Grade 4 to 8 Programs

Designed to reflect curriculum expectations, these programs encourage the development of students’ abilities to comprehend, negotiate, and derive meaning from visual information contained in works of art.

Fee: $8 per student with the required two-hour booking, $6 per student with a three-hour booking

Through close observation, interactive activities and focused discussions, students develop their understanding of the principles of design and the various ways that artists use visual language to communicate emotions and ideas.

Using the McMichael’s rich and diverse art holdings, students explore art as an expression of personal experience and examine various cultural narratives of the past and present. Stories of resiliency, pride, identity, and connection encourage students to reflect on their own experiences, personal gifts, and community, contributing to a sense of belonging and reconciliation.

Taking advantage of the spectacular gallery grounds adjacent to the Humber River Valley, also known as the Carrying Place Trail, these outdoor programs nurture connections to nature and promote environmental stewardship.

Fee: $8 per student with the required two-hour booking, $6 per student with a three-hour booking

Enjoy the McMichael’s natural setting in a one-of-a-kind outdoor learning experience. Visit historic landmarks such as the Humber River, Sculpture Garden and MinoKamik Garden, explore the biodiverse greenspace and discover a wide range of outdoor art. Students will learn about the human impact on a changing landscape as they explore the Humber River Valley.

Art-in-Action Workshops offer students an opportunity to discuss artistic concepts and respond creatively with artmaking.

Fee: $16 per student or $12 per student when booked with additional programs

Workshops are divided as follows:

	In-Gallery
	In-Gallery / Outdoor
	Outdoor

Students will investigate the colour connections between vibrant works from the McMichael collection. The activities will build an understanding of colour relationships such as complimentary, monochromatic, and analogous colours, with an emphasis on the use of colour for expressive purposes. The workshop includes a watercolour pencil crayon artmaking activity inspired by colour theory.

Through guided viewing, students explore drawings, preparatory sketches and other works of art from the McMichael collection and learn about drawing as a foundational tool in making art and as a stand-alone medium. The program includes an in-gallery drawing workshop in which students use artist-grade pencils. Students are given a hands-on introduction to composition, the value scale, and various shading techniques concluding with a show-and-share of student work.

Drawing on the works of poets and writers featured in the McMichael collection, including Group of Seven artist J.E.H. MacDonald and his contemporary Emily Carr, students engage in a fun-filled creative writing workshop. Through hands-on and group activities, students explore visual storytelling and discover how artists express themselves using the elements and principles of art. After making meaningful connections to the artwork around them, students transform their thoughts and ideas into a final piece of poetry inspired by their time in the gallery.

Starting with an introduction to the landscape genre thought paintings on view at the McMichael, students have an opportunity to see and discuss various approaches to landscape before focusing on the en-plein air practice popularized in Canada by the Group of Seven. The program concludes with an outdoor watercolour pencil crayon workshop that introduces the compositional concepts of vantage point, foreground, middle ground and background, and discuss the relationship between light and colour.

Weather sensitive program! Please dress appropriately depending on the season.

Developed in collaboration with local Indigenous community elders, traditional teachers and environmental leaders, this outdoor program explores the human footprint on the environment through the lenses of both traditional Indigenous knowledge and scientific inquiry. The program is centred around Indigenous plants and their medicinal and nutritional properties, as well as discussions about the importance of environmental responsibility. The program culminates in a field-sketching art activity.

Weather sensitive program! Please dress appropriately depending on the season.

*Not available from November 1 to April 30

Each McMichael Signature Studio is a two-hour, process-oriented workshop led by professional art instructors and developed in collaboration with established Canadian artists. The programs are designed to foster creativity, develop manual skills, and to position the artistic process as a tool for personal and collective expression.

