Toronto, April 26, 2023 – Mike Cope is the recipient of the $12,000 Ontario Arts Foundation Artist Educator Award. The award is given annually to an Ontario resident who exemplifies excellence in arts education. Mike was presented with the award last evening at an event hosted by the District School Board of Niagara.
About Mike Cope
Mike Cope
is a cartoonist and passionate educator whose works have been published locally, nationally and internationally in books, magazines, newspapers and websites. As an artist educator, Mike has facilitated hundreds of workshops to thousands of students ranging from preschoolers to professional educators. From cartooning and creating comics, to drawing with dip pens & ink, these introductory workshops are hosted at public libraries, schools and community centres. Mike also teaches sessional classes in stop-motion and hand-drawn animation at the Dundas Valley School of Art (DVSA).
Thanks to the support of the Ontario Arts Council’s (OAC) Artists in Communities & Schools Projects grant, Mike has partnered with the District School Board of Niagara (DSBN) since 2016 to provide a unique arts education experience for DSBN students called “Drawn to Life: Animation in Nature.” Hosted at DSBN Outdoor Education’s Living Campus at Woodend Conservation Area (Niagara-on-the-Lake), students spend the day learning about and exploring the magic of animation through a series of fun, interactive, hands-on activities, using Nature as their inspiration.
Mike holds a combined Honours BA in Multimedia & Anthropology (McMaster University), an Art Fundamentals Certificate (Sheridan College), 2-years of Classical Animation (Sheridan College) and a Bachelor of Education in Communications Technology (Brock University). He is a member of the Ontario College of Teachers (OCT), the National Cartoonists Society (NCS) and the Canadian Society for Children’s Authors, Illustrators and Performers (CANSCAIP). He lives in Hamilton with his wife and two children.
Drawn to Life: Animation in Nature with Mike Cope | Fall 2022 Highlights Reel
About the Award
The Ontario Arts Foundation Artist Educator Award recognizes an Ontario resident who exemplifies excellence in arts education, demonstrates a unique approach to their arts education practice, creates meaningful learning experiences for young people, inspires connections to the arts beyond the classroom and continues to maintain an active arts practice.
The Ontario Arts Foundation established and manages the endowment that funds the Artist Educator Award. The Ontario Arts Council is responsible for the selection process. The award recipient is selected through the Ontario Arts Council’s peer assessment process from the applicants to the Artist in Communities and Schools Projects program.
Previous recipients include Elizabeth Doxtater (2021), Ruben Esguerra (2020), and Zvondai Muchenje (2019). See the full list of previous recipients.
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For information, please contact:
Bruce Bennett, Executive Director
Ontario Arts Foundation
Tel: (416) 969-7413 | bbennett@oafdn.ca
Established in 1991, the Ontario Arts Foundation (OAF) is passionately committed to building long-term support for the arts in Ontario. In 2021-2022, the OAF paid over $4.4 million in endowment income and $300,000 in awards and scholarships.
For more than 55 years, the Ontario Arts Council has played a vital role in promoting and assisting the development of the arts and artists for the enjoyment and benefit of Ontarians. In 2021-2022 the Ontario Arts Council invested $56.4 million in 237 communities across Ontario through 2,665 grants to individual artists and 1,050 grants to organizations.
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