Artist-Educators 

 

AUSTIN CLARKSON, DIRECTOR 

 

Born in London (UK), I grew up and was educated in Toronto. With a BA in Science (University of Toronto), MA (Eastman School of Music), and PhD (Columbia University), I became a musicologist and educator. Teaching at various universities (University of Saskatchewan, Columbia University, Yale University, 1967-1972, and York University, since 1972) made me aware of the need for a course on the creative imagination. With a team of instructors I presented Foundations of Creative Imagination for the first time in 1984 through Atkinson College, York University. The students of the class of 1995 formed such a close-knit group that they remained together to form The Milkweed Collective. In 2000, 2002, and 2004 the group gave shows of artwork along with workshops on creativity at the Neilson Park Creative Centre, Etobicoke ON. For my writings on educating the creative imagination and research on aesthetic experience, see References. Members of Milkweed collaborated in writing the forthcoming book, The Intelligence of the Imagination. As a musicologist I am general editor of the music and writings of the composer Stefan Wolpe, and my essays on Wolpe and other 20th-century composers have appeared in many books and journals. 

clarkson@yorku.ca

AMY CAPERN

acapern@gmail.com

PATRICIA D’AGOSTINO 

After teaching school for many years and raising a family I was finally able to absorb myself in my first love, art. I studied drawing, painting, and experimental art at the Ontario School of Art and Design and have been showing acrylic canvases in group shows since 1991. My first solo show was in June of 2003. Memberhip in Milkweed is very inspiring. The workshops lead me into new dimensions of thought, reinforcing and giving energy and validity to my work. Participation in the Exploring Creativity in Depth program that we provide school children is very rewarding. Art is alive, a meditation in progress, and it is wonderful to see this at work. 

pdagostino@rogers.com 

  

ROBIN DEMPSEY 

Born and raised in South Etobicoke, I have had a long-standing relationship with the arts. Studying both dance and music from a young age, I graduated from York University with a BFA in Dance. With a professional dance career spanning 10 years, I worked as an independent artist with many wonderful choreographers and most recently (April 2005) retired as a dancer with Toronto Dance Theatre after a seven-year career. Hungry for a creatively rich environment and a stretching of my personal self, I began studying expressive arts therapy at ISIS Canada, in the fall of 2005. My involvement with the Milkweed Collective through the Exploring Creativity in Depth workshops is truly inspiring on both a personal and professional level. Each workshop feeds my own soul and imagination as well as providing fertile learning opportunities for my expressive arts training. 

thefarmhouse@sympatico.ca 

 

CAROLYN HOWELL  

In my final year at York University for my BA (Visual Art), I took “Foundations of Creative Imagination.” At the conclusion of the course we went on to form The Milkweed Collective, an eclectic group of individuals at various stages of their creative and artistic identities. I am a professional administrative assistant/production coordinator who moonlights as a clown specializing in face-painting and crafts. I have been arts & crafts instructor in after-school programs and summer camps and art director for 3 years at a community centre camp for children and youth. I create artwork sporadically in many different media. Milkweed has provided me with the impetus to continue to explore my creativity, artistically as well as in life. I have made incredibly wonderful friendships that have been supportive and spiritually nurturing. 

carolynhowell25@hotmail.com 

  

JANINE KINCH 

I graduated from the Ontario College of Art and Design and ISIS Canada (expressive arts therapy). Elected member of the Society of Canadian Artists, I have had several solo shows and participated in many group exhibitions. I teach painting at my studio and share my passion for the creative imagination by facilitating workshops for various art groups and retreat centres. I was born in the island of Guadeloupe, and the colours of the Caribbean continue to bring strong emotions into the world of my imagination. My paintings, which have won many awards, aim at touching the senses through the language of colour and evoking a spiritual reality beyond the visible world. My association with Milkweed has opened me to my inner world and continues to sustain my creative process. 

jkinch@kos.net 

 

ELAINE KRUEGER  

My studies in art were at the Art Institute of Chicago (BFA) and the University of Wisconsin (MA). I explore light and the inner landscape through my oil paintings. In recent work I juxtapose multiple images to open up the scope of my vision. I regularly exhibit my paintings, drawings, and prints in Ontario and just had a show of recent prints in Germany. My work is in collections in Canada, the United States, and Europe. My pleasures include journal writing, swimming, yoga, and gardening, and group memberships encompass a writer’s group, a meditation group, a prayer circle, and Milkweed. Married for 32 years, I have two grown sons and two grown cats. 

elaine22@ican.net 

 

