Students from River Oaks Public School in Oakville are helping give the corridors of Queen's Park a colourful and impressive look through artwork they created and submitted for display.
Six students from the school's art club submitted their artwork to the province's Youth Arts Program earlier this school year and had their pieces accepted to be displayed in the legislative building in Toronto until the end of March.
“The Youth Arts Program is a wonderful opportunity for our students to showcase their artwork and to experience the pride of displaying their work in a gallery setting throughout the beautiful and historic Ontario Legislative building," said Sandra Williams, Educational Assistant at River Oaks Public School.
She explained students were able to connect the arts curriculum to an exciting program. They utilised various mediums, incorporating the creative process and the principles of design, demonstrating an understanding of composition, colour and the rule of thirds.
“Each student applied the creative process to produce their own unique, original art using the mediums of pencil, pastel, pencil crayon, fine art marker, sculpting clay, watercolour and acrylic paints while exploring the mediums and expressing their ideas through their art," Williams said.
The lessons students have learned through participation in the Queen's Park arts program goes beyond canvas and clay, she said.
“It is my hope and belief students will benefit greatly from the inspiring experience of creating and displaying their works of art in the beautiful Legislative building," Williams said. “They have benefited from having the opportunity to gather together with, and appreciate the works of, youth artists from across the province at the formal open house and reception at Queen's Park. They worked hard planning and creating their pieces, and overcoming challenges in execution and demands of timelines in order to produce beautiful and creative works of art."
The Youth Arts Program was launched in 2012 to celebrate the artistic talents of young Ontarians age 12-18. Each year, youth are invited to display their works of art throughout the Legislative Building from December through March.