School holiday fun with Cool Art July at Maitland Regional Art Gallery

Cool Art July at Maitland Regional Art Gallery offers kids, teens and families the chance to participate in a range of free creative workshops, engage with current exhibitions and learn from exhibiting artists throughout the winter school holidays.

‘We’re particularly excited for this winter break because several of our exhibiting artists will be hosting free workshops, providing the opportunity to learn techniques found in the artworks on our walls direct from the artist who created them,’ says Deputy Director Courtney Novak.

The entertaining program includes a cape making workshop with Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay artist Dennis Golding based on his exhibition Power | The Future is Here, allowing kids of all ages to find their inner hero.

Young creatives can also make a collage about a special person in their life with Maitland artist Catherine Kingsmill, inspired by her exhibition Memory Collective (Part One): Felicity, Mavis, Tara, Tory and Vicki, or join Lineage | A Visual Continuum artist Shonah Trescott in creating mixed media landscapes and animal portraits.

More local artists will join the mix, with Indeah Clark facilitating an introduction to printmaking workshop for kids and Barbie Procobis leading a workshop inspired by Ron Mueck’s Pregnant woman, where young adults can learn how to make realistic sculptures with polymer clay.

Families can also get involved in two drop in activities when visiting Lineage | A Visual Continuum and Power | The Future is Here.

‘Guided by our artist educators, these drop in activities encourage participants to let their imagination fly while creating a paper forest or designing their very own superhero cape,’ says Ms Novak.

Looking ahead to Term 3, MRAG has opened enrolments for its after school program, Art Explorers. From Tuesday 30 July, the program will teach young art lovers new techniques through the use of different materials over an eight week term.

To view the full Cool Art July program, including dates, times and booking information, visit mait.city/MRAGSchoolHolidays.