Celebrating our Animal Friends
Inspired by the work of the artist Bill Burns, this Family Sunday looks how animals help us in our daily lives, how climate change and industrialization puts them at risk and how we can help the animal kingdom adapt and thrive in our changing world. Explore the gallery collections to discover stories of human and animal kinship and use your imagination to create helpful devices that could be used by our furry and feathered friends.
Art Activities and Workshops
Drop-in Family Art Workshop: Safety Gears for Small Animals
Time: 11 am to 4 pm
Location: Pine Cottage
All Ages
Inspired by Bill Burns’ project, activate your imagination to construct simple devices that will help animal adapt to our changing planet. Start with a sketch then try bringing it to life with cloth, plasticine or paper using your sense of humour as well as creativity.
Storytelling Circle: Bill Burns’ Story
Time: 11:15 am, 12:15 pm and 1:15 pm
Location: Starting in the Grand Hall
All Ages
Discover the story of artist Bill Burns who has devoted his career to bringing to our attention to the plight of animals in the context of climate change by creating animal-sized devices that are both serious and whimsical.
Outdoor Tour
Time: 12:30 to 1:30 pm, and 2 to 3 pm
Location: Starting in the Grand Hall
All Ages
Sunday,
October 15, 2023
Art activities and workshops from 11 am to 4 pm
Performance by Bill Burns
from 1 to 3 pm
Special Family Sunday Kids Menu and Grab and Go options available at Cabin.
FREE ADMISSION on Family Sundays
Please note that parking fees ($7) are still in effect
Spotlight Tour: Outdoors at the McMichael
Time: 12:30 to 1:30 pm and 2 pm to 3 pm
Location: Starting in the Grand Hall
All Ages
On this outdoor tour, enjoy a walk through the grounds, learn about the McMichael’s outdoor art and sculptures and discover the many plants and animals that call the Humber River Valley home. Visit the historic Tom Thomson Shack and Artists’ Cemetery, then participate in a discussion of how we can all be better stewards of the land.
Performances
The Salt, the Milk, the Goats, the Honey and the Brass Band at the McMichael
Time: 1 to 3 pm
Location: Tom Thomson Shack & The Courtyard
All Ages
In 2017, Bill Burns embarked on a series of happenings with donkeys, goats and honeybees in places such as high in the Swiss Alps, in far-flung Patagonia and beyond. The McMichael’s event will be one of his most ambitious projects to date and will bring several parts of the project to Canada for the first time. There will be milk, there will be honey, there will be goats and there will be salt. And yes, there will be a brass band. A word to the wise do not try this at home!
1 PM Entrance of animals with Brass Band
1:30 PM Honey Spinning & Goat Milking
2:30 PM Parade
