Enrich your students' education with hands-on visual arts workshops taught by professional arts educators. As one of Canada's foremost contemporary art museums, Oakville Galleries offers innovative field trips and in-class visits that make the visual arts accessible and engaging for your students. With a commitment to fostering creativity, confidence and critical thinking skills in children and youth, our programs give students opportunities to look at, discuss and make works of art in a space where they are encouraged to experiment with new ideas and specialized materials. All programs are designed to promote inquiry-based learning, supporting the development of students' collaborative and innovative learning abilities while emphasizing big ideas and interdisciplinary engagement. With the Visual Arts curriculum and the Creative Process at the forefront of our offerings, select programs also integrate strands from History and Geography, Language, Science and Technology, and Social Studies.
Please note all school programming is currently being offered online through scheduled 1.5 hr (or less) Zoom sessions. As this year presents new challenges, school learning looks very different for everyone. Oakville Galleries is offering custom programming to fit all educator and student needs whether in a classroom, home-schooling or in a learning pod.
Please contact education@oakvillegalleries.com to discuss program content and ideas to best create a lesson plan. If you see one of our regular school programs listed below that interests you, it can be adjusted and adapted to fit online delivery as best as possible.
The many movements of abstract art have always allowed for a fresh point of view and turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. Students will learn and review the elements and principles of design while putting them into practise as they create abstract scenes, real or imaginary, through transforming fragmented images and drawing.
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This workshop will introduce and explore the importance of the concept of connection and symbolism within art. Students will explore their own personal meaning of “connection" in their own lives while using imagery and symbolism to represent themselves throughout a colourful painting or drawing representation.
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The art of our time is full of surprises, with artists often using non-traditional materials and techniques to explore a world of ideas. Students will be introduced to one of Oakville Galleries' exhibitions and then guided through a group discussion interpreting the artwork on display by one of our educators.
Following a guided tour, students will respond creatively to the artworks they've seen at the Galleries with a hands-on art-making workshop.
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Looking for something a little more playful than a traditional tour? We also offer art-themed scavenger hunts!
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Forget the fancy kit of art supplies: No-Kit encourages students to select materials from their surroundings to make playful works of art.
Bring the visual arts directly to your students with our new free school program. Artist in the Classroom is designed especially for Grade 4 students in Oakville and delivered in partnership with the Oakville Community Foundation.
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Learn how to create a stop-motion animation! Students will use digital cameras and tripods to shoot images for each scene of their movie, and work under the guidance of an artist to animate it in iMovie.
Learn how to create a stop-motion animation! Students will use digital cameras and tripods to shoot images for each scene of their movie, and work under the guidance of an artist to animate it in iMovie.
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Students will etch, cut, glue, and assemble a variety of materials to create stamps and collagraphs that they'll subsequently use to create their own imaginative set of colourful characters.
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Students will etch, cut, glue, and assemble a variety of materials to create stamps and collagraphs that they'll subsequently use to create their own imaginative set of colourful characters.
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Since the beginning of time, humans have told stories through works of art—let prints take you on a narrative adventure!
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Since the beginning of time, humans have told stories through works of art—let prints take you on a narrative adventure!
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Art is a powerful form of communication, and prints are a great example of artists creatively and colourfully conveying a message. Students will work in pairs to make an edition of prints that share their own messages with the world.
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Art is a powerful form of communication, and prints are a great example of artists creatively and colourfully conveying a message. Students will work in pairs to make an edition of prints that share their own messages with the world.
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Have something else in mind? We will work with you to design and lead an art workshop that best suits your students' needs and interests.
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Experience art in the great outdoors! On a guided tour through Gairloch Gardens, students will observe, record and collect examples of the colours, shapes and textures specific to the current season.
Experience art in the great outdoors! Students will be introduced to the work of artists who harness the power of air and water in their artworks for inspiration, then create their own wind- and water-powered artworks.
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Experience art in the great outdoors! A morning discovery walk through Gairloch Gardens will allow students to observe and identify the differences between natural and human-made shelters and structures.
Experience art in the great outdoors! During a tour of Gairloch Gardens, students will discover the stories sculptures tell about the world around us, while learning a little about early Indigenous societies along the way.
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Experience art in the great outdoors! Students will briefly explore environmental issues affecting lakes and rivers in Ontario, then look at artworks that share important messages about these problems.
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Create a starship studio in Oakville Galleries’ Education Centre! Over the course of the day, students will draw plans for a ship that could sustain extended travel in outer space, and use clay and upcycled materials to assemble prototypes of technological tools and devices needed to explore the solar system.
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Experience art in the great outdoors! Using a variety of new and recycled sculptural materials, students will work in groups to build models of an improved habitat that would benefit the local ecosystem.
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Experience art in the great outdoors! With a focus on contemporary artists concerned with the availability of safe water in their communities, students will learn about how the production of textiles impacts drinking water around the world.
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Enable your students to experience the expressive potential of art, either in the classroom or at Oakville Galleries.
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