AGA Art Classes and ArtBreak Camps are offered throughout the year and provide students the opportunity to engage with the art at the AGA through hands-on, brains-on art projects! Art Classes and Camps are led by professional artists and art educators. These classes provide an opportunity for students to experiment, take chances and participate in an open dialogue about art in a fun and low-pressure environment.
Registered studio classes for kids aged 3-12 and youth aged 13+
Session 1: January 21-February 25
Session 2: March 10-April 14
This season discover northern places, make connections between art and music and explore photography and video in Saturday Art Classes for Kids and Youth!
Winter classes include:
Session 1: January 21-February 25, 2012
Family Studio: Light, Colour, Action!
Saturdays, 10-11:30 am
Students aged 3-5 years
$90 (includes one grown-up family member)/$81 AGA Members
Register online >
Everything is illuminated in this exploratory studio! Discover how artists from the past and present use light in drawing, painting, sculpture and photography. Draw inspiration from French impressionists, early photography and contemporary video installations to create your own works of art in this fun-filled class.
Monet and More!
Saturdays, 10-11:30 am
Students aged 6-8 years
$90/$81 AGA Members
Register online >
Travel back to the 19th century to discover the art of Monet, Courbet, Renoir and more! Work with a variety of media including charcoal, acrylic paints and clay to investigate light, colour and form. Each class features a different artist and includes in-gallery sketching, time for experimentation and project creation!
Comic Creations
Saturdays, 10-11:30 am
Students aged 9-11 years
$90/$81 AGA Members
Register online >
Fine art goes graphic in this fun drawing class! Get inspired by current gallery exhibitions before creating your own comic creations in 2 and 3 dimensions. Work with storyboarding, illustration techniques and character development in order to create your own series of comic-inspired works of art. This class features visits from guest cartoonists and illustrators!
Imaginary Universes
Saturdays, 1-2:30 pm
Students aged 6-8 years
$90/$81 AGA Members
Register online >
Explore the imaginary universes found throughout the gallery through games, stories and more! Learn how artists tell stories with drawing, painting, sculpture and photography projects. Draw dramatic worlds, paint picturesque landscapes, and sculpt spaces out of this world in this active class! Work throughout the duration of the session to develop your own imaginary universe that will be shown in the TD Education Gallery in February!
Investigate Impressionism
Saturdays, 1-2:30 pm
Students aged 9-12 years
$90/$81 AGA Members
Register online >
Get ready to impress! Discover the work of Monet, Renoir and more in this exploratory painting class. Work in watercolour, tempera, and acrylic paint to explore light and colour. Practice color mixing, learn a variety of painting techniques and get inspired by current exhibitions to create your own series of paintings!
Session 2: March 10-April 14, 2012
Family Studio: Art ISMS!
Saturdays, 10-11:30 am
Students aged 3-5 years
$90 (includes one grown-up family member)/$81 AGA Members
Register online >
Dadism, Surrealism, Cubism and more! This class explores a new ‘ISM’ each week through stories, gallery visits, games and a variety of fun art projects. Build abstract cubist sculptures, create surreal ink paintings, and construct dada-inspired collages in this hands-on, brains-on class for little ones and their grown-ups!
A Day in the Life…
Saturdays, 10-11:30 am
Students aged 6-8 years
Register online >
Explore the worlds of Picasso, Dali, Duchamp and more in this exciting art class! Each week features a new artist and a new art project. Learn about the life and art of several artists through stories, gallery sketching and a variety of hands-on projects. Create portraits in the style of Picasso, assemble found objects like Duchamp, and collage surreal compositions like Dali!
Techno-Folly!
Saturdays, 10-11:30 am
Students aged 9-12 years
Register online >
What is the role of technology in art? How has this role changed throughout time? Explore the art of technology and the technology of art in this interdisciplinary class. Explore gallery exhibitions to get inspired and work in a variety of media including drawing, painting, photography and video to create your own art inspired by changing technologies. This class features a special visits from several guest instructors to explore different types of technologies.
Abstract Adventures
Saturdays, 1-2:30 pm
Students aged 6-8 years
Register online >
Ready, set, abstract! Adventure into the world of abstraction with Gallery visits, sculpture projects, painting investigations and mixed-media assemblages in this experimental studio class. Work in paint, print-making and collage to discover concepts of colour, form and positive/negative space.
Abstraction: Then & Now
Saturdays, 1-2:30 pm
Students aged 9-12 years
Register online >
How has the art of abstraction changed over time? Explore the art of early modernist artists such as Picasso and Mondrian and contemporary artists such as Chris Millar to explore how artists abstract and appropriate.
