Article and photos by Maria Gomez-Umaña
The Ottawa School of Art (OSA) is a vibrant location in the ByWard Market, located in a heritage building at 35 George Street. It was founded in 1879 by a group of notable citizens as the Art Association of Ottawa, an institution to promote fine art and design in the city. The school was founded with financial support from the Marquis of Lorne and his wife, Princess Louise. It hired its first art teacher who taught at 140 Wellington Street. The initial group consisted of 18 students.
In 1930s the Ottawa Art School (as it was then known) gave regular instruction in the arts until the Second World War, when it closed down.
In 1953, the Ottawa Art School re-opened as the Municipal Art Centre, a two-room school at Billings Bridge, under the sponsorship of the City of Ottawa. After two more moves it became the Ottawa School of Art/École d`art d’Ottawa (OSA/ÉAO). At that time it was incorporated as a non-profit organization and managed by a volunteer board of directors elected by its members. In 1983 the OSA/ÉAO moved to its current building at 35 George Street.
Nowadays the OSA/ÉAO houses a variety of specialized art courses for children, teens and adults. The building has a ceramic studio with potting wheels to turn clay, and three electric kilns to fire the student’s artwork. The printmaking studio offers different techniques including lithography, etching and linoleum. It also has darkroom labs for photography and a sculpture studio for 3D projects. Apart from year-round art workshops, the OSA/ÉAO offers online courses for those who cannot take in-person courses. It runs continuous art exhibitions at its two galleries downtown and its gallery at the Shenkman Centre in Orleans.
Their three-year diploma is a renowned program for youth and adults who want to deepen their academic capacity and technical skills. The OSA/ÉAO runs a scholarship program for students who otherwise wouldn’t be able to access art instruction. Its website has all the information to apply.
The OSA/ÉAO also hosts artist residencies for artists from abroad and elsewhere in Canada, as well as from the Ottawa region. The current resident artist is working on a series of twenty oil paintings on wooden panels that will be displayed in the ByWard Market gallery in December, when the artist will have a presentation of his project.
The gallery exhibitions at the OSA/ÉAO change constantly and its program is varied and diverse. Come and take a look. You may be surprised!
Maria Gomez-Umaña is an art teacher at the Ottawa School of Art
