tours
School Aged Programs
We offer a range of opportunities for visiting students…and we are growing quickly!
- Full Day Arts Infused Education Workshops for elementary students to learn core curriculum through the arts. This program is offered twice a year, with 10 classes booked through the Durham District School Board for each program.
- Half Day "A is for Art: Curriculum Connections" visits for all school age students, linking learning to arts curriculum for their grade level.
- College student workshops with talks by exhibiting artists
Curious?
Contact Station Gallery Education Coordinator, Deborah Nolan or call 905.668.4185.
A is for Art: Curriculum Connections
A is for Art: Curriculum Connections, is a unique opportunity for students to explore their Arts Curriculum and learn more about contemporary Canadian Artists.
Our half day A is for Art: Curriculum Connections tour will engage students through interactive exercises that will promote critical thinking and hands on learning in a creative and new environment.
While at Station Gallery students will view artworks from our Permanent Collection and talk about contemporary work by artists like JC Heywood, Rita Letendre and Kittie Bruneau. Works by these artists have been chosen to introduce students to the Elements and Principles of Design and focus will be on colour, line and shape based on the new Ontario Arts Curriculum. Visiting students will also complete their own series of prints in our studios.
We currently offer a limited number of sessions on Friday's from 9:15am – 11:30am for JK – Grade 3 students (some flexibility on arrival and departure times).
Curious?
Contact Education Coordinator, Deborah Nolan or 905.668.4185.
More on Arts Infused Education...
What is arts infused education?
Arts Infused Education is a method of learning school based curriculum, (i.e.: science, math, geography) through an arts experience. Our programs enhance academic studies and allow students to develop multidisciplinary skills in a new setting. It’s an approach that engages students in not only learning about art - but learning through art.
Our approach is built on an inquiry based methodology that allows education staff and educators to adapt our teaching to students’ observations, questions and personal interests. A student-centered approach means that we build on student curiosity and inherent creativity. It means that students are more motivated and engaged because they relate to content in a way that is meaningful for them.
How did our arts infused education program begin?
Station Gallery's Arts Infused Education Program (AIEP) grew from our artistic vision that supports a welcoming atmosphere of insight and understanding, fostering audience appreciation and understanding of contemporary Canadian art in dynamic and innovative ways.
Education staff created the program to explore and engage the powerful connection between curatorial and education initiatives. We’ve guided over 2,000 Durham Region students through a full day of hands on art-making and curriculum linked activities since the programs start in 2007.
This education program at Station Gallery has supported by the Ontario Trillium Foundation and is implemented in partnership with the Durham District School Board.
What we have learned...
We have learned that all young people are inherently creative.
We observe students asking challenging questions in our exhibition space and are always amazed as a hush descends on the class at they begin to work on the hands-on project in the studios. Learning about art and making art offers a range of teaching strategies that meet the need of a diverse and wider range of learners.
Why is this program important?
It sets the stage to create an inspiring and challenging setting for learners by:
- Connecting people and ideas through the shared arts experience-inspiring communication, collaboration and partnerships among artists, educators, students, arts institutions and the community at large.
- Engaging learners through questioning and prompting to think about an issue, to generate critical thinking as learners are challenged to think about new ideas and concepts.
- Providing an environment to build mutually respectful relationships among artists, teachers, Station Gallery staff and students.
- Providing an opportunity to feel and experience success that motivates students to continue learning.
Samples of Arts Infused Education Projects...
Arts Infused Education: A Past Again: Todd Tremeer
January – February 2009
An expedition of historic proportions! Two hundred and fifty grade 8 students took an unconventional journey combining history and visual arts. Motivated and engaged through a playful look at Canadian History, illustrations, toy soldiers, and artwork created by emerging artist Todd Tremeer – students discussed, debated and created a series of prints in Station Gallery studios.
A Past Again was an arts infused education project that linked professional artist Todd Tremeer and his exhibition: A Past Again, with 250 Durham District School Board (DDSB) and Trafalgar Private School students and teachers, through eleven day long workshops that explored History curriculum through hands-on activities and printmaking.