Full Week ArtBreak Camps
ArtBreak Camps make specific connections between current Gallery exhibitions, art in the community and studio art-making. Students take the lead in these exploratory programs to discover the world around them through art activities, exercises and projects related to specific themes. Focusing on student interactions and personal experiences, these camps create bridges between art, ideas and the community as a whole.
Full Week ArtBreaks are offered for students aged 6-8 and 9-12
Spring ArtBreak 2012: Avant-Garde Adventure
Monday-Friday, 9 am-4 pm
March 26-30, 2012
$260 / $234 AGA Members
En-guard, it’s the avant-garde! How do artists work to break away from the past and explore new futures? This ArtBreak camp explores art at the edge. from the past and present. Through a variety of projects, learners will investigate how artists use new ideas and technologies to push against the past and project into the future. Drawing inspiration from current gallery exhibitions including Icons of Modernism, featuring works by Picasso, Dali and Duchamp, students will play with ideas and experiment with media to create a portfolio of their own art works. Projects include abstract painting and print-making, sculptural explorations in cubism, Surrealist art games, kinetic sculpture, stop-motion animation and a visit from a guest artist who will work with the learners to create art machines!
Register online now:
Full Week: Spaces and Places (6-8 yrs) >
Full Week: Spaces and Places (9-12 yrs) >
For more information on ArtBreak camp projects or details please contact the Education Programs Manager at Jessie.beier@youraga.ca
One-Day ArtBreaks
Can’t stay the whole week? Drop in for a fun-filled day of art at the AGA! One Day Camps focus on different themes daily and include a variety of fun art projects to explore in the gallery, in the studio and outside!
One-Day ArtBreaks are offered for students aged 6-10
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9am-4pm
January 3 & 5, 2012
$64 / $57.60 AGA Members
Tuesday: A Day in the Life of… Picasso and Picabia
Register online >
This fun-filled One Day class focuses on the art of Pablo Picasso and Francis Picabia! Leaners investigate the work of these artist through storytelling, Gallery visits and several creative art projects. Learners will play with space and combine abstract forms to create cubist collage and sculpture before creating their own Dada-inspired video creation!
Thursday: A Day in the life of… Dali and Duchamp
Register online >
Salvador Dali and Marcel Duchamp are the focus of this One Dat art exploration. Through stories, Gallery visits and a variety of studio art projects. learners will investigate the art and life of these two iconic artists. Learners will play with image and text to create Dada-inspired text collage, investigate surrealism through fun art games, create dream-like landscapes in watercolor and ink, and combine materials to create sculptural assemblages!
AGA Birthday Parties!
The Art Gallery of Alberta offers birthday parties for children aged 4 years and up. Party bookings are available on weekends and include a gallery exploration, exciting studio project and time for birthday fun in the Singhmar Centre for Art Education!
Program Cost
$150 / $135 AGA Members (plus GST)
Program cost includes a group of up to 15 children and four supervising adults
$9/person thereafter
This two hour program includes:
- A Gallery Educator to lead your program
- A 20-30 Minutes Gallery tour of exhibitions connected to your studio project
- A studio art project to take home (see below for project options)
- Time for birthday festivities (Gifts, snacks, cake, etc…)
- Full use of a studio space for 2 hours
- Access to a fridge and limited storage space
The AGA does not provide catering services but parties are welcome to bring their own refreshments. Up to four supervising adults are free with your program cost (but expected to supervise!)
Is 2 hours just not enough time? The studio space can be rented for an additional $50/hour. Your Gallery Educator will remain with your group to assist you for this time.
Project Options
Choose from one of the options below for your Birthday Party program.
1. Play on Architecture
Ages 4+
Explore the architecture of the AGA from the inside out with storytelling, gallery activities and building exercises! In the studio, create a 3-D architectural sculpture from wood blocks and then paint your creation.
2. Painted Places
Ages 6+
Investigate spaces and place throughout the Gallery with searching and sketching activities. In the studio, work with oil pastels, coloured inks and watercolour paints to create a painted place of your own.
3. Colour Party!
Ongoing
Ages 4+
Play with painting and music in this project! Explore the Gallery to find out how artists use colour to create moods, then experiment with colour mixing to create your own abstract painting while listening to different moods in music. All the paintings together will create a colourful mural!
Program Booking
To book a birthday party, please fill out the online booking form. Any cancellations or changes to your booking(s) must be made within one week of your party booking. Failure to do so will result in a $35 cancellation fee.
