ArtPlay schools program 2013

The ArtPlay schools program offers a range of workshops covering a variety of art-forms for you and your students to explore.

The program aims to:

encourage creativity in children and give them more confidence in the classroom and beyond
place artists and children together as collaborators and co-creators
create an environment in which the notion of play, inquiry and exploration is fostered.

The following workshops are currently available:

Creating Something From Nothing (Prep to Grade 2)

Gives children confidence in their own creative powers by generating theatrical material through the use of multi-art form games of chance and impulse.

Dates: 6 December 2012; 7 March, 9 May, 8 August or 7 November 2013
Times: 10am to 11.30am or 12.30pm to 2pm
More about Creating Something From Nothing

Tape It! (Grade 3 to 6)

Builds teamwork skills. Children collaborate to make an artwork that uses activities with compositional rules and game playing.

Dates: 8 May, 7 August or 6 November 2013
Times: 10am to 11.30am or 12.30pm to 2pm
More about Tape It!

Collaborative Stories (Grade 3 to 6)

Empowers children to tell their stories and share them with others. Children write, illustrate and hand bind their collaborative creative stories into a beautiful book.

Dates: 20 August or 13 November 2013
Times: 10am to 1pm
More about Collborative Stories

Strange Garden (Grade 2 to 6)

Children learn about patterns and shapes by transforming 2D drawings to 3D sculpture and contribute to the creation of a huge, collaborative, cardboard ‘garden’ installation.

Dates: 23 or 24 April 2013
Times: 9.45am to 11.45am or 12.45pm to 2.45pm
More about Strange Garden

INHEPI: International Network of Human Encounters in Performance and Installation (Grade 3 to 6)

Children will work with a group of international artists and become co-creators in developing a new interactive experience within the ArtPlay space.

Dates: 21 or 22 March 2013
Times: 10.30am to 12noon
More about INHEPI

Creating Something from Nothing – with Pocketfool Productions

We are all the creators of our own stories...

Pocketfool is the creative partnership of performers Heidi Weatherald and Jennifer Anderson. Using a range of stimulating theatrical techniques, Pocketfool help reveal the idea that something can indeed be created from nothing.

The company's theatrical style is a highly visual mixture of physical comedy, quirky objects, sound effects, music and design. The performers create their shows by linking and layering small moments that have sprung from improvisational play.

Creating Something from Nothing aims to give students confidence in their own creative powers by generating theatrical material through the use of multi-art form games of chance and impulse.

What students will be doing on the day:

Performers Heidi and Jennifer will introduce children to Pocketfool's eclectic theatrical style by performing a 15-minute extract of their show, The Squeaky Window.
The children will be led through a series of fun exercises that use chance and impulse to create small theatrical moments, instead of making decisions about what or how to perform. The games will involve drawing, physical movement, vocal sound effects, music, costume and the use of objects.
Moments created from the exercises that appeal to the group will be linked together to create theatrical vignettes that the children can perform to each other.
The process will include a working introduction to theatrical language and terms.

Teacher's notes are available on booking.

Grade: Prep to 2 
Capacity: one class per time slot, 26 children per class 
Cost: $125 per class 
Date: Thursday 6 December 2012; Thursday 7 March, 9 May, 8 August or 7 November 2013
Times: 10am to 11.30am or 12.30pm to 2pm 
Bookings essential: Book online

Tape It! – with visual artist Briony Barr

Tape It! is an exercise in expanded drawing, an ‘off the page’ style of drawing that uses a non-traditional medium (coloured electrical tape). Based on techniques developed over several years by the artist, this drawing method involves working collaboratively to make a large format artwork on the floor of ArtPlay.

Concepts such as creative limitation and process-based art are introduced through this activity in the form of compositional rules, game-play and ‘undrawing’ the transformation of the drawing into an unexpected, sculptural object.

Briony Barr is a visual artist who works with collaborative drawing to show a process of change. Often working with large groups of people to create these drawings, Briony is interested in how rules can be used to shape this process. Many large-scale drawings with tape have been created – lasting anywhere from a few hours to four weeks, involving children, families, adults and even scientists.

What students will be doing on the day:

Students will be introduced to the activity through a brief discussion and slide presentation, touching on themes such as expanded drawing, conceptual art and making collaboratively.
The medium of electrical tape will be introduced, as well as the parameters for our drawing including time limits, rules and objectives.
The group will be divided into teams and the drawing will begin.
Within the rule framework, students will have a lot of freedom to interpret, as well as innovate with the tape in order to create the drawing.
The last phase of the workshop will be to remove (‘undraw’) all the lines on the floor in order to make a new artwork that can be taken away by the class group.

