Taking the Leap: The Youth Advisory Group Pilot

PART TWO: WHAT WASN'T WORKING TAUGHT ME MORE

The programme is four months in and the YES (Youth Event Squad – much better name) are flying ahead, planning exciting, accessible, participatory events for later this year. So a slightly different approach this blog – now that we are all up to speed on what this programme is, I want to share here some of the mini crises I have been having over this programme and what I have learnt from them. There are advantages to staring at the ceiling at night wondering if I am doing any irreversible damage to this programme and feeling more than a little out of my depth.

The first few meetings felt vague and flat. Not because of the members, but because I had gone in thinking ‘I don’t need structure these guys know the place!’ I was so wrong! We started to run before we could walk, I had to hold them back from branstorming events because we hadn’t even set goals, I had no ‘big picture’ to give them because this was a first for everyone involved. I was confused, so they were confused.

Looking back at how this programme has evolved, at the beginning I was worried about what was the purpose of my role in this programme, what was their purpose (were they here for them? Or for the visitors at their events?), and what was the purpose of the events? Was I to worry about the audience of these events? Was I to worry about the creative aspects of the events? Sensing the panic here? I thought so. Once I realised my sole purpose as an educator on this programme was to create a safe and creative environment where these young people can develop leadership and capability skills, I relaxed. Trust the process was my new mantra.

I called meeting with my colleague (Community Learning Coordinator and Ultimate Frisbee Coach), motivated by a growing sense of panic of the unknown. She reassured me using an unexpectedly helpful sports metaphor. Imagine myself as the coach of these young people, they are my team and the ‘events’ are the finals. While I want them to get them to finals, I don’t want to focus on a ‘win’ (the outcome/event) because otherwise the entire season (learning’s and experiences) seem like a waste of time if we don’t make it! If I am only focusing on the outcome, then the entire process feels futile if you don’t (to use a horrid word) ‘succeed’.

So how was I going to develop leadership and capability skills? By modeling them. So acknowledging what I don’t know, and what I can do better explicitly is important. I have made the meetings more structured than I originally thought was necessary, I have taken to sending out meeting minutes between the meetings, and then a week before a ‘Hey this is what’s happening, don’t forget to come’ email.

I decided that people can’t develop leadership and capability skills in a group of 12. So I am going to split them into smaller groups, with each group managing their own event/programme. Now their strengths and skills can shine and voices can be heard. It seems obvious that twelve people cannot plan one event without some serious problems arising! Imagine 12 directors for a film. Diabolical. The added benefit is we will now potentially have four events which they have creative control over and can support each other on.

To limit the chance of any future mild panics, at the end of every meeting I reflect with colleagues. I ask myself:

• What went well and how do I know? 
• Were there any issues that arose? 
• What would I do differently next time? 
• How can I take what we’ve learnt above into the next meeting? 
• Are we responding and respecting the goals and values of these young people? 

So onwards and upwards. Hopefully in the next post I will have some more exciting things to share that they are working hard on.

– Selina Anderson, Senior Gallery Educator

For more information about our Youth programmes:
 http://www.aucklandartgallery.com/learning/youth

Taking the Leap: The Youth Advisory Group Pilot

PART ONE: WHERE DO I START?

This year we are piloting our first Youth Advisory Group (yet to be re-named by the young people involved – something snappier, more relevant, and ideally less formal). Thirteen young people who have previously been involved in our Youth Media Internships are using this year to plan and run programmes for the Gallery. Aimed at young people, planned by young people.

The purposes of the Learning Programmes team, the Educators, and the Advisory Group 

Their interpretation of RESPECT, IMAGINATION and CHALLENGES – the values they set as a group 

Being a pilot programme, we wanted to use young people who were already we knew through previous programming, as we wanted them to already be familiar with the Gallery and its processes. As they were the guinea pigs, we felt this existing relationship put us and them on safer ground. We could feel out this year, tweak things, and get their input and evaluations. Knowing we could offer them a safe and creative space to work in developing leadership skills and programming. I feel the reality is, a pilot is inherently ‘less safe’ for all involved than an established programme. I trusted these young people, and hopefully they trusted the Gallery, to use them in this experiment! Based on all our many inevitable learnings this year, applications will open up more widely next time around.

