Art + Design Education Leaders
We're known for providing unique and flexible programs taught by professionals who have shaped art, craft, design, media and heritage studies in Canada. No other college offers students this breadth of creative programming.
Learn at campuses in Haliburton and Peterborough that provide a one-of-a kind, hands-on studio experience. Our certificate, diploma and post-graduate programs will help you build a solid portfolio to take you to the next step - whether that's continuing education, embarking on a career, or starting your own practice.
Featured Program
Build Your Foundation, Then Ignite Your Creativity
Earn a Visual and Creative Arts diploma in just three semesters with foundation courses and hands-on studio experience!
Apply Now-
Ceramics
Express yourself through clay! Our program provides a well-rounded foundation, from practical skills like wheel throwing to marketing and portfolio development.
Ceramics -
Drawing and Painting
Level up your studio skills in just 15 weeks! Get hands-on training and experience to take your creativity to the next level.
Drawing and Painting -
HSAD Continuing Education Calendar
We offer the creative experience you’ve been searching for. View our full range of art and design courses and find what ignites your passion.
HSAD Continuing Education Calendar
Art Certificates
Diploma Programs
Continuing Education
Centre for Making
Haliburton Accommodations
Diploma Program
Post Graduate Programs
Meet our Faculty
Kirei Samuel
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Kirei Samuel's fascination with glass started purely by accident 25 years ago, when a friend gave her some scrap glass. For many years she travelled the Ontario art and craft show circuit and then, in 2009 she opened her studio/gallery which houses her one-of-a-kind pieces in jewellery, plates, bowls and artwork. In 2019 Kirei designed 550 pendants for the Women's Half Marathon in Wellington, ON. She also designed and built the bases for the pewter sculptures for the Dora Mavor Moore Awards for Toronto's annual theatre, dance and opera. She is happy to continue the Dora Award bases commission in 2023. Kirei has been a member of the PEC Studio Tour for the last 14 years.
Saskia Wassing
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Saskia Wassing is an artist trained in embroidery and weave at Glasgow School of Art, Scotland. She creates joyful textiles, inspired by her past experiences, observations and memories. Referencing her sketchbook drawings, Saskia works freely onto a textile ground. Embroidering by hand and by using a basic domestic sewing machine as her drawing tool, layering fabric and thread into colourful narratives. Saskia has exhibited her work extensively and been commissioned to design and produce custom furniture, textiles, embroidery and prototypes for individuals and industry. Saskia teaches to all ages and levels and is currently faculty in the textile department of Sheridan College. For More Information: @saskiawdesigns | saskiadesigns.com
Brenna MacCrimmon
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Brenna MacCrimmon, based in Toronto, Canada, has been studying and performing the music of Turkey and the Balkans for decades and has looked for ways to blend and integrate it into different milieux. She has worked abroad with Selim Sesler and Karsilama (trad Turkish Roma), Muammer Ketencoglu (trad Balkan) and experimental rock group Baba Zula. She has also toured across Europe with Balkan beat DJ Shantel and the Bucovina Club Orkestra. She has recorded with the above musicians and has appeared as a guest on many diverse albums and film soundtracks in Canada, the US and Europe. She is a featured performer in Crossing the Bridge, Fatih Akin's 2005 documentary of the Istanbul music scene. In 2010, she found herself in Moscow as a member of the cast of Bobble with Bobby McFerrin. Her theatre work includes musical director of the award-winning Volcano production of Goodness. In 2019 she created and directed music for the Soulpepper production of Sina Gilani's recreation of Wedding at Aulis. She has delved into the roots of jazz and blues with late pianist Bill Westcott as the Ragtime Orioles - a connection forged by their mutual love of ukuleles. In addition to singing with Juno nominated vocal quartet Turkwaz, she plays with Greco Turkish ensemble Meltemi, travels widely to teach and perform. Recent collaborations include musical direction for MabelleArts Walk with Amal for Luminato 2023 and Amsterdam Klezmer Band's 2024 recording Bomba Pop with Dunklebunt. For More Information: greengoatmusic.ca
Victoria Wallace
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Victoria Wallace is an artist-educator, born and raised in Toronto. For over 25 years she operated a successful mural and specialty paint finish company in Toronto which included work for film, television, commercials, schools, businesses and countless private residences. She has shown her paintings in galleries, art festivals and group and solo exhibitions across Ontario for over 4 decades. Her work is held in private collections across Canada, the US, and Europe. Victoria is an elected member of the Ontario Society of Artists, the Society of Canadian Artists, an active member of the Federation of Canadian Artists and a regular on the Kawartha Autumn Studio Tour. She is a Golden Artist Educator for Golden Artist Colors and an R&F Certified Encaustic Instructor with R&F Handmade Paints. In addition to the Haliburton School of Art and Design, Victoria has taught at Sir Sandford Fleming College (Peterborough), Lakefield College, Station Gallery (Whitby), the York Artists' Guild (Toronto), Humber College Assembly Hall (Toronto), the Art Gallery of Peterborough, the Art School of Peterborough, with GoBoomerang (online) and many other public and private arts and educational institutions. For More Information: victoria-wallace.com
Nicholas Russell
