About Us
About CCSa
As a leader in contemporary art education, we believe that everyone possesses a unique seed of creativity that should be valued and nurtured. That’s why we are dedicated to innovation, inspiration, and excellence in all our programs. We are a team of professional artists and educators in Toronto, Canada working to provide accessible, dynamic art programs for toddlers, children, teens, and adults.
Founder And Director
NAHAL BAHRMAN, MFA
Nahal Bahrman is the founder and director of the Canadian Children’s Art Foundation and the Canadian Contemporary School of Art, where she manages the school’s operations and oversees its team. For over 20 years, she has dedicated herself to the fields of art education and art entrepreneurship. Nahal founded CCSA in 2017 with the goal of developing an innovative, accessible art education program for children, teens, and adults in Toronto. In 2018, she initiated and hosted Canada’s first children’s art competition. An artist herself, Nahal’s work has been showcased in exhibitions in Canada, Europe, and the Middle East. She holds a Master’s degree in Illustration.
Our TEAm
We are a team of professional artists and educators in Toronto, Canada working to provide accessible, dynamic art programs for toddlers, children, teens, and adults. With engaging in-studio classes and an exciting variety of online courses, we welcome local and international art lovers.
Digital Marketing Manager
Stuti Mishra
Stuti is a Toronto-based Digital Marketing professional with an MBA in Marketing Management and a Business Marketing Diploma from George Brown College. With seven years of experience in Social Media Advertising, she specializes in Performance Marketing and Brand Management. A nonfiction reader, swimmer, and art enthusiast, Stuti is passionate about crafting impactful campaigns and continuously learning in the evolving Digital Landscape.
UX/UI DESIGNER
PEGAH SARGOLZAEI
Pegah is an UX/UI designer, and creative thinker who has always had a passion for art. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering. She also did her postgraduate studies in User Experience Design at Humber College since she was very interested in how people interact with different spaces. She already collaborated with the City of Toronto and also the Faculty of Media and Creative Arts at Humber College in the “Tiny Town” project.
Administrative
SAM DEMPSEY, BA
Sam is CCSA's administrative staff member. She is a recent graduate from St. Clair College's Musical Theatre Performance program where she learned singing, acting, and dancing. Since her graduation, Sam has performed in various children's entertainment shows in places such as Canada's Wonderland. In her free time, she enjoys the outdoors, taking care of her many house plants, and dancing. Sam’s favorite style of art is abstract and especially loves to look at the sculptures when she goes to art galleries like the AGO.
https://www.samanthadempsey.ca/
Our INSTRUCTORs
Our instructors are highly trained professional artists. They bring to their lessons industry experience, expertise in their fields, and passion for children's art education. With our small class sizes, students receive personalized, quality instruction that develops their skills and nurtures their creativity.
AIDA MAHMOUDIE
Visual Arts Instructor
Aida Mahmoudie is a multifaceted visual arts instructor with a rich educational background. Holding a diploma in graphics, a bachelor’s degree in industrial design, and a master’s degree in illustration, she epitomizes a blend of technical prowess and artistic flair. Beyond her academic achievements, Aida is deeply passionate about art education. She has dedicated significant time to transfer her knowledge, teaching a spectrum of creative disciplines including drawing, painting, sculpture, and pottery to individuals spanning various age groups—from kids to adults. With her expertise and commitment to nurturing artistic talent, Aida continually inspires and empowers aspiring artists to explore their creative potential.
KI MIN PARK
Visual Arts Instructor
Ki Min is a fine art teacher whose competencies include drawing (charcoal, pen, pencil), painting (acrylic, oriental, poster and water colours), printing (etching, lino, screen), and sculpture (clay, metal, wood). His formal training is from Sunhwa Arts School, a leading arts institution in South Korea, and Dawson College. Besides the practice of art, he is also competent and interested in its theory and history, but especially in its philosophy, having obtained a degree in philosophy with a focus on aesthetics and the philosophy of art from the University of Toronto.