Overseas, there are existing models for youth committees at galleries and museums, so we are not inventing anything new. So while we have an idea of where these groups can end up in the long term, we were going in blind in terms of the short term – what did these existing programmes overseas do in their first year to get to that point? How much ownership did the young people have in the development of the values, goals and outcomes? How much staff planning time was this going to take?! Etc etc! All the while, wanting to create something that was unique and relevant to these young people, Auckland, and this Gallery.

Taking part in an ice breaker – searching for artworks then creating a tableaux

All these questions could only be answered by taking the leap. While this group of young people sit under the purposes of the Learning Programmes team – and the groups own purpose is to create participatory, collaborate, Gallery-based events for young people – within these parameters there was plenty of room to move and experiment.

So far, the members have set the values of the group. They are going to value: Imagination, Respect, and Challenges. They have set personal goals for the group (things within their control and not outcome based). They have researched overseas models and considered questions like:

• Were the events planned by a youth committee or by the Gallery? 
• Which events/programmes seemed to fit with our values? 
• How accessible were these events? 
• What type of audience were they trying to attract? 

On top of the potentially heavy, overwhelming journey ahead, each meeting I try to get them involved in a Gallery programme so they are learning first hand what is possible here, what we already have on offer, and have fun! They have taken part in:

A Drop-in Drawing Session 

Doodle in the Dark (one of our Gallery Games)

Kangaroo Crew 

So far so good! They are a really enthusiastic, creative and inquisitive group, and I have no doubt through this process that they will learn a huge amount about not just the gallery, but about themselves as learners and people.

Next time I will talk more about what I have had to change and adapt through the process and not such a blow-by-blow account of what happens.

– Selina Anderson, Senior Gallery Educator

Links to research mentioned:
http://collectives.tate.org.uk/
http://www.mca.com.au/series/generationext/

For more information about our Youth programmes:
http://www.aucklandartgallery.com/learning/youth

Activities as ways to engage with original works of art – solutions

Experience of teaching Landscapes to Year 5 students. Read part one here

Ralph Hotere's 10-panel work Aramoana, currently on display as part of the collection  show Toi Aotearoa

We were looking at Ralph Hotere’s Aramonana 1982, to get children to think about how artists are inspired by, and reflect on place. And how artists can react to that place being threatened. So the following makes some sense….all our programmes have a critical thinking framework of: observe, describe, compare and contrast, make connections, interpret, synthesize and evaluate.

This is what I did:

Observed and described the work - after the delicious descriptions of the metal, the colours, the application of paint I have now started asking:

So if this was a place that you were in, what type of place would it be?

Whereas before, their observations and descriptions were not given valid purpose by me and were falling into an abyss.

Responses to this question were:

• Somewhere dark
• It’s like a forest of dead trees
• It looks Smokey and like it would be hard to breath
• It would be abandoned, haunted, there would be no life there

THEN…

I introduced a drawing activity. They have 60 seconds to sketch the artwork. They then swap the drawing with a neighbour. They then look back at the artwork and ‘finish’ the sketch with formal and descriptive language). The language they produced got more sophisticated: Such as:

Rust Sharp Empty Haunted Mysterious Space Quiet Old Broken

THEN…

I introduced content (meaningfully – not just as a ‘hey look what I know about this work!) about Aramoana, the smelter, the protests, and why people were against it.

I then asked: with this new information about the work, how does that change how you see this artwork?

And then: How is this reflected in the artwork? Think about the words you have used in your sketch

The Responses ranged from:

• It makes sense why he chose metal as his materials because of the smelter! That’s why he has used metal! 
• It would make the landscape lifeless that’s why he has left so much empty 
• • No one would want to go there that’s why it looks abandoned 
• • All those dots and white could be the dead trees 
• • The pollution and smoke in the dark colours, the splatters etc. it looks like it would be hard to breath in this artwork 

Their responses used language they had developed in the activities, which gave their interpretation a sense of ownership, but linked directly to the artwork where they found evidence to justify their responses.