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Nicholas Russell holds an Honours Degree in Music and also studied the art of guitar-making with Master Luthier Sergei De Jonge, designing and constructing a concert classical guitar under his tutelage. As a professional guitarist and music educator, Nick's musical style and knowledge spans genres, but his current exploration as a guitarist lies at the intersection of acoustic music, classic and contemporary jazz, and progressive rock. In recent years he has expanded his freelancing to include work as a composer (Dusk Dances Dance Festival, Arts Bournemouth University) and as a studio musician (Metalworks Studios, Escarpment Sound, Deschamps Studio). Numerous studio projects he has worked on have aired on national radio (CBC, Jazz FM, CFRU) and international television. Nick is officially endorsed by Godin Guitars (CAD) and Keeley Electronics (US). His most recent music release, ARCHTOP, was recorded on a 1949 Gibson L-7 Archtop guitar in 2021 and can be heard on all major streaming platforms. For More Information: @nicholas.on.guitar | nicholasrussell.ca
Heather Vollans
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Heather Vollans explored many pursuits - paper-mache sculpture, furniture restoration, acrylic and oil painting, quilting, collage, and decoupage until eventually mosaic became her passion. She has been teaching indoor and outdoor mosaic for a number of years in her studio and at venues including Mohawk College in Hamilton, Glenhyrst Gallery in Brantford, schools in various school boards, as well as locations in Mexico, her native Australia, and Ireland. Heather created public art for the Children's Memorial Gardens, Brantford and has spearheaded a number of community and large-scale school projects. In her studio practice, Heather's mosaic work is mostly abstract. The combination of textures, working either harmoniously or disparately, is what fires her interest. She finds the process of experimenting with materials to be the most enjoyable and important part of the process. The value of using discarded or found objects for art is an essential tool in her teaching and her art practice. For More Information: @heathervollans | dawningdecorstudio.com
Rene Petitjean
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Rene Petitjean has been a maker of objects for more than 40 years. After attending Sheridan College, he bought Robin Hopper's Hillsdale, Ontario studio in 1975 and began a reduction-fired line of pottery, selling to stores throughout North America. Moving to Creemore in 1979, the business expanded to include a selection of salt-glazed pottery sold under the Bowerman's Hollow logo. In the late 1980's Rene developed a fascination for wrought iron, and eventually left the ceramics field and began to design and build architectural iron. Many of his projects have been large in scope and have taken over a year to complete. Currently, he takes commissions from selected architects, builders and interior designers. In 1998 he assisted with the design of the Haliburton School of Art + Design's Artist Blacksmith Certificate Program, of which he is a faculty member. Rene also teaches in the Ceramics Certificate Program. For More Information: renepetitjean.com
Miranda Britton
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Miranda Britton is a jeweller, multi-disciplinary artist and gallery owner based in Muskoka, Ontario. As a jeweller, Miranda creates pieces that explore the multitude of ways that humans converge with the natural world. Using abstracted and simplified representations of organic motifs, her pieces celebrate many facets of the natural world, reminding the wearer of their place within the natural order of things. Together with her father, Miranda opened the Britton Gallery in Bracebridge in late 2019 and the experience has re-invigorated her love of art in its many forms. For More Information: @mirandabritton | mirandabritton.com
Jane Lewis
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Jane Lewis has been leading vocal groups since 2008, from "finding your voice" and "how to sing harmony by ear" workshops to various choirs, Circle Singing, and community singing events. She has been studying improvisational singing with Rhiannon, and during the pandemic, attending Musica do Circulo music improv training workshops online. As a singer-songwriter, she is often compared to Carole King, playing piano-based music that draws on her strength as a lyricist and singer. She performs most often with the folk duo Gathering Sparks (with Eve Goldberg), nominated for a 2014 Canadian Folk Music Award for Vocal Group of the Year. Jane has released two solo recordings, and Gathering Sparks released their newest album on Borealis Records in September 2019. For More Information: @janelewismusic | janelewis.ca
Lisa Barry
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Lisa Barry is a graduate of Sheridan College's Ceramics Program and has also achieved a BFA from the Alberta College of Art and Design. Lisa has a broad range of experience with various pottery techniques as well as kiln firing processes. An artist of note, she has exhibited nationally and continues to develop herself as an artist through workshops and learning opportunities. Lisa brings a passion and energy to her teaching that ensures a lively and creative atmosphere for her students. For More Information: @homesteadpottery | homesteadpottery.ca
Margaret Ferraro
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Margaret Ferraro work has been described as Tom Thomson on amphetamines. She takes that as a compliment. Margaret is an artist and teacher, specializing in pastel, life drawing and plein air painting workshops. The two disciplines of life drawing and pastel combine what she loves, drawing and the spontaneous use of colour. Working en plein air, she is at home in the woods and in nature. For thirty years she has been teaching workshops. For decades she had a studio in Ottawa but in 2017 moved north of Toronto to the Georgian Bay region. She published her first book in 2009, A Time to Dance. And in 2017, she was named Master pastellist-EM by the Pastel Artist of Canada. Her work has been shown in many National and International Art Exhibitions, including the Pastel Society of America (National Arts Club, NYC), The Pastel Artists of Canada (Toronto, Etobicoke, Vancouver and many other locations), and the Pastel Society of Eastern Canada, which exhibits out of Montreal. She has also exhibited in commercial galleries, including her own studio gallery. For More Information: margaretferraro.com