• Age: 15 to 18
• Grade: 10 to 12

Art Lessons is in the voice of Cassie from a seven-year-old to seventeen, when she finally leaves home for art school. She discovers the transformative power of visual art in herself and on the lives of others. Cassie lives in a family of sports nuts, she's a loner and easily distracted by boyfriends, but in love with trees, her inspiration for drawing, and the process of art-making, which to her feels like floating. While unlikely teachers of all ages challenge her, her Polish grandmother, Babci, is an intuitive guide on Cassie's path to becoming an artist. Through her own heightened observational skills and awareness of her difference, Cassie is saved by her art, changing as the trees she continues to draw over time.

Katherine Koller teaches in the department of English and film studies at the University of Alberta and continues to write for radio, stage and screen. Her one-act comedies have been produced across Canada. Her website is www.katherinekoller.ca.

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