I then said: 'Ok so now I will show you images of what Aramoana looks like! Have a look at this photograph – how has the artist referenced this place in the artwork?'

'What is the same/different about this photograph and the artwork?'

Oh the white is like the sea foam! The waves are like the ripples in the metal! It’s a really empty place

So why has Hotere not just showed us how this place is? Why choose these colours/materials etc?

• Because he is worried this is what it will become 
• Because like this people will listen more 
• Because it is a warning to people 

So what I had discovered was: In my teaching practice, don’t not do embodied activities, don’t not do activities – there is a real place for them within Gallery sessions. But always be clear to yourself, and your students, why you are doing the activity and how you want this activity to be a way into the work.

It will forever be a challenge to keep the pendulum swinging evenly, when something is new it is so natural for our brains to purely focus on this because it is not yet second nature. But what is important, is that I remain critical and reflective about my practice, be observed, take feedback and adjust. And then I just might get the teaching moments that keep me out on that floor every day.

- Selina Anderson, Senior Gallery Educator

Image:
Ralph Hotere
Aramoana 1982
lacquer on corrugated iron and wood 
Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki 
gift of the Transfield Corporation, 1985

Activities as ways to engage with original works of art

Experience of teaching Landscapes to Year 5 students

The motivation for this blog comes from a recent observation that was done as part of our professional development here at the gallery. My manager sets up a camera and films my teaching session, while taking notes about how I ask questions, use content, and scaffold the session. After talking about this in a meeting, I noticed that I have been grappling with a constant tension within working in such a unique environment. Once I had got over the shocking reality of what I look and sound like on camera, I had a mission!

To give some background and context, the purpose of our programmes in the Gallery and the studio is to encourage critical and creative thinking, through engaging with original works of art. We try to cater for different learning styles, and engage students in different ways as much as we can, given we don’t know the students and only have them for one hour. Although lessons inevitably lean towards the oratory and visual learners (the nature of visual arts perhaps), it is important we give space for those who learn more kinesthetically for example. It is also important that all styles of learners, experience learning something in a new way.

So my tension was this: how do I focus on the original artwork in front of me (the whole reason for being in this space) while using activities as a way to make meaning, and interpret this original artwork? The activities are there to support the artwork, not detract from it. The artwork is not there to support the activities. Even as I am writing this my brain is starting to get tied up still! Deep breath.

The way we had written the current Landscapes programme gave space for multiple embodied learning opportunities (a current focus within our Educator team because of a past enquiry by a colleague). There are touch boards, sketch activities, standing up and pretending to ‘make’ the artwork…however, why was I doing these activities? Was it to fill in time? Was it to give children a chance to move for the sake of moving? What they were not doing was encouraging close looking – but the activities were not the problem, it was how I was (or wasn’t) linking them back to the artwork meaningfully. Another ‘light bulb’ moment came to me when my manager said that exciting and engaging conversation can be an activity in itself.

So something had to change.

Armed with new purpose and determination I taught my next group of students the same programme.

Read part two here

- Selina Anderson, Senior Gallery Educator

Youth Media Internship 2013: It's a wrap!

I was the Senior Gallery Educator who planned the Youth Media Internship, helped select the candidates, prepare AUT mentors and gallery staff, and facilitated daily sessions with the interns, providing them with guidance and encouragement while letting them maintain creative control over their projects. I was there from beginning to end. I can honestly say, it was one of the most exhausting – yet most rewarding – programmes I have ever worked on professionally and personally.

Because of this, the screening event that happened last Saturday – where interns, family, friends, teachers and Gallery staff all came to watch the films for the first time – was particularly meaningful. At the screening event, each group introduced their films and got to celebrate together for the first time since the internship ended. Our Director Rhana Devenport spoke and I talked through the process so teachers and family had more context behind the finished products.

Over the seven-day internship I watched these incredible young people gain confidence, interpersonal skills, decision-making skills and take full creative control of their films. All of them brought their own strengths, which translated clearly onto the screen, whether it be editing, illustration, interview or directorial skills. With what was only 38 hours contact time (and of this only 5 hours of filming and 10 of editing), this year’s interns took the project-based learning experience to another level. Needless to say, I became really invested and attached to these young adults, and would like to say again to them, a huge thank you for the passion and energy they brought to the Gallery.

