on and get a sense of what makes Art special,
and indeed what makes Art at O’Neill special
.
If, after having read this overview, you require further information, please do not hesitate to contact the school’s Visual Arts
Program Coordinator Craig Wildman, or any of the Visual Arts Department Staff. Or, why not arrange for a tour-visit of our studios; or, maybe better still come out and view one of our two annual Art Shows (late January and June). It really is true: a picture is worth a thousand words. We hope that the
thumbnail sketch we’re providing you with here will
increase your awareness of O’Neill’s Visual Arts Programs,
that is, both our Regular Program, and the associated Specialized Program.
We are proud of our Graduates and our
Programs…
The Visual Arts experience at O’Neill is, like that of our Music and Performing Arts programs, very rich and highly regarded. Firstly, we are proud to offer students a Regular Course program that is second to none. Indeed, O’Neill Visual Arts grads have traditionally met with great success in post-secondary studies and, ultimately, careers in the Arts. Our graduates have gone on to study Art — both Fine and Commercial — at various renowned institutions such as Sheridan College and O.C.A.D. in Toronto, and Queen’s and Mount Allison Universities in Kingston and New Brunswick; O.C.V.I. grads get around — from the Glasgow School of Art in Scotland to Parson’s School of Design in New York. And after completing their post-secondary studies, they can be found anywhere from working at an Art Gallery to producing software for video games, from painting publicly commissioned murals to inhabiting the office of Artistic Director at advertising agencies, and even teaching Art within our Board. As our students often happily report after their portfolio review-interviews for Art College/University,
‘I really felt I had an edge. The interviewer knew of the
O’Neill Art Program and seemed really interested to have me.’
The Specialized Visual Arts Program at O’Neill
An interesting statistic: in the last ten years not one of our grads seeking a place in a post-secondary program in the Visual Arts has been denied admission to one of the Art schools of their choice. In fact, our grads are often the recipients of nationally recognized scholarships and awards; they have been granted such honours as the nationally administered Terry Fox Award and the prestigious John Lander Memorial Scholarship, to name just two. In addition, our Specialized
program, consisting of courses ranging from Cartooning and Illustration and Applied Design, to Advanced Drawing and Visualisation, not only complements our Regular program, but offers serious Art students the opportunity to follow their muse and hone their skills so as to better prepare them for post-secondary Art programs.
Indeed, our Developing a Portfolio course in Grade 12 enables students to assemble a truly superior portfolio, one designed to position them very advantageously in the often severe competition that occurs for spots in many of the more desirable post-secondary Art Institutions.
But Art is also for Everyone…
The O’Neill Art program is not just about students who plan careers in Art-related fields. We invite any and all
students to partake of the benefits of an Arts education experience. Studies in Art foster creative thinking skills, which are the basis for achievement in any field
where new and original ideas are in demand. Perceiving discriminately, solving problems creatively, and creating
initiatives from the less than obvious are all operations which an Art student will have had experience in after
having taken Art at O’Neill. As well as the pleasure and personal satisfaction that comes from working
with one’s hands, your O’Neill Art course enables self-expression and teaches you not only a
tolerance and respect for the ideas of others, but about yourself as well. And finally, the benefits of
an Art class within the busy timetable of a typical high school student should also be recognized. As the famous twentieth-century artist Henri Matisse said, ‘Art is something like a good arm chair in which to rest from fatigue.’ As well as creative and intellectual challenge, the mind requires play. This, your Art course at O’Neill also offers.
About Our Staff
Your teacher-instructors of the O’Neill Art Department are caring, highly dedicated, well-trained art educators. They are practising artists whose education and
experiences range from Art studies at the Queen’s University in Kingston, the Ontario College of Art and Design, Nipissing University and the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design in Vancouver, to participation in group and solo Art shows, and the completion of large public commissions.
The Specialized Visual Arts Program at O’Neill
About Our Courses
Our program consists of what might be seen as two separate, yet complementary streams, the Regular Visual Arts program and the Specialized Visual Arts program. The Regular program is open to any O.C.V.I. student,
while the Specialized program, is open upon acceptance only. Students with a desire to be part of a larger, richer, more challenging Art program are encouraged to obtain, complete, and forward an ‘Application Package’ for the O.C.V.I.
Specialized Visual Arts program to O’Neill Visual Arts
Department. These packages are available from the O.C.V.I. website, Guidance Office (for O.C.V.I. Art students),
or, from such community sources as the McLaughlin Gallery’s Education Department.
Regular program courses provide an overview of all the traditional Art areas; that is, each course has, in addition to the usual Drawing and Painting components,
Printmaking and Sculpture activities as well. Art Theory, and in the later grades Art History and Criticism Studies, ensure our students are well-rounded, well-versed student-artists. Various field trips to such places as the Royal Ontario Museum, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Ontario College of Art and Design, and our own local McLaughlin Gallery and Parkwood Estate are all part of these courses, and enable the student-artist to draw on ideas and inspiration from the world outside the classroom studio.
Specialized program courses, as the term implies, enable students to experience a more in-depth, focused curriculum. At present, courses here include Cartooning (Gr. 9), Applied Design and Illustration (Gr. 10), Advanced Drawing and Visualisation, Cyber Arts and Photography (Gr. 11), and Developing a Portfolio (Gr. 12), including the Specialist High Skills Major (S.H.S.M.) option. The S.H.S.M is open to selected students in Grade 12, and provides some of these particularly keen student artists with the opportunity to work under the guidance of professional artists as they complete public murals in and around the O.C.V.I. community.