KELLY MARIE
Kelly is a Toronto-based artist and graduate from Seneca College’s Independent Illustration program. She specializes in watercolor portraiture, mixed media drawing, and collage. As a freelance artist, Kelly is the chief illustrator for an ongoing children’s book series. She is passionate about the value that art education can bring to a person’s life, especially in their formative childhood years.
LIDA SHANEHCHIYAN
Lida is a passionate Toronto-based art teacher who loves nurturing young minds through creativity. With extensive academic credentials, including a Master of Design (MDes) degree from York University and a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree from OCAD University, Lida is a true interdisciplinary visual thinker. Throughout her career, Lida has collaborated with prestigious institutions like OISE University of Toronto and worked with notable financial organizations like BMO and CIBC. Her exceptional artwork has earned recognition from BBC Persian and Now Magazine, among others. Since 2019, Lida has been dedicated to sharing her artistic expertise with children in the Yonge community, finding immense joy in helping them discover their unique artistic expressions. With Lida as their teacher, children can expect a warm and supportive environment where they can explore their creativity, develop skills, and enjoy the wonders of art.
ABBY TIBON
Painting Instructor
Abby Tibon is a third-year Drawing and Painting student at OCAD University. Her main mediums are oil and acrylic paint. Abby uses her art to bring representation for Filipino Canadians. She focuses on making art that captures people’s stories. Abby believes in intent observations to express emotions through the human figure. She challenges herself to learn new mediums such as clay and digital media. Abby is currently striving to develop her animation skills, to create stories to share with larger audiences.
NAA-ADEI LAURA MARMON
Fashion Design Instructor
Naa-Adei Laura Marmon is a fashion designer with over 10 years of experience in the field. She is the creative director of her name sake brand and has showcased her designs at New York Fashion Week. With an education in fashion design at George College Naa-Adei is an expert in fashion illustration, digital illustration, pattern drafting, fashion business, cutting, and sewing.
Now, Naa-Adei seeks to pass her knowledge of fashion design to the next generation, by sparking inspiration in our youth.
JADELYN POON
Fashion Instructor
Jadelyn is an outgoing and creative student from George Brown College, currently enrolled in the Fashion Management program. Since a child, she has always held an appreciation for the arts and loved to visit exhibitions as frequently as possible. She has a love and eye for fashion as well, and is currently working towards being a stylist for shoots and other productions. In her spare time, Jadelyn loves to go thrifting, watch movies, cook, and spend time with her friends.
ANIKA BECKER
Visual Art Instructor
Anika Becker is an emerging artist, residing throughout Ontario, CA. Prefurring rural areas, her work depicts plant life, texture, aging and appreciation. Conceptually poking at ideas of human, animal relationships, Intertwingularity, and appreciation of elders and knowledge to create assuage between peoples. She practices with, but isn't limited to portraits. Her distinct style works well with acrylics, quick, messy demands. Anika is currently an enrolled UofT student. Presently emerging, she is studying Curriculum and pedagogy, doing art and teaching. She aspires to teach, encourage expression and non conventional ways of thinking through the elements and principles of design.
SASHA BORWICK, M.Arch
Architecture Class Mentor/Instructor
Sasha is an architectural educator and designer with a passion for inspiring creativity and critical thinking in students. A graduate of Carleton University’s Architecture program (Class of 2022), Sasha brings a strong foundation in design principles, spatial thinking, and hands-on learning to the classroom.
Sasha understands how to engage young minds through interactive projects, problem-solving exercises, and creative exploration. His background as a camp counsellor and later as the Director of Leadership at Camp Couchiching has equipped them with strong mentorship, communication, and leadership skills—essential for fostering an encouraging and dynamic learning environment.
ROSE MONTGOMERY-WHICHER
Portfolio and painting/drawing instructor
An artist, educator and author, Rose has taught students of all ages in gallery, school, community and university settings in Canada and the UK. With a MA and PhD in art education, as well as a BFA, her teaching is informed by practice, research, and a philosophical and historical understanding of art. Students in her classes will discover the joys of art-making and learn the skills to help them become confident and innovative artists. She is the author of “The Phenomenology of Observation Drawing: Reflections on an Enduring Practice” (Routledge, 2022). She lives in Toronto with her husband, two young adult children, and a dog named Tapioca.