I hope you all enjoy the films as much as we have. Seeing the Gallery through the voice of these interns has been fantastic.

Group one: The Groovsters


Group two: Hinoliee


Group three: The Pickles


Group four: Gender Group


- Selina Anderson, Senior Gallery Educator

Drop in Drawing - Here to Stay!

Drop in Drawing is now a permanent programme at the Auckland Art Gallery!

Session times:

Tuesdays 12-1pm

Sunday 2-3pm
FREE with all materials provided, no booking needed

Ask at the front desk for locations on the day.

http://www.aucklandartgallery.com/learning/adults

Lots of people ask me why we are doing Drop in Drawing. It's a really good question. Drawing in a gallery is not a new concept or idea by any means. You can walk through galleries all over the world and see people sketching or even painting. But the purposes behind why we do this programme is something I think is unique. Some of the reasons we do this programme are:

• Because it is not about learning to draw, but about drawing to learn
• Because it helps people connect with the artwork
• Because it is purposeful and flexible
• Because it is about a process as well as a product
• Because it celebrates and validates our visitors experiences 

A Visitors idea of what happens next in one of the Victorian paintings.

Through Drop in Drawing visitors experience each element of the Creative Process. They...

EXPLORE an artwork more closely

EXPERIMENT with mark making, and the process of drawing

CREATE something of their own

SHARE the experience with others taking part
 

What visitors saw above eye level in our North Atrium.

Prompts we have challenged visitors with so far have been:

• Draw something above eye level
• Draw with your pencil in your other hand
• Draw what you think happens next in the artwork
• Memory game - look at the artwork for 20 seconds then turn around and draw from memory
• Never take your pencil off the paper
• Clothe the nudes
• Caption this artwork
• Hold your pencil in your elbow
• Guess my scribble
• Change the background
• Reconfigure the composition of an artwork

We have used historic works, contemporary installations, modernist paintings, and the architecture and spaces to provide inspiration to visitors.


A visitors work who took on the challenge of continuous line drawing.

As you can see from the prompts, the focus is on being social, close looking, engaging with the artwork, and a process, not a polished end product. We have very consciously decided that these are not technical drawing sessions.

Visitors have expressed appreciation of the challenges, because sitting in front of an artwork and just being told to 'draw' can be overwhelming and intimidating. Two feelings we want to eradicate from peoples experiences with art making! If there is a prompt,challenge, or type of artwork you would like to experience in Drop in Drawing let us know, we love suggestions on how to further push and extend this concept.

Thank you to everyone who has taken part in this programme so far and for all the positive feedback and suggestions you have given us. So far over 260 people have taken part in these drawing sessions in the past eight weeks! We cannot wait to watch this programme grow and are really excited to have it in our Learning Programmes family. 

A creature that began as a scribble and morphed into something the artist never predicted.

The Creative Process: Share

The final element of the creative process in the Creative Learning Centre is 'share'. This is where visitors, and the artist, leave lasting impressions in the space. constantly reflecting on, and contributing to, the process of Tiffany's work, other visitors' work, and the physical space.

Tiffany Singh opens up the process of making her work, her philosophies and beliefs about her practice, and her art. She does this through a silent film showing her collecting materials, melting wax and creating her artworks. She shares objects that inspire her and reflect her work on shelves throughout the room. These objects range from books about spirituality, jars full of pigment and spices, and raw beeswax and honeycomb. There is text opening up and sharing ideas about the symbolic use of colour in her work, the symbols and nature that feature heavily in her practice. A nostalgic collection of View-Masters share images of past installations that are reflected in her work on display, Dusted with the Spices of a Million Flowers.
 

For our visitors, there are shelves where they can leave their drawings or their sculptures for other people to appreciate in response to the activities. It was important to have a space where the visitor’s voice could be valued; therefore, the shelves where they can put their works are not segregated but are a part of the room. They are the first and last thing you see in the space, they are mixed with the objects Tiffany has left, they are not relegated to an isolated corner.

