Small is Beautiful! We are a small art school – with a very large aspiration to make art accessible. Art is for everyone. It is not a magic formula, nor an elite practice. At our school, we want to invite anyone who has a yearning to paint, draw, sculpt or make prints to join us. Our teachers not only teach technique but also guide students to discover and develop individual and creative self-expression.
We began giving classes in 2015 on Hibernia Street in the quiet and friendly neighbourhood of Pointe-Saint-Charles with three teachers and a handful of students. Our children’s program began the following year providing that essential experience we feel all kids need. Gradually our program came to include film nights, exhibitions and pot luck suppers opening the school to all our friends and neighbours – and the rest of Montreal – to feel the welcoming space of the Pointe-Saint-Charles Art School.
Without the invaluable and dedicated contributions of our teachers and volunteers and our sponsoring organizations through which it has been possible to offer free activities, the Pointe-Saint-Charles Art School would never be able to exist.
We opened our doors four years ago in the Pointe, and are very happy to be here now at Bâtiment 7 as part of a vibrant communal organization allowing us more opportunities to fulfill our charitable objectives and participate in this bold, new enterprise. Building upon our success so far, we now want to take on more challenging projects such as free art therapy programming and subsidized art classes for adults and children.
Art, culture and the social, emotional and psychological benefits they provide must be accessible and therefore affordable and/or free for everyone in the community.
Come and visit – just drop in and say hello, sign up for a class, attend an event. Our doors are open…
About the community: Tucked away in the south-west corner of Montreal, Pointe-Saint-Charles, known to locals as The Pointe, is one of Montreal’s poorest neighbourhoods economically. Well known for the solidarity of its residents, it is however one of the richest neighborhoods in terms of community life. In addition, the Lachine Canal, which runs along its border, has recently been revitalized as a recreational and heritage area. Originally home to both French and English-speakers, Pointe-Saint-Charles has been more recently enriched by the diversity of its cultural communities and the recent influx of younger Montrealers (students and young professionals).
FOUNDERS
| BOARD | |
| Mathieu Murphy-Perron | Chair |
| Christopher Lackey | Treasurer |
| Katja Hetmanchuk | Secretary |
| Catherine Wells | |
| Louise Drouin | |
| Deborah Harris | |
| Bonnie Meisels-Ghetler | |
STAFF |
|
| Catherine Wells | Director |
| Nadia Kuehn | Administration and Programm Coordination |
| Kristina Urquhart | |
| Simone Arsenault-May | |
| VOLUNTEERS | |
| Joanne Arsenault | Translator |
| Sebastien Duguay | IT Consultant |
The Pointe-Saint-Charles Art School is a community-driven Fine Art School in Montreal where people of all levels and walks of life can achieve the skills to express themselves through art in the contemporary world. Our model is based on the original concept of the small art school.