JOHN BILGERA
Visual Art Instructor
John is a Toronto based visual artist. They are a graduate of OCAD University. Creating works through a variety of medium from acrylic painting, digital medium, and drawing, they convey stories of their own experiences growing up in the city and as part of Filipino-Canadian diaspora. John has a passion for trying out new things, seeking for new ways to express creative ideas. John hopes that they can sharetheir passion and knowledge of the arts as an educator and looks forward to seeing what their students create.
JAY WALLACE
Visual Art Instructor
Jay Wallace - (b. 2001 Toronto, Ontario) is an artist that primarily works in printmaking and painting. Throughout his work he takes many references to memories that he has and adds them to his work to achieve an end result similar to a collage. Printmaking has allowed for many layers to interact and include all the information in a subtle and thoughtful demeanor. He attended Upper Canada College where he was introduced to acrylic painting and preliminary forms of printmaking. He eventually enrolled in International Baccalaureate and took Higher Level Art. After completing his Bachelor’s of Fine Arts at Queen’s, he plans to explore the possibility of a career in the Fine Arts.
ANGIE VOISIN
Visual Arts Instructor
Angie Voisin is an artist educator specializing in creating art-based programs in museums, galleries and schools. She has worked as a Program Coordinator for museum education programs at Markham Museum and at Bata Shoe Museum. She graduated from OCADU with a BFA in Fine Arts and is pursuing a MA in Art Education. In her research practice, she is interested in experiential learning in museum/gallery spaces and through online platforms. In her studio practice she reflects on her cultural identity as an Asian Canadian woman in landscapes, objects and memory; exploring a variety of mediums such as watercolor, ink, embroidery, drawing and photography.
KAYLEA ANGUS, BFA
Kaylea Angus is Burl and Brush. Inspired by Ontario, its northern landscape, and nature, Kaylea is a Canadian based artist, freelance theater and motion picture technician, and art instructor. She received a Bachelor’s Degree of Fine Arts in 2011 from OCAD University, majoring in painting and drawing, and minoring in integrated media. She is currently an online art instructor for the CCSA and stage manager for Theater Orangeville in conjunction with Community Living Dufferin for their Creative Partners on Stage program.
SEPIDEH BORHANI
Painting Instructor
Sepideh is a self-taught artist based in Richmond Hill, Ontario with a background in Engineering; however, her love of art made her take a bold decision of transitioning her profession from Engineering to Art. She started building her art career since 2017. She uses Acrylic, ink, coloured pencil on paper and canvas. Her recent artworks are acrylic paintings on canvas, mainly illustrating portraits of women communicating their inner mind and emotions. Her works explore the interaction between the detailed realism of the portrait and the abstract.
SARAH
Sarah is a fourth-year student studying at OCAD University in the Drawing and Painting program with a minor in Art History. She makes paintings primarily in oil and is interested in exploring in-depth how to create sensitive aesthetic experiences. She exhibited in her first public art show in April 2023 in the annual juried Heintzman House Art Show and Sale within the GTA in Ontario. Since her undergraduate degree in Fine Arts began in 2020, Sarah has been working intensively to expand and enrich her knowledge and experience as an artist in the contemporary art community. With love for research and experimentation, Sarah enthusiastically engages in visual art practices with an open mind and curiosity.
NICHOLAS KASPERSKY
Digital Arts Instructor
Nick is an undergraduate digital futures student at the Ontario College of Art and Design. An enthusiastic animator, cartoonist and freelance illustrator, he has worked on several comics, character commissions and taught as a programming instructor at various Toronto schools.
Beginning from simple doodles of stick soldiers and fantasy maps, he has gained a passion for animated storytelling and world building, and currently works as the animation instructor at CCSA.