When children in particular ask me, ‘What do I have to do to get my picture up on the shelf?’ it's so fun to see them burst with excitement when you tell them that they can put whatever they like up there and choose where it goes. Sometimes the enthusiasm to leave their masterpiece fades and they awkwardly hover by it for a moment while a proud parent takes a photograph; they just cannot bear to leave it! Still, the fact that they had the choice to do what they wanted is powerful. The shelves are heavy with the pipe cleaner creatures and the colourful compositions visitors have created.

We have a response wall where visitors share their ideas about the focus colour in the room. The initial focus colour of the room was yellow, and the responses to what yellow reminded people of ranged from funny, touching, and thoughtful. There are the popular options like the sun, flowers, bees, paper, happiness, and summer. Then there are the ones like 'my Grandma's teeth', 'a colour I should wear more', and 'my mum's hugs', which are more personal.

When the room shifted into orange, the responses began to vary. Orange reminded people of Dutch football, Holland, oranges, lollies, traffic cones and high visibility vests, or that the word does not rhyme with anything.

Currently the prompt is ‘Red reminds me of…' What is interesting is of the three colours explored so far, red has prompted the most emotive responses. The ideas are abstract and intangible, less object or nature focused. The board is filled with words like: love, passion, blood, anger, life, fear, fury, equality and revenge. 

Red seems to encompass polarities of emotions for people. People linger at this space for long periods of time, reading other people's ideas, contributing their own, and reflecting on the connections between the responses. It is the part of the room where I have seen the most opportunity for bridging to manifest. 

The elements where people can share in the room have resulted in a space that is changing and evolving with each person who participates here. The Creative Learning Centre therefore feels constantly refreshed and revised, as Tiffany’s artwork and ideas are in conversation with the artwork and ideas of our visitors.  

Sharing creates a balance between the artist's voice, the visitors' voices, and the Gallery's voice. It is through the avenues where people can share, that the Creative Learning Centre exhibition space differs from a traditional exhibition and gallery context.

Schools Programmes - Engaging Teenagers with Art in a Gallery Context

Below is a blog I wrote almost a year ago, when our secondary programme was in its infancy. It developed out of a realisation that it was not just a case of pitching our existing programmes at a higher level, but actually writing something that was meaningful for students and their needs at that age. 

Making Sense of Art: What do you think? was born out of this inquiry, focus groups with secondary teachers, and a pilot version of the programme. It is a programme that consists of a debate (options are: 'This is relevant to today’s audience/this is not relevant to today’s audience' using historic works, 'This is art/this is not art' using contemporary NZ works, and 'This best represents NZ identity/this does not best show NZ identity') and a close analysis (which incorporates sketching, and descriptive language exercises. 

Hopefully this blog gives you a bit of insight into what goes into writing these programmes, and how we develop our practice to engage with new audiences! We are constantly evolving and developing this programme as we learn about this audience, and it has inspired our new programme For or Against: Debating Ideas and Concepts around Art.

How do I get them to talk to me?

For every group of students whose conversation is impossible to stop because all cylinders are firing with ideas, questions, problem solving and discussion; there is a group that can elude me. Where the metaphorical clock is ticking incredibly loudly and you are staring at the students, pulling out every trick in the book and being met with silence. Experiences like this got me wondering, how can I get these groups to talk? The problem was not the students, it was that I was unprepared on how to engage them, because they were not my usual audience. They were teenagers. The same old tricks just didn’t work for them.

What we offered these year 9-10s was a one-off Tour programme where we explore ways to talk about artwork, focusing on object, subject and context. I was anticipating the level of discussion and engagement I had experienced with younger children. I was wrong.

Aspects of the tour definitely worked, like:

• Independent looking around spaces of their choosing
• Historic artworks that had recognizable symbols, themes and techniques.
• They felt comfortable with works that had a clear narrative. 

What didn’t work was:

• Talking about artworks an an object (perhaps it was too obvious and felt like a trick question when I asked 'what do you notice?' or, 'what do you think the work is made of?') 
• Sharing with the whole group, and me (too much pressure)
• There seemed to be an underlying look they all had, which was ‘what has this got to do with me?’

