Need a little creativity boost? ( II)

 

Museums and Heritage

Artifact preservation workshops – ask the public to bring their artifacts from home and show them how to preserve their treasured pieces

Antiques Roadshow-style event

Artifact-handling opportunities

Historic food, crafts, and games

Collaborative pop-up museum – ask the public to bring their artifacts and share their stories

Walking tours of historic neighbourhoods, historic plaques

Back-of-house tours (opening ‘the vaults’)

Active participation in exhibit development

Social media posts from local historical figures or statues – engage the public in a discussion on local history

Collect oral histories

Dalnavert Museum, Winnipeg, MB, 2018. Photo: Liz Tran

Dalnavert Museum, Winnipeg, MB, 2018. Photo: Liz Tran

Visual Arts and Craft

Show your process – how do you stretch canvas? Make your paints? etc.

Create collaborative works with the public

Demos of techniques

Classes for different ages and skill levels

Artist talks

Art Therapy workshops

Matting & framing workshops

Makers fairs

‘Make & Take’ art swap

Studio tours

Knit-ins and yarn bombing

Walking or bike tours of public art

‘En Plein Air’ workshops

Explore traditional art forms and techniques

Music

Conduct Us! – Invite the public to conduct your choir, orchestra or symphony

Instrument petting zoos

Open rehearsals

Sing-a-longs / sing-ins

Master classes

Webcast concert and hold a tweet chat with conductor, composer, etc.

Open mics

Jam sessions

Songwriting workshops

Recording sessions, sound engineering demos

Film and Video

Hands-on technique workshops i.e., stop-action, Claymation

Silent film screening with live music

Special FX workshops or demos

Interactive green screen shoot

Screenings with Q&A’s by directors, actors, etc.

Set or studio tour

Exhibit vintage film and video equipment, processes etc.

Storyboarding workshops

Screen rare works

Outdoor/public space screenings

‘Make a film in a day’ workshops

Culinary Arts

Tastings – wine, cheese, olive oil, etc.

Demos – crepe making, pasta making, etc.

Cooking, baking, or preserving workshops

Plating and presentation techniques

Decorative fruit and vegetable carving

Cupcake, cake or cookie decorating

Farm, brewery, or vineyard tours

Explore traditional food cultures – i.e., Chinese tea culture

Harvest festivals

Multidisciplinary

Offer workshops on the different aspects of your practice – i.e., for an introduction to capoeira, offer classes in movement, music, history and Portuguese

Have a musician interpret the work of a visual artist and vice versa – explore different musical and visual art styles

Have a writing group collaborate with a hiking group – poets compose site-specific poetry to be recited on a hike during Culture Days

Provide theatre or historical costumes for volunteers to model for a life drawing class

Hold an ‘action photography’ workshop with a dance class as the subject – post the photos online so dancers can have a memento of their class

Choose a theme or story nub and have it interpreted differently by artists of different artistic mediums

Have a dance class to live music – create entry points so the public can learn and participate in both the music making and the dancing

Consider a community art project that allows everyone to get involved no matter their skill level or artistic discipline – for example ‘Communitrees’ invited everyone in Huron County to make unique works of art using living trees as their canvas. Together, they created a large-scale outdoor public art gallery!

Juan Pedro Cordeiro-TUA