An arts teacher at Westwood Junior High School, a college located about twenty kilometers from Montreal, Canada, is suspected of having secretly put up for sale works created by his young students, reveals The Guardian.
These middle school students discovered the pot of roses by writing the name of their teacher on Google.
What was their surprise when they found their own drawings for sale on several sites.
Some portraits, still available on the professor's website, are priced at 118 Canadian dollars (around 80 euros).
The drawings are named after children, such as “The Scary Portrait of Marina” or “The Scary Portrait of Henry”.
According to the Canadian channel CTV News, these drawings would be reproduced on other sites on coffee cups, t-shirts or even cell phone cases at prices between 24 and 40 Canadian dollars.
“It’s unthinkable”
A parent of a student did not hide his incomprehension.
“Imagine your 13-year-old son telling you after school that his art teacher is selling his students' work for $94 without telling them?
It’s completely crazy,” criticizes Joel DeBellefeuille on his X account (ex-Twitter).
Imagine your 13 year-old son coming home from school today with a story that his art teacher is selling students' artwork online at $94 per drawing without their prior knowledge!?
This is completely insane.
@LBPSB What are you going to do about this?
I'm sure I'm not the only…
— Joel DeBellefeuille (@DeBellefeuille_) February 7, 2024
“It's hard to believe that he (
the professor
) said to himself that he had the right to use and exploit the rights of these children and their artistic work for his own finances,” he said. he lamented to CTV News.
The father of two 12-year-old schoolgirls said he was “extremely disgusted” by the teacher, interviewed by the Canadian channel.
“It’s unthinkable,” he added.
The teacher, a Quebecer aged around fifty, did not react.
The school said it was “aware of the situation and takes these accusations very seriously” as quoted by The Guardian.
She opened an investigation.