Profiles and achievements

Alumni of the department include many who have received significant recognition for their accomplishments in a wide variety of fields. A selection from this decidedly eclectic group includes:

Amanda Burk

Amanda is an Associate Professor, Nipissing University, North Bay. She is represented by Graphite Galleries in New Orleans and Halde Galerie in Widen, Switzerland.

Andrew Drummond

Andrew is a well-respected New Zealand sculptor, and formerly a Senior Lecturer in Sculpture at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand.  He continues to work on public and private sculpture commissions in his Christchurch studio.

Daniel Faria

Daniel was the director and partner in Monte Clark Gallery in Toronto before opening his own gallery, Daniel Faria Gallery, Toronto in 2011. The gallery focuses on Canadian artists with international attention.

Ian Ring

Since graduating Fine Arts (4 year honours - studio) in 1995, Ian has had a successful career as a composer of works for solo piano, making music for the concert stage, film, games, dance, and theatre. He continues to serve the local arts community as a board member of the Region of Waterloo Arts Fund.

Tim Wynne-Jones

Tim won the inaugural Seal Book's "First Novel Award" shortly after graduating with his Honours BA in Studio Art. He continues to write and publish his novels and children's stories and in recognition of his work he was awarded the Order of Canada in 2012.

Robert Steven

Robert is the President and CEO of the Art Gallery of Burlington.  Previously he had worked as the Collections Manager of the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Director/Curator or the Art Gallery of Grande Prairie, Alberta, and then the manager of the Culture and Heritage Department in Grande Prairie.

Don Ritter

Don is a professor at the School of Creative Media, City University of Hong Kong.  Don's current work incorporates ethics, fine art, and mass media.

Anthony Jenkins

Anthony has worked as cartoonist, illustrator, caricaturist and writer for the Globe & Mail as well as freelance. 

Jan Winton

Jan is a highly respected painter and printmaker and a tenured professor at Queen's University.

Barney Cheng

Barney has become an internationally acclaimed fashion designer, based in Hong Kong.

Michael Wickerson

Mike runs Wickerson Studios in Kansas City and is an Associate Professor at the Kansas City Art Institute.

Howie Tsui

Howie was awarded the Joseph Stauffer Prize (2005) from the Canada Council for most outstanding young artist.  His work is now in numerous public collections and was included in the National Gallery of Canada's prestigious 2014 Canadian Biennial exhibition entitled "Shine A Light".

Chris Williams

Chris received an Oscar as co-director of the Best Animated Feature Film of the Year 2015, Disney's "Big Hero 6".

Melissa Doherty

Melissa has become a very successfully artist with work in many public and private collections. 

Karim Awad

Karim is a UX Designer and Developer and the founder/director of Toronto-based creative agency big time design and communication inc. and Creative Director at Future Design School.

Mary Catherine Newcomb

Mary Catherine has worked in a broad range of sculptural materials, including vegetables.  She is also one of the original members of the Redhead collective and a member of Nethermind.

Shannon Bingeman

Shannon is curator for the Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Exhibition Program.

Dean Jackson

Dean works as a professional artist and furniture-maker in Toronto. His signature furniture piece is the AeroPod™.

Lawrence (Larry) Jacobs

Larry is the director of many animated children's television series.

Arounna Khounnoraj

Arounna co-founded bookhou with her husband John Booth. bookhou is a small family run studio/shop business in Toronto that believes in slow design and each piece is made one at a time, by hand.
 



Many alum have continued their education; our students have been accepted into highly selective Masters programs across Canada in the United States (MIT, Stanford, Rutgers, Yale, Parsons) and Europe (Glasgow School or Art, Malmö Art Academy, Sweden). Many have opted to earn their teaching certification, and are now educating the next young generation of artists. Others are working independently in their own studios, as artists and designers and some have found niches in unusual fields; one heads a highly successful klezmer band in Toronto, and another owns and operates a mesquite charcoal company in Mexico!

Three alumni surveys have been conducted by this department. The responses show that, of the total of 230 former students, 74 are working as primary or secondary school teachers, 42 as artists, 31 as designers, 13 in various areas of the "caring" professions (including several art therapists), 10 as university teachers, 7 are animators, 7 work in retail, 10 in other art-related fields, 5 are sales representatives, 5 secretaries, 4 are full-time mothers, while 24 others work as (among other things) cartoonists, librarians, critics, writers, editors, printers, florists, clerks, builders, policemen and ambulance attendants.