Artist-Led Projects

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Artist-Led Projects
Available both virtually and in-class for grades K-12, we deliver this unique program over three weeks of sessions connecting to your classroom with big ideas and dynamic learning opportunities.
Artist-Led Projects offer a spectrum of dynamic arts-based workshops taught by talented local Artist Educators delivered to make core curriculum subjects more engaging, meaningful, and fun. These projects unfold over three sessions and can connect literacy, math, environmental issues, mental health, social justice issues, and more, with creative approaches through visual art, music, theatre, rap/spoken word, film and photography.
Based on your chosen project option, each series is customized to meet your specific curriculum goals. Students will be inspired to collaborate, think critically, problem solve, and communicate their ideas through various creative mediums.
VIRTUAL PROJECTS
Virtual Project Information
Each Virtual Artist-Led Project features the following:
Orientation Meeting
Meet with the Artist Educator and/or Program Manager to assess goals, develop a project outline, and determine the schedule.
Welcome Video
An introduction to the Art Gallery of Hamilton, the program, and a land acknowledgement.
Artist Introduction Video
The Artist Educator describes the project, their arts practice, and the materials needed to complete the work.
Three Pre-Recorded Workshops
Introductions to the skills needed to create the project, followed by extensive research activities and incentives.
Three Live Sessions
Hosted by the Artist Educator, these live sessions follow each of the above Workshop sessions.
Virtual Project Themes
Consider the following themes for your next Artist-Led Project:
Characters, Conflict, and the Art of Communication
Who am I, what’s my motivation, what’s the problem, and how do I solve it? All will be answered with actor & writer Melissa Murray Mutch. Through improvisation, character development, and scene work, students will explore conflict, learn the importance of listening, and practice empathy – skills that will help them to better understand themselves, each other, and their community.
Curriculum: Language, Drama, Social Studies, Social Justice
Grades 3-10
Character Education through Drama
Performance artist and therapeutic clown Jody Boston uses Yangsoo Choi’s book, The Name Jar, as inspiration to guide students through creative movement, choral speaking, and poetry writing as an expression of personal values.
Curriculum: Drama, Language, Poetry, Social Studies
Grades: 3-6
Documentary Filmmaking
Students will be guided through the process of creating mini documentaries on a chosen theme and will explore the basics involved in creating short photography-based films. Filmmaker and visual artist Vanessa Crosbie Ramsay will lead students on a creative journey exploring storytelling through imagery, inviting students to document their own experiences and community.
Curriculum: Language, Geography, Science, Social Studies, Social Justice
Grades: 5-10
Drawing Me, Drawing My Stuff, Drawing My Space
Inspired by the AGH Collection, visual artist Cornelia Peckart will inspire students to create artworks of familiar objects and spaces, building a visual diary of a specific time and place in their lives, utilizing personal objects found around the house.
Curriculum: Visual Art, Math, Environmental Issues, Social Justice
Grades: 3-10
Going Graphic
Students will explore the key elements of storytelling, character development, and drawing with visual artist Cornelia Peckart, who will guide them through composing their own comic strips inspired by a range of texts, from knock-knock jokes to news articles.
Curriculum: Visual Art, Language, Social Justice, Social Studies
Grades: 4-10
Imagine, Laugh, and Play through Drama – Synchronous Only
Performance artist and therapeutic clown Jody Boston takes students on a theatrical journey through movement, character exploration, storytelling, and theatre games inspiring students to explore, laugh, connect, and stretch their imaginations.
Curriculum: Language, Drama, Social Studies
Grades: K-3
Mini Zines and Dada Collage
Theatre artist, director, and designer Kelly Wolf explores Dada Collage and Zine Making using various materials, elements, and principals of design, leading students to create their own work combining imagination, language, and visual expression. Also available in French.
Curriculum: Visual Art, Language, Mixed Media, Social Justice
Grades: 3-10
Pop-Up Puppet Play
Acclaimed Hamilton musician Treasa Levasseur explores ways to make and give expressive life to puppets from ordinary household objects while
exploring point of view, role, character, and relationship through voice work, written, and improvised dialogue. Also available in French.
Curriculum: Language, Drama, Social Studies
Grades: K-5
Rap & Poetry
Hamilton musician Liam Tyndall (aka LT the Monk) teaches the various components of Rap and Poetry, using elements of rhyme scheme, wordplay, metaphor, and simile to guide students to write and perform a full verse or song of their own. Also available in French.
Curriculum: Language/Poetry
Grades: 5-10
Visual Communication through Photography
Filmmaker and visual artist Vanessa Crosbie Ramsay will inspire students to explore storytelling through creating photographic slideshows that include images, text, and music. Students will learn the basics of photography while exploring how language is interpreted and meaning is communicated through visual representations.
Curriculum: Visual Art, Language, Social Justice, Social Studies
Grades: 4-10
Water Colour Exploration
Visual artist Nancy Benoy inspires students to express themselves using watercolour (or any paints on hand), inspired by poetry, short stories, and works from the AGH Collection, while gaining an understanding of the role emotions play in artmaking.
Curriculum: Language, Visual Art, Health
Grades: K-10
Book Your Virtual Project
Book your virtual project
For more information about Artist-Led Projects, contact Educational Outreach Manager Sara Dickinson at sdickinson@artgalleryofhamilton.com.
Virtual Artist-Led Project: $950
IN-CLASS PROJECTS
In-Class Project Info
As we continue to monitor the evolving public health situation, our top priority remains the health and safety of AGH visitors, staff, and volunteers. As advised by local health officials, the provincial government, and our Board of Directors, the Gallery is closed until further notice, meaning all Gallery Visits are currently on pause.
As a result of our temporary closure, we are currently suspending in-class projects. Stay tuned upon our reopening for more information.
From the Contemporary Art Collection

Lucky, Lucky, Lucky 2010
Tim Whiten (Canadian b. 1941)
laminated and sculpted glass, Gift of the artist, 2015
© Courtesy Tim Whiten