A ONE-AND-A-HALF-STOREY converted warehouse, tucked away on a residential street in the Little Italy neighbourhood of Ottawa, is home to a unique institution — the SPAO Photographic Arts Centre. The centre houses a gallery, a residency program, and the only two-year photographic arts college diploma program in Canada. The SPAO, Photographic Arts and Production Diploma program draws applicants from around the world, and accepts only 16 students per year into its full-time program.
Founded in 2005 by art instructor Michael Tardioli, creative director Khalia Scott, and 20 students who pooled their money to launch it, the school was created to provide an alternative to the commercially focused photographic training offered by other colleges. “The students wanted something special that lived up to their educational expectations,” says Jonathan Hobin, the current creative director of SPAO.
“No other program was offering that, so they built it.”
That grassroots origin and small student body have allowed a close-knit community to flourish. “When you have a small group of people and they support one another, they care for one another,” says Jonathan. “You learn about people, you go deep, and you get vulnerable. It really is incredible.”
Operating more like an artist-run centre than a typical art school, SPAO’s intimate, collaborative environment fosters cross-pollination of ideas between students of diverse backgrounds and ages. Instructors know every student by name and nurture the vision of each one, providing one-to-one mentorship and a safe, supportive space for students to grow and flourish as artists. “It’s a space that feels much more like a home away from home than a college or university campus,” says Jonathan.
With a strong focus on process and experimentation, SPAO encourages students to push the boundaries of traditional photographic techniques. In year one, students explore subjects such as portraiture and landscape photography, and learn various technical processes such as cyanotype and dry plate. “We believe in the art of craft,” says Jonathan.
“If you’re going to be working with photography, you have to understand your tools.”
This foundation serves as a catalyst for students to experiment and develop their own unique artistic practices, which they then refine in their second year as they learn the business of being an artist. Classes covering topics such as project planning, building a portfolio, and community engagement prepare students for a successful art career. “It’s not just about learning photography,” says Jonathan. “It’s about learning how to be an artist.”
This is the promise of SPAO — a space where students enjoy a transformative experience and become the lens-based artists they’re meant to be. Alumni have seen their work shown in and represented by local and international galleries, and have participated in photography festivals and art fairs around the world. They’ve sold pieces into public and private collections, have won major awards and grants, and have been featured in major media outlets.
Here we share the stories of three SPAO alumni and how attending the tiny Ottawa college lay the groundwork for their thriving photographic arts careers. These artists have pioneered new, original photographic techniques, a testament to the disruptive nature of SPAO’s methodology. Each of their practices meld different photographic techniques together to create something completely original.
Steve West - Class of 2020
Steve West first attended SPAO as a part-time student while he was working as a consultant in the Health Sciences sector. With encouragement from the school’s founder, Michael Tardioli, Steve enrolled and was accepted into the full-time diploma program. “I was a mature student, so I felt I had to justify to my classmates — and prove to myself — that I belonged in this artistic environment,” he shares.
That self-doubt quickly dissipated amid the nurturing environment of SPAO. Steve says, “When I look back at where I was when I started, and then what I achieved by the end of the diploma, it’s amazing. It was life-changing and incredibly enriching for me as a person.”
With a highly accomplished career in health sciences, Steve is building an equally impressive second act in the photographic arts. Aestheticizing brain scan imaging data, his current work explores the mysteries of the human brain and those living with substance use disorders. Steve emphasizes, “I cannot stress enough the impact SPAO had on my artistry as well as providing me with the technical and post-production foundations to realize the work I want to produce. It gives you the confidence to experiment, be technically competent. For me, that’s just as important as producing the artistic work.”
“The diploma program at SPAO was a life-changer for me and set me on a new course as a lens-based artist. I still go to SPAO and stay in touch with classmates. It is more than a school of photographic art — it’s a community!”
– Steve West, class of 2020
Whitney Lewis-Smith - Class of 2011
Whitney Lewis-Smith had all but abandoned her artistic practice before attending SPAO. She was working in marine science at the time and enrolled in the photography school to focus on documentary techniques for use in tandem with her underwater fieldwork. However, the two-year program changed Whitney’s trajectory completely and her studio practice developed into a very successful career. “The program opened doors for me that I hadn’t previously considered,” she says.
These days, Whitney builds elaborate botanical constructions and captures them on 8×10 glass plate negatives, using techniques she first began experimenting with at SPAO. She then transfers the image to a copper etching plate, using printmaking to reproduce the photo with the historic photogravure process.
“What I learned at SPAO has remained as a sort of rulebook for me ever since,” she says.
Represented by the Bau-Xi Gallery in Toronto and Vancouver, Whitney has shown her work in galleries and art fairs as far as Seattle, Mexico, and Spain. Her pieces are in the collections of Global Affairs Canada and the City of Ottawa, as well as the private collection of Justin Trudeau and Sophie Grégoire Trudeau.
“The facilities at SPAO were a great playground of discovery for me. Every free hour outside of classes, I made use of the darkroom and studio, teaching myself obscure techniques. That free experimentation time with so many available tools is still something I consider invaluable today.”
– Whitney Lewis-Smith, class of 2011
Kamryn Woloschuk - Class of 2023
Kamryn Woloschuk was procrastinating from doing schoolwork for her non-arts program in second-year university when she searched online for Canadian photography schools. Amid a sea of commercial programs, SPAO stood out to her as a place where she could develop an artistic practice without the four-year commitment a degree program required.
Once she became a student, Kamryn found her time at SPAO to be not only fun but also validating. “I finally felt like an actual artist. It’s fulfilling to be a part of a community that takes your art and experience seriously, especially when you haven’t felt that before,” she says.
The small cohort had a broad range of life experiences, artistic talents, and philosophical perspectives — a diversity that helped Kamryn expand her own practice. Used to working in isolation, she says, “My favourite thing about attending SPAO was how the passion of those around me ended up fuelling my own.”
Inspired by the Venus of Willendorf, Kamryn photographs what she affectionately refers to as fat bodies, and melding their forms over roughly articulated clay using post production tools. Now a graduate and emerging artist of the highest calibre, the queer multidisciplinary artist sees her practice not only as an outlet for self-expression, but also as a means to contribute to conversations on mental health, feminism, and community.
“The SPAO diploma program was almost completely opposite to my experience in university. It’s intimate, casual yet sophisticated, hands-on, and community-based. We learned as much from the program as we did from being surrounded by other artists with diverse experiences and knowledge bases.” – Kamryn Woloschuk, class of 2023
For more information about SPAO and how to apply to its college diploma program, visit spao.ca.
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