I am a community art educator who teaches comics as a medium for artistic development, expression, thinking and peer relationship-building. I mostly teach comics outside of schools.
I have taught comics courses and summer camps at the Ottawa School of Art and have partnered with many community organizations in Eastern Ontario to offer comics workshops for youth. In 2010, I facilitated a comics program for LGBTQ youth with funding from the Ontario Arts Council and the City of Ottawa. Recently, I facilitated a comics program for youth at The Lesbian, Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Community Center in New York City with The Comic Book Project.
I also do art direction and visual identity for SilenceBreaker Media (Sheffield, England). I occasionally do illustration and graphic design work for small business.
Before entering graduate school, I earned my BFA in Visual Arts at the University of Victoria (Victoria, BC). I am building on my academic studies by doing an MA in Art Education at Concordia University in Montréal, Canada. My research looks at how community art education pedagogies and environments affect how LGBTQ youth learn comics-making. My other research interests include: LGBTQ issues in education (with a focus on transgenderism and transsexuality), arts-based research, participatory research and comics studies.
I love miniature and standard schnauzers, 1980s paraphernalia, skiing, and most types of snow. My favourite superhero is Gambit.
Feel free to contact me about teaching, research or comics projects at vec [dot] royale [at] gmail [dot] com.
