East End Spotlight is a monthly news piece featured in our newsletter, East End Arts News, where we highlight east end artists, arts organizations and creative spaces that we want to shine a spotlight on💙!
For June 2019, we are shining a spotlight on Jerry Silverberg, a local artist and facilitator in our upcoming summer program, ArtMEETS!
Artist Name: Jerry Silverberg
Artist Discipline: Multidiscipline, primarily a Print-maker
Artist Website: www.illustrationsource.com (illustration work – type in ‘Jerry Silverberg’ in the ‘search’ box)
Tell our readers a bit about yourself:
I am a multidisciplinary artist / educator living in Toronto. I studied art at Central Technical Art School and continued my interest in printmaking with workshops through Open Studio. As a visual artist, my art work has been shown in many cafes and galleries throughout the city including Sage Café, John B. Aird Gallery, Open Studio, Hugh’s Room, Loop Gallery. My work has also been seen in The Globe and Mail, Walrus Magazine, The Toronto Star, Washington Post and New York Times.
I’ve produced book, theatre and dance posters for various publishers and dance/theatre companies; I have worked on several mural projects around the city and abroad; and I’ve invented several art game sculptures, which are meant to be interactive within community settings. I’m also an educator, so I teach visual art in schools, community centres and in my own studio. As a teacher, I bring a wealth of experience to my workshops. My teaching approach is more hands on, thorough, inclusive, and fun with a strong emphasis on the sense of discovery and play.
Why is your art important to you?
If I don’t sketch, paint, print or find myself making something I feel there is something missing in my life.
Tell us a little bit about an upcoming project you’re working on:
At present I am teaching at Creative Works Studio, an art space for artists with mental health issues. Once a week for ten weeks I introduce new print processes which participants use to create work. I am also preparing for a group show at GAS gallery in the east end, and two future teaching opportunities: 1. As an Artist in Residence in Phin Park this summer (east end parkette, fingers crossed for successful grant application), and 2. as a facilitator for a print-making workshop for East End Arts in July (ArtMEETS).
Your favourite place to engage/create/admire art in east Toronto?
I like going to the AGO to check out new exhibitions and see what new print works are on display, but in the east end, The Only Café, my local watering hole, has amazing reproductions of famous and not so famous artists throughout the bar.
