A Canadian teacher has been accused of selling artwork created by his students on his personal website.
Mario Perron, who teaches art to 12 to 14-year-olds at Montreal’s Westwood junior high school, labelled their pictures as “creepy portraits” and advertised them for more than $100 (£58) a piece.
Mr Perron’s website describes him as “a life-long student of art” who is primarily self-taught. His website says that Mr Perron’s work can be found in private collections across Canada, the US, Spain and Italy, and he appears to be passing off the students’ work as his own.
Students at the school discovered the teacher’s alleged supplementary income after they say they found their artwork available for purchase on coffee mugs, mobile phone cases and clothing on his website.
Mr Perron sells the children’s artwork on coffee mugs, mobile phone cases and clothing on his website
One parent, Michael Bennett, told a local news outlet, CTV, that they were “extremely disgusted” by Mr Perron.
Mr Bennett, whose 12-year-old daughter drew a “creepy portrait” that was marketed by Mr Perron for prices up to $151 – about £88 – on four different sites, told CTV that he had serious ethical concerns about the situation.
“Is this teacher asking for certain types of projects to be done to be able to sell them?” Mr Bennett said. “Is he asking for these types of portraits to be done so it meets the market?”
His child’s original drawing could be found listed for sale as well as on a T-shirt, for $41, and an iPhone case, being sold for $35. Mr Bennett said that the situation was unbelievable, according to the local news outlet.
Administrators at Montreal’s Westwood junior high school have launched an investigation into the art teacher
Administrators have since launched an investigation into the art teacher and a school board spokesperson told CTV that school officials are “taking these allegations very seriously”.
While the student’s art can no longer be purchased, they are still listed on Mr Perron’s website. Most notably, Julia’s Creepy Portrait and Charlotte’s Creepy Portrait – apparently referring to the names of the students who made the art – are still among the 90 works still visible on the website.
