The Booster. August 2, 2006.
They are sketching, painting, and sculpting up a storm at the 26th annual renewal of Visual Arts Mississauga’s ever popular Summer School of the Arts. By summer’s end, hundreds of local students will have enjoyed a variety of creative experiences and the expertise of a staff of highly qualified instructors… The younger children are encouraged to sample a wide range of visual arts and crafts, explains program co-ordinator Gabby Tutak. The idea is to get them to stretch their artistic muscles and become familiar with different styles and techniques. The teens tend to have already found their creative voice and favourite media, she says, and classes for them can be more focused and concentrated.
Across the way to the MacEwan House, the workroom is a veritable gallery of acrylic abstracts and textured triptychs. Easels are set up al fresco to allow young artists to commune with nature; and on the patio, Lydia Panart (2005 Mississauga Arts Council Award winner) is working on a charcoal portrait of Hemingway with a rapt group of future Emily Carrs and Alex Colvilles… Tutak is understandably proud of her skilled and committed staff… They spent a week discussing course content, teaching strategies and motivational techniques before the program began.