September/October Holiday Workshops

Each session
10am – 2pm 
$60 per day
Suitable for 6–13 years
Includes all materials and a tour of related exhibitions 

Paint: Ethereal Figures

Inspired by exhibiting artist Ruth Ige

MON 28 SEP

Inspired by the luminous paintings of Ruth Ige in the exhibition The Evocation of Worlds, this hands-on holiday workshop invites young artists to explore how ordinary materials can conjure otherworldly figures. Ige builds her paintings using natural pigments bound with glue, allowing colour to pool, bleed, and settle into soft, watery forms. Children will experiment with glue and pigment on canvas, layering colour to let ghostly, featureless figures emerge from the surface, much as Ige's own subjects hover between the seen and unseen. A meditative and experimental session blending process, chance, and imagination into a dreamlike take-home painting.

Gelli Print Patterns on Fabric

Inspired by exhibiting artist Tracey Tawhiao

TUES 29 SEP

Inspired by the bold, free-flowing patterns of Tracey Tawhiao in the exhibition The Crackling of the Sun, this hands-on holiday workshop invites young artists to explore pattern as a form of storytelling and identity. Tawhiao draws on traditional kōwhaiwhai and symbol-making, reimagining them into new, non-uniform patterns of her own invention. Children will design and print their own repeat motifs onto fabric tote bags using gelli plates, layering colour and shape that carries their own personal patterns and stories. A creative and expressive session exploring how pattern can tell a story about who we are, resulting in a take-home printed textile.

Sculpt:  Imaginary Clay Machine

Inspired by exhibiting artist Richard Penn

WED 30 SEP

Inspired by the intricate ceramic works of Richard Penn in the exhibition The Crackling of the Sun, this hands-on holiday workshop invites young artists to imagine and build their own fantastical machine. Penn's sculptural practice reimagines clay as cogs, pipes, and mysterious mechanical components — parts that hint at function without ever quite resolving into a working whole. Children will roll, coil, and shape clay into their own invented gears, dials, and connectors, assembling them into a sculptural machine of their own invention. A hands-on workshop blending imaginative design and three-dimensional making into a take-home clay object.

* Please note the clay sculptures will be fired and ready for collection approximately 3 weeks after the workshop.

Sculpt:  Imaginary Clay Machine

Inspired by exhibiting artist Richard Penn

THURS 1 OCT

Inspired by the intricate ceramic works of Richard Penn in the exhibition The Crackling of the Sun, this hands-on holiday workshop invites young artists to imagine and build their own fantastical machine. Penn's sculptural practice reimagines clay as cogs, pipes, and mysterious mechanical components — parts that hint at function without ever quite resolving into a working whole. Children will roll, coil, and shape clay into their own invented gears, dials, and connectors, assembling them into a sculptural machine of their own invention. A hands-on workshop blending imaginative design and three-dimensional making into a take-home clay object.

This can either be used as a second session if children wish to do both the Wednesday and Thursday class sessions – or as a stand alone class.

* Please note the clay sculptures will be fired and ready for collection approximately 3 weeks after the workshop.

Print: Cyanotypes

Inspired by exhibiting artist Ruth Ige

FRI 2 OCT

Inspired by the atmospheric, otherworldly quality of Ruth Ige's paintings in The Evocation of Worlds, this hands-on holiday workshop invites young artists to explore another way of conjuring a ghostly figure: the cyanotype. Using light-sensitive paper, children will arrange objects, cut shapes, and silhouettes to create images that develop in the sun, turning deep blue where the light has touched the page. Like Ige's veiled, dreamlike subjects, the resulting prints capture form without detail — a trace of a presence rather than a likeness. A hands-on session blending science and art in the sunshine, resulting in a one-of-a-kind take-home print.

Flip-books

Inspired by the film installations in The Crackling of the Sun

MON 5 OCT

Inspired by the moving-image works in the group exhibition The Crackling of the Sun, this hands-on holiday workshop invites young artists to explore the magic of animation in its simplest form. Children will learn how sequential drawing creates the illusion of movement, sketching their own frame-by-frame stories onto pocket-sized post-it notes. Working with pencils and playful experimentation, they'll discover the same principles of time and motion that underpin the moving image works upstairs. A creative, hands-on session blending drawing and DIY animation into a take-home flip-book.

Shadow Puppets

Inspired by the film installations in The Crackling of the Sun

TUE 6 OCT

Inspired by the moving-image works in the group exhibition The Crackling of the Sun, this hands-on holiday workshop invites young artists to explore how light, shadow, and story combine to create myth and speculative worlds. Children will design and cut their own characters from card, attaching them to sticks to create articulated shadow puppets, before experimenting with light sources to bring their creatures to life on the wall. Drawing on the exhibition's themes of mythic memory and speculative storytelling, children will invent their own imagined beings and short scenes. A playful and inventive session blending design, performance, and storytelling into a take-home cast of characters.

Gelli Print Patterns on Fabric

Inspired by exhibiting artist Tracey Tawhiao

WED 7 OCT

Inspired by the bold, free-flowing patterns of Tracey Tawhiao in the exhibition The Crackling of the Sun, this hands-on holiday workshop invites young artists to explore pattern as a form of storytelling and identity. Tawhiao draws on traditional kōwhaiwhai and symbol-making, reimagining them into new, non-uniform patterns of her own invention. Children will design and print their own repeat motifs onto fabric tote bags using gelli plates, layering colour and shape that carries their own personal patterns and stories. A creative and expressive session exploring how pattern can tell a story about who we are, resulting in a take-home printed textile.

Paint: Ethereal Figures

Inspired by exhibiting artist Ruth Ige

THURS 8 OCT

Inspired by the luminous paintings of Ruth Ige in the exhibition The Evocation of Worlds, this hands-on holiday workshop invites young artists to explore how ordinary materials can conjure otherworldly figures. Ige builds her paintings using natural pigments bound with glue, allowing colour to pool, bleed, and settle into soft, watery forms. Children will experiment with glue and pigment on canvas, layering colour to let ghostly, featureless figures emerge from the surface, much as Ige's own subjects hover between the seen and unseen. A meditative and experimental session blending process, chance, and imagination into a dreamlike take-home painting.

Print: Cyanotypes

Inspired by exhibiting artist Ruth Ige

FRI 9 OCT

Inspired by the atmospheric, otherworldly quality of Ruth Ige's paintings in The Evocation of Worlds, this hands-on holiday workshop invites young artists to explore another way of conjuring a ghostly figure: the cyanotype. Using light-sensitive paper, children will arrange objects, cut shapes, and silhouettes to create images that develop in the sun, turning deep blue where the light has touched the page. Like Ige's veiled, dreamlike subjects, the resulting prints capture form without detail — a trace of a presence rather than a likeness. A hands-on session blending science and art in the sunshine, resulting in a one-of-a-kind take-home print.