Art galleries can be intimidating places for many but by using playful and humorous approaches people can come to have positive experiences in galleries. In this event discover what it means to be an Art Educator in a modern museum setting.
Have you wondered how to make a gallery trip fun for the uninitiated in your family? Or wondered how you can get that little bit more out of your own museum experience? Come along to this session with Te Papa Educator Laura Jones and discover how to enthuse people with art and the joys of slowing down and looking at the world in different ways.
This session will take place in Toi Art, tackling different areas of the gallery with Laura breaking down how she would make the section accessible to young people, how she asks them to engage with the work and taking a step back to see why she takes that approach. Look at Toi Art in a new light and come away with tips and tricks as to how to engage young people in your life with art and those intimidated by gallery spaces.
Every day we are bombarded with torrents of visual information which we pay little attention to. Art asks us to slow down and pay some attention to it. It encourages thoughtful criticism and an openness to different understandings of the world around us. We all bring our own perceptions and experiences to an artwork all of which are valuable.
Laura Jones
Laura Jones studied Art History and English, afterwards teaching in schools in Cambridge, London and Barcelona. She carried out Museum Studies in Wellington leading to her post at Te Papa. Images and objects have long held a fascination for her – as a classroom teacher they introduced an inspiring way to bring in new narratives. Now, in the role as an Educator at Te Papa she is able to use images and objects within the context of the national museum, is free to explore connections across collections and to open up challenging narratives.
How to… sessions are designed to share the amazing knowledge and talents of Te Papa’s staff. Speakers will share the work they do and how they do it.
Image credit: Marsden School visit Toi Art, 2018. Photograph by Kate Whitley. Te Papa (104555)