Early Years (N–4)  - Thematic: 1 ½ hour interactive tour including painting workshop

* Art Detective • Artists and authors often have similar things to say but they use different languages. Can you tell what the pictures are saying? Let’s investigate the clues together.

Chasing Rainbows • Do you know where colours come from? It’s time to learn about secondary and tertiary colours, tints and shades, warm and cool colours, and how artists use the language of colour.

* Group of Seven and the Four Seasons • Discover all four seasons of the Canadian landscape by looking at the fabulous paintings by the Group of Seven. Lean about the seasons through important Canadian artists and then paint a picture of your favorite season.

Inuit Explorers Have you ever thought about what it would be like to live in an Inuit community? Experience life in the North through the prints, drawings, and sculptures of Inuit artists.

* Taking Shape • How many lines and shapes can you make with your body? Can a line make you sleepy? Can nothing have a shape? There’s lots more to learn!

Sensational • How many smells, tastes, sounds, and textures are stored in your memory? Visual art relies on your sense memories for meaning—so be sure to bring them along!

Start With Art • An art exhibition can be the starting point for the creation of a play, story, or poem. Get inspired by the art in the Gallery to make something new. Recommended for grades 3 to 4.

Time Travelers • Have you ever wondered how your life might be different if you’d lived in another time or place? Think of art as a window into other worlds.

But is it Art? • What do you really think about the art in the Gallery? Would you buy it for a million dollars? How do you put a value on a painting or sculpture? Debate these questions and more during this tour and discussion. 

* Drawn Out • Sometimes artists get their ideas from other artists. You’ll have a chance to sketch from works of art—and finish them in your own unique way. If you have an art journal, this would be a good chance to use it.

Eco-Art • How does art promote sustainability? Do some artists have environmental concerns and how does that look? Using landscape paintings from the past, how does our present environment differ? Look at art with an environmental perspective during this tour.

* NEW! Group of Seven and the Canadian Landscape •  Discover the history of Canada by looking at a large variety of Canadian landscapes always on display at the WAG, including Group of Seven paintings by Lawren Harris, Tom Thomson, L.L. Fitzgerald and many others.

* Inuit Artists • Did you know that the WAG has the largest public collection of contemporary Inuit art in the world? Art from other cultures can teach us a great deal about who we are and how we think. Don’t miss the opportunity to study works by Inuit artists in our exhibitions.

Material Matters • How is a drawing different from a sculpture? Does a print give us another interpretation of the subject than a painting? We’ll look at how each artistic medium has a distinct voice.

Math in Art • Have you ever wondered how artists make their artwork look so perfect? Learn all about perspective drawing, vanishing points, and negative and positive shapes during this calculating look at the exhibitions on display.

Reflections • Have you ever considered how art reflects the world around us—not just the physical world but the world of ideas, feelings, and beliefs? Take this thought-provoking tour and learn what the artists were thinking.

Art Beat • An art exhibition can be the starting point for the creation of a play, story, poem, or music. Get inspired by the art in the Gallery to create something new. Recommended for grades 5 and 6.

Art and Sustainability • How do artists impact the environment? From where do some art mediums come? How can you make art to further ecological and environmental discourse? See art from a new perspective during this eco-art tour. 

* Fine Points • Sketching is a great way to understand a subject. This program will encourage students to use works of art as starting points for their own creations. Art journals are welcome.

* NEW! Group of Seven and the Canadian Identity • Focus on the Group of Seven landscapes always on display at the WAG and piece together what it meant to be Canadian in the past and what it means for the present and future.

* Inuit Artists • Inuit art isn’t all soapstone sculpture! Inuit artists use a wide range of subjects, styles, and materials, and their work may be commercial, traditional, or contemporary. The
extensive WAG collection and exhibitions provide continuing opportunities to explore the visual language of many northern artists.

Math in Art • Interested in fine tuning your artwork? Learn all about perspective drawing, vanishing points, negative and positive shapes, and much more during this calculating look at the exhibitions on display.

Medium Messages • An artist’s message may take on different meanings in a drawing, print, painting, or sculpture. Travel through the exhibitions and discover how the medium makes a difference.

New Languages • Sometimes we have difficulty talking about contemporary art simply because it defies established definitions and ways of thinking. This program will challenge your ideas of what art is all about.

Not in a Vacuum • Art is affected by politics, social change, the media, and pretty well everything experienced by artists. In this program, you’ll have the opportunity to examine the mutual influences of art and society.

The Great Art Debate • If you were in charge of buying art for the WAG, what would you purchase? Is all art really worth the money paid for it? Why are some works of art considered more important and valuable than others? Debate these questions and more during this tour and discussion.