Fee: $16 per student or $12 per student when booked with additional programs

Starting with a close look at nature and discussion of various cultural concepts of landscape, this watercolour painting studio incorporates contemporary approaches to the genre emphasizing individual reaction and emotional connection to the land. Students start from an initial compositional study and move to a final painting, exploring colour gradation and space and learning about painting perspective, identifying a focal point, and working with a palette inspired by nature.

This studio was developed in collaboration with Don Chretien, an Ojibwe artist, designer and educator who is inspired by the natural world and the visual storytelling style of Norval Morrisseau and the Anishinaabe School of Painters. Throughout the program, students are encouraged to look at the natural world through works of art, images, and real objects from nature, and creatively respond using a variety of materials and techniques. The studio culminates with a mixed media piece of art reflective of their personal relationship to the environment and the many stories within it.

Developed in collaboration with Haida artist and author Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, this studio explores the aesthetic and narrative function of the Haida formline in combination with popular manga cartooning techniques. Using a conceptual frame designed by Yahgulanaas specifically for this project and inspired by the artist’s creative process, students work with watercolour crayons and sharpies to creatively respond to an important moment in their own lives and add their story to this collective storytelling project.

Each day, global warming pushes our world closer to climate disaster. Creativity and innovation have become necessary to finding a solution to climate change, and inspiring others to change our behaviors and attitudes when it comes to human-inflicted environmental damage. This mixed media Signature Studio, developed in collaboration with contemporary artist Rajni Perera, celebrates cultural hybridity and inclusivity and encourages students to collaborate with their peers, using their creativity to find solutions to the environmental crisis and envision a brighter future.

Discover the art of Canada while saving on busing costs! Book an Art2Go program and McMichael instructors will bring their expertise right to your classroom! Please note that each studio program is preceded by a digital presentation introducing the McMichael.

Fee: $18 per student

Starting with a close look at nature and discussion of various cultural concepts of landscape, this watercolour painting studio incorporates contemporary approaches to the genre emphasizing individual reaction and emotional connection to the land. Students start from an initial compositional study and move to a final painting, exploring colour gradation and space and learning about painting perspective, identifying a focal point, and working with a palette inspired by nature.

This studio was developed in collaboration with Don Chretien, an Ojibwe artist, designer and educator who is inspired by the natural world and the visual storytelling style of Norval Morrisseau and the Anishinaabe School of Painters. Throughout the program, students are encouraged to look at the natural world through works of art, images, and real objects from nature, and creatively respond using a variety of materials and techniques. The studio culminates with a mixed media piece of art reflective of their personal relationship to the environment and the many stories within it.

Developed in collaboration with Haida artist and author Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, this studio explores the aesthetic and narrative function of the Haida formline in combination with popular manga cartooning techniques. Using a conceptual frame designed by Yahgulanaas specifically for this project and inspired by the artist’s creative process, students work with watercolour crayons and sharpies to creatively respond to an important moment in their own lives and add their story to this collective storytelling project.

Each day, global warming pushes our world closer to climate disaster. Creativity and innovation have become necessary to finding a solution to climate change, and inspiring others to change our behaviors and attitudes when it comes to human-inflicted environmental damage. This mixed media Signature Studio, developed in collaboration with contemporary artist Rajni Perera, celebrates cultural hybridity and inclusivity and encourages students to collaborate with their peers, using their creativity to find solutions to the environmental crisis and envision a brighter future.

These highly interactive virtual programs guide students through the process of looking at, analyzing and interpreting artworks featured in the Gallery’s permanent collection while learning about different styles of art and how they are created.

Fee: $10 per student

Explore some of the Group of Seven and Tom Thomson’s most iconic paintings from the McMichael’s collection during this interactive program. Students are introduced to the distinctive styles of each member of the Group and learn about how the Group and Thomson’s legacies continue to inspire artists more than 100 years later.

Explore the artwork of Norval Morrisseau and other artists working in the style of the Anishinaabe School of Painting during this interactive program. Discover how Morrisseau employs the elements and principles of design and how his iconic style influenced other artists such as Carl Ray and Blake Debassige.