Engaging Art
Opening night of Montages: The Full Cut 1999-2015 installed at Wanneroo Library and Cultural Centre.
Engaging Art
Gary Hillberg leads students of Girrawheen SHS through his workshop. Picture: Will Russell (communitypix.com.au)
As part of Engaging Art, our two year initiative to help galleries grow audiences for the contemporary visual arts, we are pleased to release two new resources – How to promote an upcoming exhibition and How to engage with young people. These are the first in a suite of engagement tools that will be released to help galleries and museums to better engage with their audiences.
Developed in consultation with gallery and museum staff, these resources provide clear step-by-step instructions, useful examples and further reading on how to successfully promote your exhibitions and ideas for developing engagement programs for young people. They are available to download for free.
Engaging Art has also recently delivered the first of four pilot programs for audience engagement in association with our touring exhibition program. Wanneroo Library and Cultural Centre in WA developed a new workshop program to coincide with the exhibition Montages: The Full Cut 1999-2015 (featuring works by internationally renowned artist Tracey Moffatt and her long-term collaborator Gary Hillberg). Free workshops were offered to local high school groups where participants learnt film making techniques with Gary Hillberg and local Martu filmmaker Curtis Taylor, then creating their own short montage films using smart phones/devices. The student’s completed films will be screened in the gallery.
“This is the kind of exhibition that both inspires and validates students with creative interests and pursuits. My students were very engaged and inspired by the day and really appreciated getting to hear from Gary himself’ Steve McLeod, Head of Media Studies, St Mary’s Anglican Girls School.
Students reported a deeper understanding of art and differing art forms, developing new skills and a sense of confidence, pride, self-efficacy, esteem and insight into their own potential. The gallery also reported positive engagement outcomes from those who hadn’t visited a gallery before in that they felt more comfortable in the space and are more likely to visit again.
Read more about the Engaging Art initiative here and stay tuned for more Engaging Art resources and programs to come.
