Forum Art Centre

I've taken several evening art courses here in a range of mediums and with a range of instructors varying from new to very experienced teachers. Every course I've learned something significant and been happy with the outcome. It helps to look up the artist's work online to see if you connect with the style. The very experienced instructors have a lot to pass on! However each teacher has something to pass on whether a technical skill, or something personal like developing your confidence in yourself and freedom to make mistakes" ... there's always a solution in art!! I'm very grateful for this center and highly recommend."

Enrolled my daughter in Children’s Art 2 and ended up pulling her out before the last class. Throughout the program she wasn’t particularly happy with the activities as they were all just variations on painting and origami despite the fact that the class description specifically listed clay and sculpture as one of the highlights. This was one of the main reasons she wanted to go. Then she came home very upset today. They were working on some yarn earrings and she was having trouble. After asking for help multiple times the instructor got frustrated and shamed her by saying “Children younger than you can do this. Why can’t you?” When I asked the teacher about this she became very defensive and stated my daughter couldn’t do the assignment because she wasn’t listening and was talking with her friends. Now I’m not a parent that thinks my children are perfect lol. I’m sure the teacher was 100% right. Kids are chatty and get bored if not engaged. That’s why teaching is difficult. You need to be able to engage the children and keep them interested. One thing you absolutely do NOT do is shame a child if they are having difficulty. Teaching is frustrating but the great teachers rise above it. And they don’t get defensive, raise their voice to a parent, mock a child and then call them a liar while they are in earshot. Completely unprofessional and the class didn’t cover the activities they promised.EDIT: Shawna (the program director) contacted me very quickly and is addressing my complaints. All companies make mistakes but it is how you handle those mistakes that really tells the tale of the company.

I love the Forum art center, especially the courses taught by Glenna Evans, the best art instructor around, in my opinion.But I hate the website. It is not optimized for mobile phones and so the class schedule presents as jumbled when you view it on your phone.Honestly, it looks like someone with no website design experience designed the website. This is a very bad choice, as a lot of people access the Forum website by mobile phone. I am very unimpressed!

I'm a long time instructor at Forum Art Centre. It's a welcoming place to learn to how to draw, paint and sculpt. I've made many lasting friendships here. I highly recommend taking a class and becoming part of our art community.

Every time a new person walks in the door I hear 'it has such a nice atmosphere.'