EDMUND SEMATIMBA
Digital Arts Instructor
Edmund is highly creative and commercially aware talent with solid experience in the video and photography industry. He has collaborated closely with strategic creative teams to develop and produce video and photography content for various platforms. He has passion for bringing out the best in project development both in video and photography production. He possess excellent knowledge of the latest video and photo capture equipment coupled with extensive practical use of the latest editing and post production software. He is committed to utilizing his professional skills to further the mission of a company.
ALEXANDRIA REGIS
Animation Instructor
Alex is a multimedia freelance artist. Graduated at Ryerson University in Fashion Communication, she initially studied graphic design, working with editorial fashion magazines. However, her love of art has evolved, now pursuing her interest in studying digital illustration and animation. Her inspiration derives from both eastern and western influences and hopes to contribute to the rapidly growing animation industry. In her free time, she likes to work on comics and graphic novels, as well as snacking on green tea ice cream.
Creative Writing
A.G. PASQUELLA
A.G. Pasquella is a writer and editor based in Toronto. His work has appeared in various spots including McSweeney’s, The Believer, Black Book, Joyland and the Utne Reader. His story “I Was A Teenage Minotaur” was chosen for Imaginarium 2013: The Best Canadian Speculative Writing. A.G.’s books include Yard Dog, Carve The Heart, Season of Smoke and Welcome to The Weird America. He is the co-editor of PAC’N HEAT: A Noir Homage to Ms. Pac-Man and also DEVOURING TOMORROW: Fiction from The Future of Food. When he’s not writing, A.G. makes music with the bands Miracle Beard and LASERGNU and makes up stories with his two children.
BRITTANY LUCAS
Creative writing Instructor
Brittany Lucas is a Canadian creative writer and photographer. Brittany completed a bachelor of fine arts from York University, a post-graduate degree in creative writing from the Humber School for Writers, and is currently writing her first novel with help from mentors at the University of Toronto. As a photographer and creative director, Brittany has worked for the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Rogers Media and more. Brittany is passionate about teaching children the value of storytelling and the importance of finding their voice.
DANIEL PERRY
Creative writing Instructor
Daniel Perry is the author of the short story collections Nobody Looks That Young Here (Guernica Editions) and Hamburger (Thistledown Press). His fiction has been short-listed for the Carter V. Cooper Prize, and has appeared in more than 30 publications in Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and Czechia. Daniel holds a Master of Arts degree from the Centre for Comparative Literature at the University of Toronto and has spent the last two years working on his next two books: a haunted apartment story that's growing from a novella into a novel, and a non-fiction work about two immigrants to Southwestern Ontario imprisoned during and after the War of 1812.
IRENA HULJAK
Drama / Acting on camera Instructor
Irena Huljak has taught Drama and Public Speaking since 2015. She is a professional actress in the ACTRA union. She earned a place on the Dean's list with her B.F.A. from York University. She went on to do a Master's, graduating at the top of her class. Not only has she received a certificate in Foundational Studies in TESOL but also has studied Voice and Speech for over six years with acclaimed coaches from Oxford and The American Shakespeare Company. She has a passion for FILm , T.V. , and theatre. She is capable of igniting students to do their best while surprising themselves and having fun. Seeing any student who didn't believe in themselves suddenly rise to the challenge is very fulfilling.
DAVID HUDON
David is a Montréal born, multi disciplinary artist with much teaching experience. After completing his degree in Professional Theatre at John Abbott College, David continued to perform in plays, movies, television as well as writing and producing his own short films and releasing music. He has always had a passion for teaching as well. Through his career he's worked in many day camps and arts institutes specializing in improv and creation of individualized works. David shares his love of performing with young minds at CCSA.
ROSIE WALLACE
Rosie is a mixed media artist based in Toronto. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Psychology from Wilfrid Laurier University and a Graduate Diploma in Behaviour Therapy from George Brown College. Having devoted her working life thus far to children’s therapy and recreation programs, Rosie is currently pursuing a graduate diploma in Art Therapy from the Toronto Institute of Art Therapy. She is passionate about creating equal arts opportunities for all children. In her spare time, Rosie enjoys collaging and hanging out with her cat.