Click here for project details.
Arts Infused Education: Make Your Mark - Mapping the Future for Tantramar Gothic: New Work by Dan Steeves
September – October 2008
“We need to protect our marsh land, the environment is our responsibility and we won’t surrender this property”, says a passionate student, surrounded by his entire Grade 7 class. “But a Shopping Mall will bring jobs to your community and support new growth”, rebuttals another student – raising her voice to be heard among the buzzing of their classmates…
The Gallery erupts again with excited young voices, as each group discusses the importance of land, overlooking a large scale, geographical map. Is it high level land-use negotiations and conflict resolution or students linking artwork to Geography?
We think it is a bit of both.
The objective of these 10 full day arts infused education tours for grade 7 students was to engage students to respond to art work created by New Brunswick based printmaker Dan Steeves, in an exhibition that depicted the geographic, social and cultural environments that comprise the Tantramar Marsh region of Nova Scotia – where the preservation of the Marsh’s disappearing history has become a matter of urgency.
Our goal was to engage student thinking about the connections to the costal marshes, wetlands and lagoons along the north shore of Lake Ontario by the town of Whitby.
Click here for project details.
Arts Infused Education: Science in Motion.
June 2008
Students, teachers… start your engines! Get set for an adrenaline injected thrill ride combining science, visual arts and inspirational power. Students will experience an art exhibition that is everything automotive and packaged as sleek, glossy, decaled motorized sculptures. Titled Steven Laurie: Art of the Motor, this art exhibition and unique science adventure will lead students towards the finish line of a new approach to learning.
Click here for project details.
Arts Infused Education: Art Exhibition: Process[ed]
September 2007 – June 2008
The Durham District School Board and Station Gallery present an Arts Infused Education Project: Process[ed].
Exhibited works were created by students in conjunction with the gallery’s Arts Infused Education partnership with the Durham District School Board: ArtsSmarts program. The exhibition was a culmination of four months of in school projects that linked learning through the arts to core curriculum subjects.
Four schools participated in 5 arts infused projects with link to curriculum in: Properties of Light Through Visual Arts; Canadian History Through Mixed Media Collage; The Metaphysical Self Through Photography; Expressive Writing Through Visual Art and Cross-Curricular Through Ceramic Sculpture.
In addition, 10 professional artists were funded through opportunities to teach and lead workshops in arts infused education; 27 students performed at our opening exhibition on their musical instruments they created out of clay with potter Barb Kimball and teacher Kathy Beatty during their arts infused classroom project; and we ran a Creativity Day workshop that used drumming and mixed media workshops to reach over 60 educators and provide ideas on how to use the arts in teaching.
This project was generously funded by the Ontario Arts Foundation.
Arts Infused Education Project: The Mud People
March – April 2008
It had a simple beginning, to create an arts infused education project in the Durham area to link to a core curriculum subject.
The ending was anything but simple as over 70 people gathered to watch the culmination of hundreds of hours of work, as 27 students from Pierre Elliott Trudeau Public School played at the opening reception of process(ed) at Station Gallery on musical instruments they had created out of clay. Their stage name, the Mud People.
**Winner of the 2009 Ontario Association of Art Galleries Educator Award.**
Click here to view the live student performance.
Arts Infused Education: Making Your Mark: Mapping the Future
February – April 2008
Students and teachers, get ready to protect your land and the environment in this dynamic workshop that will have you mapping out your future community.
With a starting point of vibrant abstract paintings and mixed media work depicting landscapes from an airplane, students will end up in high level negotiations overlooking a large scale, geographical map.
Station Gallery, in partnership with the Durham District School Board offers this unique opportunity that is linked to Gallery exhibition The Sublunary: Jill Boschulte and Janet Read. Ten classes of Grade 7 students will enhance their learning of Geography curriculum through a variety of hands on activities, like the negotiations of the land/property game described above in addition to a hands on art-making project in our studios.
Click here for more information on this project.
Curious?
Contact Station Gallery Education Coordinator Deborah Nolan, or call 905.668.4185.