Students in the Grades 9 and 10 Regular courses also benefit from the mentoring of senior Art students, both informally in our Open Studio program, and in class by Peer Tutors/Studio Assistants through the school wide program provided via O’Neill Guidance Department. A Co-op Education placement at a local elementary school, where a student can assist in the teaching of Art, helps set some on the career path of Arts Education, while a placement (when possible) at the local McLaughlin Gallery can open up possibilities for post-secondary studies and careers in both Fine Art and Museum/Gallery work.
The Specialized Visual Arts Program at O’Neill
In Addition to the Courses
One of the main reasons for our students’ success lies in the fact that we at O’Neill are committed to providing a rich extra-curricular program in Visual Arts. When asked to reflect on some of the reasons why they have met with such success in post-secondary studies in Art, in Art careers, other related academic careers, or, even in terms of the quality of their lives, O’Neill Art program grads almost always speak of the wonderful learning/growth opportunities that have been provided to them outside
of the regular classroom. Such extra and co-curricular initiatives as our weekly Open Studio, various guestartist-instructors, projects such as murals in the
community, support of other school-based programs needing custom commercial artwork, and, finally, our annual Art and Culture trips to Chicago and New York City are often fondly remembered as highlights of a Visual Arts student’s career at O’Neill.
The Open Studio
The O.C.V.I. Open Studio Program offers students unique participation and learning opportunities related to the Visual Arts. Any O’Neill student (regardless of whether or not he or she is enrolled in an Art course) may participate in this ‘drop-in’ style,
informal club-like program. On Wednesday evenings throughout the school year the Art rooms operate on the College/University Art program model of ‘Open Studio’, where any and all student-artists are welcome to use the studio facility and its resources to complete Art course or Art-related assignments, conduct research in Art/Art History, or, try their hand at unique media and techniques, some of which can’t otherwise be explored in the regular classroom setting. In fact, through our V.A.N.G.O. contacts (Visual Arts Network of Greater O’Neill - see below), we are able to bring to our students numerous Open Studio Special Programs throughout the school year: hands-on workshops, some conducted by renowned local artists, each with his/her unique talents to share. Such workshops are subject to availability of the artist/interest of the students, and may therefore vary from year to year, but usually include work in such varied media and techniques as Wire Sculpture, Fresco and Encaustic Painting, Copper Tooling, Jewellery-making, and, Life Drawing from the Model, etc. Through this program, students may gain not only insights into the work of professional, practising artists — both fine and commercial - but may
themselves venture into new and exciting Art areas. Indeed,
Organizations/Parents/Friends of the O.C.V.I. Art Program who have special
talents/opportunities to share with students are invited to register with V.A.N.G.O. care of Craig Wildman and the Visual Arts Department.
The Specialized Visual Arts Program at O’Neill
Art-related Community Projects Through
V.A.N.G.O
The reputation of O’Neill student-artists within the local community is well known and well-deserved. O’Neill Art program students benefit from the learning opportunities generated by V.A.N.G.O., the Visual Arts Network of Greater O’Neill. This organization composed of Art Department Staff, former students, parents, local business people, artists, etc. is in essence one of ‘friends of the O’Neill Art program.’ It is committed to providing Learning, Financial, Material, Co-op Educational, and Post-Secondary Program Opportunities in the field of Visual Arts.
Among the learning and financial opportunities are numerous commissions to paint murals and to illustrate material for local businesses, as well as various downtown beautification projects such as the festive hydrant painting project done under the auspices of the City of Oshawa’s Downtown Action Committee. Local businesses, feeder schools, Lakeridge Health Services
(formerly Oshawa General Hospital), the Durham Region Headquarters, as well as O.C.V.I. itself, have all benefited from murals and wall graphics by O’Neill students. In the past, O’Neill artists have participated with distinction in the annual Art Fest and Space Invaders shows downtown, and in various events at feeder schools and local hospitals whereby our students have acted as Art resource staff conducting Art activities, working with the children/patients and their teachers/hospital staff.
The Annual New York/Chicago Trip
Springtime (usually the first week in April) is the time for the annual O’Neill Art Department overnight trip to New York or
Chicago. These trips include invaluable cultural opportunities for students interested in the Arts. New York trip itineraries include visits to the world-famous Metropolitan Museum of Art, the
Guggenheim Museum, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the Cloisters Gallery of sacred and medieval art, tours of Greenwich Village and SoHo’s rich artistic ‘scenes’, as well as some fabulous, more tourist-like attractions such as the Empire State Building, Radio City Music Hall, a Broadway show, the Hard Rock Café, etc. Chicago trip highlights include excursions to the world-renowned Art Institute of Chicago and architectural walking tours including visits to Frank Lloyd Wright’s home and studio, as well as to the Second City Comedy theatre, an authentic Chicago Blues or Jazz Club, etc.
For More Information
For further details on the Visual Arts at O’Neill, and/or the opportunity to apply to the Specialized Visual Arts program, do not hesitate to contact the school care of the Students Services, or, Visual Arts Department at 905-728-7531.
