Carla Ann Di Nunzio was born in Toronto yet had the fortunate experience of living in Italy for 3 months every year from the age of eight. She received her B.ED from the University of Toronto and received a Specialist in Arts at York University. She has studied Fine Arts in Siena Italy, colour theory form the Cape Cod School of Art in Provincetown USA with Lois Griffel, Oil Painting from Master artists in Italy including Stefano Presutti. She attended OCAD University for Darkroom Photography and Technology in the Arts at Humber College for Photoshop, Illustrator, and Web design. She has extensive experience in painting in oils, acrylics, mixed media, pastel portraiture, alla prima and plein air painting. She is considered an Alchemist in the Arts with mixing colours, pigments, and surface textures using both master artist techniques and new technologies. Carla also works in ceramics, mixed media, water colours, batik, mosaics, encaustic, fiber and textile art, sculpting, plaster casting, printmaking, and resin.
Carla has been an educator for the past 35 years and an advocate for the Arts and inclusive education. She has experience teaching all grade levels from JK to 12, including Special Education, ESL, Computer Technology, Teacher Librarian, Vocal Music and Italian Heritage Language. She was an Arts Consultant for 7 years with the Toronto Catholic School Board. She is affiliated with various art galleries and museum in Toronto and taught art classes in her role as Arts Consultant at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Varley Art Gallery in Unionville, Kleinberg Art Gallery, Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, The ROM, The Textile Museum of Canada, The Ontario Science Centre, The Native Canadian Cultural Centre, Japanese Cultural Centre and The Bata Shoe Museum. She has been a presenter at the AICT Conference on Inclusive Education and Differentiated Instruction in the Arts through the use of Smart Board Technology. Carla has been instrumental in the organization of the FNMI, The First Nation, Métis, and Inuit Symposiums for teachers. Directly involved in the implementation of the Board wide annual Arctic games, she has coordinated and organized two symposiums a year that support and enhance partnership with Native Studies through the Arts. Carla has taught Native Art techniques and worked alongside Native artists from the Native Canadian Cultural Centre. She has been involved in Environment Education through the Arts by presenting with the Science Resource staff at the Ontario Science Centre on Environmental Sustainability through the lens of mixed media and visual mind mapping. She worked collaboratively with high schools across Toronto to showcase artwork in a culminating gallery display at the Science Centre on Global Warming. In her dedication to students with special needs she has demonstrated committed leadership as a Special Education Teacher and an Arts Consultant in eliminating barriers to inclusive education which is fundamental in creating a cohesive educational culture where all members share in the responsibility to achieving equitable learning opportunities. Carla has brought her passion for the Arts to engage and empower all students especially through special Art projects to address issues of racism, religious intolerance, homophobia, gender-based violence, stereotyping, poverty, bullying and sexual harassment.
She has actively directed the Arts Camp at Teen Ranch for seven years and taught Visual Arts to teenage students while providing a rich leadership environment for students in music, drama, and dance. Carla has orchestrated and hosted numerous Art Conferences for Educators across Toronto and showcased students’ artwork from more than a hundred schools in the Toronto area.
In her commitment to Arts Education, Carla has teamed with members from the Ministry of Education in the technical writing of the Arts Curriculum. She is a member of ARTSECO, Arts Education for Consultants Ontario.
She recently retired from her prolific career in Education after several years as the Course Director for the Faculty of Education at York University. In teaching the Consecutive Program for Teacher Candidates she engaged and advocated that all Curriculum subjects be taught through the lens of the Arts. She has taught the Additional Qualifications Course for Visual Arts Part 1, 2, 3 Specialist at York University to qualified teachers across Ontario.
Her most recent teaching assignment was at OISE, (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education) where she was a Facilitator to Saudi Arabian Students for the Building Leadership for Change Program.
Carla has spoken on the psychology behind the various roles of women, inspiring and casting insight by using her portrait artwork of women as a conduit to drive her messages at various conferences Internationally. “Art has always been at the soul of all that I do and feel, it is hard to separate what I think from the passion of how I feel. Expressing myself through various mediums has allowed me to connect with people of all ages, on many levels, while offering support and insight in self discovery. It is so vital on our personal journey in finding one’s life purpose and understanding one’s personal story.” I
Carla offers Art classes to all age groups and in various art mediums during the year through DiNunzioArte Accademia. Carla teaches Plein Air Painting, Photography, Portrait and Still Life painting in Italy and Toronto and exhibits her artwork in galleries internationally.
Carla divides her time between her art studios in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and Bojano, Molise, Italy.
