Arts Courses for Kids & Adults in Toronto, ON

Freehand School of Art, Toronto:
Freehand School of Art is conveniently located on Yonge Street in Toronto (6 blocks north of Lawrence on the East Side of the city), and offers children and adults art courses and summer art immersion day camps for kids. At Freehand School of Art, we provide a focused and informative approach to art instruction which allows students to discover the expressive possibilities of new materials and techniques.

Art Classes / Programs: 

* Early Years Art Classes:
Early years art courses focus on the process rather than the product of art-making. Art experiences help your child develop socially, emotionally, physically and cognitively. Socially, your child will learn to share space and materials with others as well as working on collaborative projects. Emotionally, your child’s art experiences will allow them to express themselves in safe and appropriate ways while developing confidence in their own abilities.

Physically, art-making enhances gross and fine motor development which are essential for success in school. Cognitively, your child will start to learn art-related vocabulary and critical thinking skills.  Let your child’s creativity and imagination take them to exciting places in these fun-filled, introductory courses.

- Start With Art (Ages 4-6 years):  Give your beginning artist the opportunity to learn the basics of art-making and appreciation. These one-hour classes focus on the process of creating 2 and 3-dimensional works of art and teach your child new ways of expressing themselves, solving problems and working with others.

- Start with Art - Famous Artists:  Artists will be inspired by the work of famous artists and create their very own masterpieces.

- Start with Art - Picture Books:  Artists will be inspired by and create art based on all kinds of illustrated books from folklore to fiction.

* Elementary Children's Art Classes:
Our courses for elementary school aged children provide more focused art lessons for beginning artists. We concentrate on maintaining a fun and positive environment while teaching your child the fundamental skills necessary for creating works of art that they can be proud of. These courses are designed to inspire creativity and help students tap into their imagination to produce works of art that are expressive and skillful.

- Drawing from Life (Ages 7-10 years):  An introductory course in drawing basics that will form a solid foundation for success in all aspects of art.

- Painting (Ages 7-10 years):  An introductory course for children to explore different painting techniques and materials. The focus will be on learning to understand the qualities of watercolour, tempera and acrylic paint and the use and care of painting tools. Inspiration will come from stories, real life and art history.

- Mixed Media (Ages 7-10 years):  Love to draw, paint, construct and collage? Mixed media allows us to combine all of these to create unique works of art. With a focus on collage and assemblage, this course teaches students to experiment with wet and dry media in new ways that are truly expressive.

- Sculpture Workshop (Ages 8-14 years):  If you love to build things or would like to learn more about how to turn an idea into a sculpture, this class is for you. We will work with paper, plaster, wire and recycled materials to see where our imaginations take us. We will start with drawings and work our way into 3D.

- Printmaking (Ages 8-14 years):  Come and discover how your sketches can be developed into beautiful, colourful prints.  Students will build, carve and engrave their own printing blocks and then print them. They will experiment with many different inks and papers to create a multitude of effects using our printing press and by hand. Printmaking opens up a whole new world to young artists.

- Drawing on the Imagination (Ages 11-14 years):  By means of playful exploratory activities, students will tap into their imaginations in new and exciting ways. Then they will practice the skills of proportion, shading and perspective and apply them to their imaginary creations. Final emphasis will be on creating illustrations for stories, comics and posters.

- Drawing from Life (Ages 11-14 years):  This course teaches students the basics of  proportion, shading and perspective. We will concentrate on looking carefully at real live objects and drawing what we see, not what we think we see. Students will work in pencil, charcoal, India ink and pastel.

- Painting (Ages 11-14 years):  A course for older children to develop some technical skills in a variety of painting media. Artists will work in watercolour, acrylic and mixed media to create their very own masterpieces. Students will be inspired by both traditional and non-traditional painting styles and begin to find their own artistic voice.

* Summer Art Immersion Camp (For children 4-8 years and 9-13 years):
Freehand is offering week-long summer art immersion programs for children 4-8 years and 9-13 years. Full and half-day enrollment options are available. Each week will explore a different theme and young artists will create work in a wide range of media.

* High School Students Art Classes:
The focus for the high school years is to give serious students of art more time in the studio to learn new techniques, to practice skills and to develop their own creative voice. We are available to help students build portfolios for admission into college and university Visual Arts programs.

* Adults Art Classes:
We have classes for adults who have always wanted to learn to draw or paint and we have classes for adults who enjoy being creative and want to try something new.

- Drawing From Life - Intro
- Mixed-Media Collage
- Exploring Paint Media
- Oil Painting - Landscape
- Oil Painting - Still life and Portraiture
- Watercolour Painting 
- Painting: Contemporary Methods for Acrylics
- Open Studio
- Figure Drawing