Teacher's notes are available on booking.

Grade: 3 to 6 
Capacity: one class per time slot, 26 children per class 
Cost: $125 
Dates: Wednesdays 8 May, 7 August or 6 November 2013
Times: 10am to 11.30am or 12.30pm 
Bookings essential: Book online

Collaborative Stories – with Kids' Own Publishing

Kids' Own Publishing is a unique publishing house that aims to ‘empower children, families and communities to tell their stories and share them with others.’
Working with artists Kathy Holowko and Ailsa Wild from Kids’ Own Publishing, students will write, illustrate and hand-bind their collaborative creative stories into a beautiful book to keep forever.

What students will be doing on the day:

Working in two groups, students will explore genre, character and narrative structure to create stories for a collaborative 12-page book.
Kids’ Own Publishing artists, Ailsa Wild and Kathy Holowko, will work with students to create illustrations for their stories using fabric collage and drawing techniques.
Students will learn to construct 12-page books before covering and binding a copy of their book using fabric and thread.
The group will then come together to share their publications before taking them home to share with their families.

Grade: 3 to 6 
Capacity: one class per time slot, 26 children per class 
Cost: $125
Date: Tuesday 20 August or Wednesday 13 November 2013
Time: 10am to 1pm
Bookings essential: Book online

Strange Garden – with Eliza-Jane Gilchrist and Pauline O’Shannessy

Strange Garden is a project that explores and creates patterns and shapes through drawing and building sculptures. Participants cover several mathematical concepts: they observe symmetry and asymmetry, they learn to recognize solids in 2D and understand the properties of shapes by building them in space. They also learn about scale, and by doing this, create a beautiful and intricate artwork. Interpersonal skills involved include sharing information and recognizing the benefit of teamwork.

Eliza-Jane is a practising sculptor based in Castlemaine. Pauline specialises in drawing and lives in Ballarat. Eliza-Jane and Pauline have been working at the Art Gallery of Ballarat for the last year on the Artlink programme. This involves school groups participating in hands-on activities inspired by artworks in the collection. Eliza-Jane’s workshops are focussed on creating paper sculptures, Pauline works with drawing and collage. The workshops at ArtPlay will join these mediums together.

What students will be doing on the day:

The workshop will begin with an introduction to the artists and the idea of creating a large-scale cardboard ‘garden’ installation.
Outside the ArtPlay building, children will find patterns and shapes and draw them.
These drawings will be brought inside and reproduced on flat, cardboard shapes that are specifically designed to fit together with sticky tape to form 3D plant-like shapes.
There will be time for students to work in groups and experiment with paper patterns to create their own 3D geometric shapes.
The plant-like constructions will be built and added to a large cardboard installation ‘garden’ growing out of the middle of the ArtPlay space.

Grade: 2 to 6
Capacity: one class per time slot, 26 children per class
Cost: $125
Dates: Tuesday 23 April or Wednesday 24 April
Times: 9.45am to 11.45am or 12.45pm to 2.45pm
Bookings essential: Book online

INHEPI: International Network of Human Encounters in Performance and Installation

We’ve asked audiences to blindfold us, shout out to the wind, dance, jump and imagine how big the universe is…. What will we do in 2013…?

INHEPI is an international collective of artists investigating interactive theatre, art and installation. Over the past two years, INHEPI have been developing a practice of creating work with audiences. Members from Denmark and Australia will be spending a week at ArtPlay experimenting, developing, installing and seeding new work.

Bring your students on this theatrical adventure that is sure to be special, intimate, surprising and playful.

Take a risk, take their hand – and see what sort of magic happens.

What students will be doing on the day:

Children will be the first to experience this very new interactive theatre work (in its experimental stages) as developed by 5 artists from Carte Blanche (Denmark) and Pocketfool, Tipsy Teacup and Floogle (Australia).
Children will have the opportunity to take part in various theatrical experiences and activities throughout the session - as a whole audience, in small groups and / or as individuals.
Children and teachers will be invited to interact with the artists and contribute to the experience. Using the reactions and feedback from children, the work will evolve and children will be part of and witness to the creative process.
At the end of the session there will be a group discussion where children will be asked to reflect on the performance and the process. This aims to develop the performance work but also to introduce children to the importance of reflection in developing a theatre work.

Grade: Grade 3 to 6 
Capacity: one class per time slot, 26 children per class 
Cost: $60 per class  
Date: Thursday 21 or Friday 22 March 2013
Times: 10.30am to 12noon
Bookings essential: Book online

For more information:
Phone (03) 9664 7900
Email artplay@melbourne.vic.gov.au
ArtPlay is open Wednesday to Sunday: 10am to 4pm