If I’m really honest, in hindsight… probably not much of it had anything to do with them. Who can blame them for not wanting to talk about something they found irrelevant and disconnected from their daily lives? No one does.

However, I firmly and stubbornly believed that this age group could engage meaningfully with artwork. So what was I doing wrong?

After researching some tips and teaching strategies for teenagers (see below for links), I realized I had broken some cardinal rules.

1. This age group has very tight social spheres and is riddled with anxiety, and is therefore resistant to sharing with strangers (me).
2. Nina Simon says in her blog Museum 2.0, that you will have more success by creating opportunities for teens to share with their friends than by forcing them into uncomfortable situations. (Again, me, and a new environment)
3. It takes a lot of time to build a connection and rapport with this age group. They need to trust you. (They are only with me for an hour)
4. Topics they might ‘geek out’ on at home, they will not share with friends because fear of judgement. So even if they were really interested, peer approval trumps 'geeking out' in public.
5. Louanne Piccolo writes that they appreciate participating in decisions on what happens in a lesson, so they feel ownership of and commitment to the learning programme. Teenagers look for meaning and significance in their own lives in what they are taught, and teachers should capitalise on this and personalise their lesson with regards to what is happening in their lives.

So my entire lesson was a horribly awkward situation for them that was not personalised, current, quick paced or relevant. Based on my research, my new challenge was to create a fast-paced, fun, student-driven session that gave them independence to take control of what they were learning and why. And I had one hour to do it. And I was a complete stranger. Piece of cake!

Students taking part in our Secondary Pilot in 2013. We used what we learnt from our experiences with the students I talk about in this blog.

If they were anxious to voice their own opinions because of their growing fear of right and wrong, then I decided to give them opinions. If they didn’t want to talk to me, then I would get them to talk to each other and nominate a confident spokesperson. I would also flat out ask them what the gallery had to do with them, and try to personalise the gallery experience, bracing myself for whatever response.

When I finally got to put theory into practice, I was thrilled to see that I was on the right track. I incorporated half an hour of self-guided looking with their peers (no facilitation) to satisfy their growing desire for independence, and within the facilitated component the discussion and debates were student-driven. I took a back seat and talked much less.

The opinions I gave to them to debate in a contemporary space were 'this is art, this is not art'. Students had to pair up, choose an artwork, and argue both sides, coming up with three points as to why this was or was not a piece of art. In the Victorian art exhibition they argued, 'this is relevant, this is not relevant', where they argued the relevance of showing these artworks for today's visitors.

This approach gave them a safe space to voice opinions in a supportive environment where there was no right or wrong. It was informal, it was not a question-answer session. They got to take the reins on the direction of the lesson and the discussion. What I want to include next time is a close analysis to create a balance between broad looking across a range of works, and close looking at one artwork.

The revised programme felt like an opportunity for them to apply skills from their lives into a real world context. There was high level critical and creative thinking happening where they were making connections, synthesizing and evaluating their ideas and the ideas of their peers. They were justifying, debating, and seeing things from multiple perspectives. I can't wait to teach more with this age group. When you engage this age group meaningfully with art, it is a hugely satisfying and rewarding experience for everyone involved.

What is your experience teaching teenagers in a gallery or museum context?

Here are just a couple of useful sources I came across in my research:

Picolo, L. (2010). Teaching Teenagers: How to Motivate and Interest Them.

Simon, N ( July 2010). Teenagers and Social Participation.

Sale, J. (2011). Teenage Behaviour: Tips for Teachers.

