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Jason Avery, Dawn White Beatty, Judi Burgess, and Marla Panko.
I worked as an acoustic guitarist in the mid to late seventies and played
loud electric music until the middle eighties. In spite of this I remain a
good listener, a requisite for the Artists at the Centre approach.
I am a self-taught artist and have exhibited locally. I have worked with
assemblages of materials, constructions, carving, hand beaten metal, and
photography. I am earnest and curious and therefore completely at the mercy
of all.
I am learning every day. It has always been so for me. With any luck, it will
continue so.
jasonavery@hotmail.com
As a visual artist I explore themes of transformation, memory, history and
spirituality in the landscape, aware of the ways in which environment
teaches, guides and speaks. I try to hear the messages and use these in my
work. I work in mediums of mixed media drawing, sculpture and drawing
assemblage, papermaking and book structures, pastel and experimental drawing
media. I also write poetry and text fragments that I include in my visual
works. I have worked for twenty-five years in the Hamilton arts community as
an exhibiting visual artist, writer, arts educator, designer and for the last
ten years as a curator of art exhibitions. My exhibitions include
'Intimations', Art Gallery of Hamilton, 'Boreala', McMichael Canadian
Collection, Kleinburg, and 'there and back again', Soho20 Gallery, New York.
My life as an artist depends on making a vast well of time available for the
exploration, the long search and the gathering necessary for artistic growth.
The journey and the process are crucial aspects to me, and the final form of
the painting or drawing or sculpture represents only a small portion of the
total wonder and learning that happens each time I make a piece of art. As a
participant in the Artists at the Centre project I have joyously discovered
that the journey/process and the gift of time are also important elements of
the Reggio Emilia Approach.
When
teachers, artists, children and families are all working together to provide
an environment of adequate time for discovery and access to the needed
research materials, the magic of discovery and learning happens. It is my
privilege to be present to enable and encourage this process by introducing
materials and techniques that facilitate the exploration and learning.
Collectively we strive to recognize and cherish the 'hundred languages' of
expression employed by the children.
Watching a drawing take form as the story of it is being told out loud, the
drawing and the story spiralling out from the imagination of a child, is a
precious gift. Being invited to share a child's world of imagination and
wonder, having time to explore the materials and methods of art-making that
facilitate the learning, taking time to meander off of the pathway, through
the forest, under the sea, up and away into space…wherever the imagination
and curiosity of the child leads- all are such valuable moments! Time for fun
in the learning and time for serious and respectful consideration of the work
of children; this is the magic that happens. Although I am able facilitate it
through guidance with art materials, they really direct the entire journey,
learning to find their own answers through hands-on exploration. The children
are my teachers. They develop creative thinking and fearless exploration
techniques as they study the world around them and define their individual
places there. They learn to be learners and to be teachers, and to mine
deeply the rich veins of knowledge available to them and they know that their
discoveries are valued. We are able to come back again and again together,
and revisit that moment of learning, to build upon it test it and reinforce
it through related incidents and provocations, weaving ever-larger webs of
learning. We have time to build trust and friendships and safe spaces for
exploring and celebrating the inner worlds that are the places of children
and of art.
dawnwhitebeatty@cogeco.ca
I am a visual artist. I graduated from McMaster University in 1986 with an
Honours B.A. in Art and Art History. I have exhibited in solo and group
exhibitions in Hamilton, Burlington, Dundas, Grimsby and Toronto. My most
recent major exhibitions (2006) include Domestica at the Burlington Art
Centre, and Old from New at the Transit Gallery in Hamilton.
I was the Coordinator of the Carnegie Gallery in Dundas from 1989 - 92,
Administrator of the Hamilton Artists Inc. from 1992 - 94, and the Financial
Coordinator for the Hamilton Artists Inc. from 1994 - 2003
Today, I continue my own art practice (consisting predominantly of paintings
on furniture) exhibiting in galleries and creating privately commissioned art
pieces. Recently, I was the facilitator for a mural created by
street-involved youth, part of Youth Anti-Abuse Project (YAAP developed through
Wesley Urban Ministries and SACHA Sexual Assault Centre Hamilton).
In 2006/07 and 2007/08, a fellow artist and I implemented an After School Art
Programme at two elementary schools (one in 07/08), with support from both
School Boards, the Ontario Arts Council (06/07) and the Hamilton Community
Foundation (07/08).
I have had the recent privilege of joining Artists at the Centre. I say
privilege because working with preschool children has been refreshingly
rewarding. When one embraces the Reggio Emilia approach, one’s eyes are
opened to the inherent intelligence of children and their amazing ability to
analyze, for themselves, what they experience. From this perspective, the
naïve are wise and working with these children in this way has invigorated my
own way of looking at the world; further questioning and analyzing with
wonder, examining macro and micro.
Respecting a child’s thoughts by encouraging creative expression is key, and,
to my mind, can only lead these young ones to a lifetime of brave accomplishments.
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