JOANNA McEWEN 

Graduate of Queen’s and York Universities (BA, BFA, BEd) and Norwich University, Vermont (MFA), I am a practicing studio artist, educator, and historian, currently part-time core faculty at Georgian College, Design and Visual Arts (Barrie). A considerable portion of my work is a record of select historical phenomena that mark place, particularly the domestic mappings of place made by rural folk. I am particularly moved to record the banal daily tasks completed by the hand, most often conditioned mechanical acts made by women as markers of place. I am compelled by nature to bring to the community the mystery of the creative process. Recent projects include “Mrs. Tom Morrison Steps Out . . .” (2003), a series of 60 paintings featuring rural women; the “Field Stone Fence” project, 50 x 2 x 2 metres (2003) in concert with three Women’s Institutes and the City of Orillia, supported by an Ontario Arts Council grant; “On the Rocks,” an ongoing series of paintings in celebration of ageing. In progress, “Studies of a Geopsyche.” My relationship with Milkweed is precious and vital. We support and encourage each other; we take great pleasure in bringing others to their own creative energies; we treasure our times together and time spent in the greater community. The relationship has certainly changed and broadened my life. 

petermcewen5@sympatico.ca

 

PATRICA McPHAIL. ADMINISTRATOR 

Born in Montreal, but residing in Mimico since the age of four, the sense of ‘community’ has always been important to me. I received a BA and BEd from York University while working as an elementary teacher-librarian in Etobicoke. Because of my three children’s interests I have been involved in and a supporter of the arts for many years. I never considered myself an artist until taking “Foundations of Creative Imagination,” which opened a whole new door in my life’s journey. Being a part of Milkweed has allowed me to recognize and expand ‘the creative’ within me, giving me the courage to create my own designs using fabric, needles, and thread. As part of my life-long desire for new adventures, I am in the process of exploring the wonders of the painted canvas. My journey is progressing slowly as, along with my husband of 38 years, I am taking an active part in providing daycare for two of our five grandchildren. To look at life through the eyes of a small child is truly an enlightening experience; one which I hope will be reflected in my future work.  

lpmcphail@sympatico.ca 

  

NANCY NEWTON 

 

Over the past fifteen years I have exhibited my drawings and paintings.  Landscapes, often viewed from above, provide the inspiration for markmaking in a variety of water media.  The last years of my career as a secondary school, visual arts teacher were spent in a half-time position which allowed me to develop as a painter.  I began my teaching career in the elementary panel and now enjoy working with youth in workshops.  I have participated in Arts Etobicoke's "Arts Discovery" program in elementary schools, in the Milkweed workshops, and am currently on the Board of Directors for Arts Etobicoke. 

nancy@nancynewton.com 

  

INA PUCHALA 

A graduate of the Ontario College of Art, I have maintained a professional artistic practice for the past 11 years, exhibiting in both solo and group exhibitions. Currently residing in South Etobicoke, I grew up in a Northern Ontario mining town where the process of mining and the surrounding black rock and barren landscape helped shape my psyche. My artistic production continues to develop themes I first raised in my earlier work on “The House,” and more recently in a body of work inspired by the fairy tale “Cinderella,” both of which explored the childhood home as a site of alienation and longing. Art-making for me is the process of having a visual witness who silently mirrors one’s life experience in a rich, emotionally, evocative language of colour, texture, paint, and line. Being involved with the Milkweed Collective is a sheer delight, where the significance of creative self expression, imagination, and well-being is celebrated. 

ina.puchala022@sympatico.ca 

 

BRENDA STURINO 

Born in Brantford and raised on a dairy farm. Nature has always been my source of inspiration. I earned an honours B.A. in Visual Arts and a B.Ed. from the University of Western Ontario. In between degrees, I traveled throughout the U.K. and Europe visiting art-related sights. An elementary and secondary art teacher, first with the Brant County Board and then the Etobicoke/Toronto District School Board, now on an occasional basis. I have experienced teaching all ages through art classes and workshops with the Franklin Carmichael Art Centre, Neilson Park Creative Centre "Artsmartz," Art Etobicoke's "Art Discovery," and now through the ECD program of the Milkweed Collective. I am an executive member of the Etobicoke Art Group and the E.A.G. Printmakers regularly exhibiting in group and juried shows. 

printmaker_brenda@hotmail.com 

LOUISE ZYCH 

I graduated from the Ontario College of Art (1978-81) and am a practicing artist in the medium of watercolours, acrylic, and fabric collage. I teach courses in life drawing at the Neilson Park Creative Centre for teens and workshops for adults.  I have done volunteer work for St. Louis Catholic School in developing ideas and projects for art classes in Grades 4-8.  

louisecordingley-zych@hotmail.com

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