The Creative Process: Create

Two posts down, two to go! After exploring and experimenting the space, it is important visitors to our Creative Learning Centre have a chance to create something of their own, actively participate and contribute to the room in a tangible way. The elements in the room that allow visitors to create their own work are where you can see how they interpret the artwork and the activities. I have seen the following things created in this space:

Image: David St George

 
 The pipe cleaners have mutated into

• a kiwi
• a cowboy
• a helicopter
• a tank
• the Sky Tower
• flowers
• glasses
• people
• birds
• bees
• a chair

Image: David St George

Pieces of blank paper have been transformed into:

• jars full of lollies
• eyeballs
• family names
• bees
• summer
• bubbles
• homes
• abstract compositions of bees with snazzy patterns and colours
 



Apart from the visible things created in this room, the element of the room I most enjoy is the conversations that this room creates amongst families and strangers. The experiences that are created here, and a feeling of accomplishment and contribution to the space. But more on that when we get to ‘share’...



A Gallery educator's perspective

As an educator here at the Gallery, I often find that concrete examples to explain my job are sometimes hard to come by. The schoolchildren arrive, we whisk them in for one-hour gallery and studio sessions, and then they are gone two hours later.

While I work with the artworks on the floor everyday and have a very visible presence, sometimes the conversation and thinking that goes on in the programme feels like an exclusive club that only me and the students share together. So through various blogs I am going to attempt to reveal the complexities of my team's role through case studies, and my own personal inquiries.  

I think that if visitors could hear what the children say sometimes, they would be desperate to be a part of this group! To illustrate this I want to share a teaching moment that stands out to me still after a year and a half.

We regularly teach with Walter Sadler’s Married and on this occasion, it was for our Storytelling Foundation programme. I start by asking the group: what do they notice? You get the standard responses, of course: a garden, a man and woman on a bench, it looks old, they look like they have had a fight.

From these responses we move to: how do they know that? We look at gesture, facial expression, costume, and how these characters are telling us a story through these visual clues. We pose, pretending we are the man reading our books, or the woman who looks vexed and about to leave, scattering her roses on the floor. They come up with ‘speech bubbles’ on what the characters might be thinking ‘I wish he would notice me’, ‘I wish she would talk to me’, and ‘wow this book is interesting!’ We predict what happened before and what might happen next. 

Walter Sadler, Married
oil on canvas, Mackelvie Trust Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki

I am trying to move their thinking from just what they see to an interpretation, through questioning, asking for evidence and justifications. All the dialogue and discussion start to bubble and brew into a conversation about this artwork which is guided by their prior knowledge and their own experiences.

I move on to the setting and ask: how does that add to the story of the characters we have discussed? They notice the seat that blocks everything, they notice the abandoned badminton racquet on the ground, and then one child comments that the garden in the background looks like a maze. One says ‘but they can’t get to it?’ 'Why not?’ I ask. Pause. A bit more silence. ‘It's like they cannot find their way to each other's hearts’.

That insight by a boy of about eight years old rounded up the most insightful conversation I have had with anyone (not just children) in front of that work, or perhaps any work. Then the moment is gone, we line up to go outside, and they are off back to school. Moreover, just like the end of most of my sessions, I walk away wondering who learnt more: me or them.

The Creative Process: Experiment

Following on from my previous Creative Learning Centre post looking at exploring the space, this post looks at the ways people can be experimental in the room. After our keen explorers have had their curiosity piqued, they have opportunities to try things out and find out what happens when you test things in different ways.

Experiment with pipe cleaners and create a sculpture

The activities offer a chance to experiment with materials, with different ways of creating a piece of art. For the tiniest visitors it can be as simple as experimenting how to hold a crayon a different way – how their drawing changes when they hold the crayon on its side. What happens if I apply more pressure or arrange that in this way? How does that change my drawing? On the other hand, trying out what happens when you mix yellow with blue, or blue with red results in delighted squeaks and giggles as they put on glasses with coloured lenses.

Experiment with colour and the different things it can remind us of and represent.

Besides materials and art-making, visitors also experiment with new ideas in the Creative Learning Centre. Perhaps something in the space has changed their perspective on how they saw art, how they saw the Gallery, or their own creative abilities. The possibilities to experiment are seemingly endless and open, there is no ‘right or wrong’ way to do something in the space, its all about giving something a go and enjoying the process.

Experiment with crayons or pencils. Watch your composition magically appear.

We want this space to not only make people curious, but to give opportunities for that curiosity to turn into participation. To give people motivators to engage with the creative process, the artist's work, and their own ideas.