Art Gallery of Nova Scotia - Children's Festival

ART ECO - Reuse, Recycle, RE-CREATEAnnual AGNS Children’s Festival This Weekend!

HALIFAX - November 12, 2009 - The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia is hosting its annual Children’s Festival this weekend at both the Halifax and Yarmouth locations. The Halifax event takes place at the Gallery, 1723 Hollis Street, on Sunday, November 15 from 10 AM to 5 PM. The AGNS West Branch location at 341 Main Street in Yarmouth, will be hosting events on both Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

The annual AGNS Children's Festival is a creative opportunity for all ages to play, inspired by the visual arts and music!

Please drop-in for a day full of imagination, discovery, and good times.

There will be lots of hands-on art activities with local artists. Silkscreen with natural materials; create a clay sculpture; contribute to the large folk art green city 3-D mural; and more! There are special eco-friendly activities for little ones in our Young Learners Studio too! Join in on a child-friendly tour, enjoy a variety of inspiring exhibitions, and hear some music! The following activities will be taking place throughout the day on Sunday, November 15th, some as continuous workshops, others with multiple sessions or performances.

Figure Making DemonstrationGraeme Patterson, the shortlisted artist representing the Atlantic Region with the 2009 Sobey Art Award, will be making figures as related to his piece, Grudge Match, currently featured at the AGNS in the Sobey Art Award exhibition. Graeme uses found materials in this demonstration. This is an opportunity to watch the artist at work and be inspired to create using similar materials at the contemporary sculpture making activity nearby in the Gallery North Lower Lobby.

Art Activities for Young LearnersCatherine Ewer, a textile artist, will be in the Young Learner's Studio doing a variety of activities designed specifically for little hands. Transform some old materials into fabulous recycled works of art and spend some time being naturally creative. It's easy being green! Catherine is a graduate of NSCAD with a major in textiles, and her focus is knitting, which is great way to exercise the creative muscle that does not require a large space, expensive equipment or toxic chemicals. Catherine enjoys making art with young children and has worked as an art teacher with daycares and at the AGNS. She is also our Autism Arts instructor for young children.

Green City - 3D Mural ProjectKyle Jackson, founding member artist with the annual Lunenburg Folk Art Festival, is a regular contributor to the Children's Festival and Visual Arts Nova Scotia PAINTS program in schools. Kyle will be facilitating the Green City relief sculpture mural project. Please bring recyclable items to use in the art piece (i.e. bottle caps, cool packaging, small toys to reuse such as figures, cars, etc.). We will be showing the NFB film featuring Kyle Jackson, I Can Make Art Like Maud Lewis for Green City project ideas. The results of this project will be on view at AGNS throughout the winter.

Bird Sculptures ActivityMeghan MacCulloch is a multi-media artist who lives at the Waldegrave Farm in Tatamagouche, an organic farm and also home to the annual Tatamagouche Summer Free School. Megan will be using natural materials to create 3-D birds in this workshop. She has taught extensively at the AGNS in the Summer School of the Arts with children, youth and adults.

Screen Printing WorkshopMelissa Marr is a local artist and art educator working with textiles, printmaking and drawing and is actively involved in community arts, having worked extensively with ArtSmarts Nova Scotia and other organizations. She will be screen printing using found and natural materials and dyes.

Clay Crafts ActivityAnna Caldwell is a recent graduate from NSCAD with a degree in ceramics, and will be facilitating an activity working with clay and wildflower seeds. These sculptures can be used as seed carriers, or "seed bombs", for guerilla gardening in the city! They can be planted to grow flowers in places such as abandoned lots. Seed bombs are based on an ancient farming technique using seed balls to quickly sow fields by hand. Anna has ample experience working with children through dance and art camps. Her own artistic practice is based around exploring organic structures and nature.

Percussion Show and WorkshopsThe Bucket Show is a percussion performance featuring 2 cast members from the DRUM! Show, and other collaborators, such as DJs and beat-boxers. The regular members, Mr. Chuck Bucket and Jay Andrews, will be joined by DJ D-Yazz for this special performance at the AGNS Children’s Festival. In addition to the 15 minute shows, which will run several times throughout the day, the artists will also provide instruction and teach about making music with nothing but your limbs and found objects! In case the mood strikes, D-Yazz, the resident DJ at Taboo, will bring a playlist of dancin' tunes for those who want to get down at the AGNS this Sunday.

Children must be accompanied by an adult. For moreinformation, please call 902-424-7542, or email us at infodesk@gov.ns.ca.

Admission to the Gallery for ART ECO is free for members, regular admission for non members.