Featured Member

OAEA is proud to announce Tony Caputo as the winner of the 2012 Ray Blackwell Award for Excellence in Art Education. As an art educator who has played a wide variety of different roles in education for over forty years, Tony has worked to inspire, motivate and encourage teachers and students to consider Visual Arts an important and integral part of the Ontario curriculum. He has helped to develop and support art education in the province of Ontario since 1968, when he first received his teaching certificate. As a teacher, he created a positive atmosphere in his classroom where children of all ages could experiment, create and participate in art activities without fear of making mistakes or being judged; four decades later the same welcoming ethos is found in his OISE classroom, as Tony continues to share his expertise and enthusiasm for the arts with an older audience.

Over the years, Tony has worn many hats in his roles as art teacher, principal, consultant and adult educator. After working as an elementary teacher at Perth Ave PS and Winona Dr. PS, he became a popular visual arts consultant with the Toronto Board of Education, known for his supportive attitude and generous spirit. He worked for years as the Principal of the Saturday and Summer Enrichment programs, providing the opportunity for hundreds of students to be introduced to and learn more deeply about the arts. Even in his 'retirement', he has continued to share his knowledge and skills as a lecturer in art education in the Initial Teacher education program at OISE, and as an instructor in OISE's additional qualification courses in visual arts.

Over the years, Tony has served as one of the pillars of the Ontario Society for Education through Art (now the OAEA,) serving as Treasurer and board member for over ten years. He is a hands-on contributor, always the first to offer his time and energy for making events and projects happen. In this he has regularly taken on the roles of chef, host, banker, driver, negotiator and facilitator, all to the benefit of the organization; his dedication and selflessness has set a high standard for others to follow. This has also played out in his life beyond the classroom, seen in his dedication to being a son, father, husband, and most recently, proud grandfather to Tristan and Mateo.