Reflections of Havergal: 1994-2019

SCHOOL LIFE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ARTS

In addition to Art Space is the Art Salon. Taking inspiration from the Paris Art Salon of the 18th and 19th centuries, three Old Girls determined to create an open exhibition that would feature a wide range of artistic works created outside school by students, faculty and staff. Reflecting on the significance of the arts to individuals and communities, Principal Sue Ditchburn wrote the following in the Spring 2008 issue of Torch : More and more, we, as a society, see the value of the arts in all human enterprise. The arts foster the imagination, the power to see how things might be. Enlightened corporations, business schools, and scientists are choosing to work with artists as a way of challenging their assumptions, of developing more creative habits of mind, of inspiring the courage to envision. Art at Havergal does challenge and inspire, and the 2011 Diversity Project is a particular case in point. The pieces hang in the bright, windowed space on the landing between the first and second floors near the library in the Upper School, and they do not fail to mesmerize. The colours dazzle, and the symbolism is arresting. The Diversity Project was undertaken by a group of Grade 12 students in 2012, and a PowerPoint presentation was made to the Upper School in Prayers. The slides were brilliantly paired with four readings of “ A Poem for Peace in Two Voices ,” an entry in the Poetry for Peace contest run by the United Nations (UN). However, the interpretation of the poem by Havergal students deepened the significance of an already profoundly moving poem. The first reading was done by two students speaking in French and English. The second and third featured voices in 14 languages, including sign language. The final reading, in English, Celebration of Diversity UN peace poem

“[A]rt is not only created by the ‘artist,’ but by also by the people who observe it.”

—ELIZABETH TAM, BTI , DECEMBER 2017

alternated between students and staff. It was a highlight of the year, a celebration of diversity in school and the wider world and a point of pride for Toronto and Canada.

Ludemus , 2015.

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