Friday Finds

image: Abbey Vella

+ Forget the Archibald's! Meet the Young Archie's
+ One of my teens will be at Genext this Sunday - maybe she will share her images
+ Evening sorted = Back to the Future at Golden Age Cinema
+ For your photographer in the family
+ Palace movie club - discounted movies

Art Month Sydney 2014

Art Month Sydney is always an exciting time for families to get around and explore art around the city with exhibitions, talks, tours and experiences. Gallery doors are thrown open with over 200 exhibitions and events in March allowing for many adventures to be had.

Here's a few to get you started:

Art Play at the MCA - Hang out with Hiromi Tango's beautiful interactive artwork Dance (2012)
For teens - Skate Deck Painting Workshop with artist Phil James
Your mind is exactly at that line -  Bright and bold Sol Lewitt
Express Yourself - Selected artworks by 2013 HSC Visual Arts students
Discover Sydney's art neighbourhoods by bike

Art Month Sydney 2014
artmonthsydney.com.au

Our March

• My daughter and I will be visiting Art Express at the Art Gallery of NSW
• Down the Rabbit Hole at White Rabbit Gallery is on our list
• Looking forward to The War of the Buttons at the 2012 French Film Festival
• Hopefully get to catch the documentary I am Eleven at Young at Heart Film Festival

Performance, Art, Animation + Design in July School Holidays

Image: Cynthia Sciberras

School Holidays are fast approaching... What do you have planned? Here is a quick overview of some great ideas in Sydney for all ages to explore.

PERFORMANCE

Aleksander and the Robot Maid | 1- 9 July | Seymour

Part of the new Reginald season, this Australian play written by Caleb Lewis looks like fun for all ages. An original steam - punk adventure where childhood curiosity and friendship prevail.

Age group: 8 to 108 years

Boat | 4- 16 July | Darlinghurst Theatre

Terrapin Theatre brings this piece about mariners Jof and Nic and their captivating journey on the high seas to the stage.

Age group: 5 to 12 years

Emily Eyefinger | 11- 16 July | Seymour Centre

Based on Duncan Ball series, Emily Eyefinger is the story of an adventurous heroine, Emily, who born with an extraordinary gift, an eye on the end of her finger.

Age Group: 5- 10 years

Hairspray | Until 7 August | Lyric Theatre

Based on the John Waters film, "Hairspray" looks like a great option if you have kids that love to sing and dance. Introduce them to the world of musicals.

ART, ANIMATION AND DESIGN

Look at me: What do you see? | 4 - 15 July | Art Gallery of NSW

The kids can explore the new contemporary galleries at the Art Gallery of NSW with the stress free "Look at me: What do you see?" Interactive character tour.

Age Group: 3 and over

Stop Motion! Workshop | 11 - 13 July | PACT

Work with experienced animator Lucinda Clutterbuck to learn and develop animation skills using pixilation and stop motion photography with digital camera, and a combination of digital and traditional image making.

Age group: 13- 15 years

Architectural Science for Kids | 5-7 and 12-14 July | Powerhouse Museum

Architecture is a practical application of design and engineering. In this hands on workshop children will create architectural structures.

Age Group: 8 - 12 years

+ DISCOVER

Underbelly Arts - The Lab | 3-12 July | Cockatoo Island

Visit Cockatoo Island for a free daily tour to watch the Underbelly artists at work and learn about their projects they create, build experiment, workshop, write and rehearse a diverse program of work.

PONYO

PONYO is the latest offering from Miyazaki at Studio Ghibli inspired by the Hans Christian Andersen story "The Little Mermaid". My family and I have enjoyed all films that are created from Studio Ghilbio and we were not disappointed with Ponyo.

In a small town by the sea lives five year-old Sosuke, high on a cliff overlooking the Inland Sea. One morning while playing on the rocky beach below his house, he discovers a goldfish named Ponyo, her head stuck in a jam jar. Sosuke rescues Ponyo and keeps her in a green plastic bucket.

Both Ponyo and Sosuke are fascinated by each other and promise to stay firm friends until Ponyo's father - once human, now a sorcerer who lives deep under the sea - forces her to return with him to the ocean depths.

My three children aged 11, 7 and 5 years all loved Ponyo and are very keen  to  see it again. The english adaption is features voice overs  by Cate Blanchett, Tina Fey, Liam Neeson and Matt Damon.

I will be talking my older children to the Japanese version this weekend so they can experience the film in its true form.

More information:

http://www.ponyo.com.au

http://www.madman.com.au/studioghibli/

Movie Trailer

Kids Adventure Passport | NSW

The Premier’s Adventure Challenge and Kids’ Adventure Passport are initiatives of the NSW Government. 
The aim is to encourage primary aged children (Kindergarten to year 6), and their families, to visit the State’s participating museums and galleries.

Exposure to art, big ideas and high-level creativity helps developing minds reach their full potential.

The Passport makes discovering the State’s museums and galleries more fun for children and their families by providing a series of goals and suggested activities for them to complete at each venue. And it just may spur on the next wave of artists, inventors, historians or designers to give it a try too.

Participating Institutions include,   The Art Gallery Of NSW, MOS, MCA, Elizabeth Farm

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2008 Biennale of Sydney - NSW

The 2008 Biennale of Sydney - Australias Festival of Contemporary Art.
18 June - 17 September 2008

Revolting Kids! Treasure Map
Available every day from July to September on arrival at Cockatoo Island. Follow the trail and find the clues that lead you on a hunt for specially chosen artworks found on Cockatoo Island.
Cockatoo Island
WHEN:Tuesday, 1 July 200810:00am - 5:00pm
WHERE:Cockatoo IslandCockatoo Island, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia

Kids & Families: Interactive art
Explore contemporary art with Open Stage, using imaginative, explorative, improvisational storytelling.
Monday, 7 July – Friday, 11 July, 1:30pm
Art Gallery of New South Wales
WHEN:Monday, 7 July 20081:30pm
WHERE:Art Gallery of New South WalesArt Gallery Rd, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia

Art Revolutions School Holiday Workshops
Discover the Biennale with art activities responding to the themes of turning, twisting, inverting and mirroring. Led by artists, these fun workshops start with an exhibition tour followed by activities ranging from drawing games to sculpture.
Materials and morning tea provided.
Tuesday, 8 July (5–7 year olds), 10:30am – 1:00 pm Wednesday, 9 July (8–11 year olds), 10:30am – 1:00 pmThursday, 10 July (Teenagers), 10:30am – 1:00 pm$30/$20 Members Bookings essential
Museum of Contemporary Art
WHEN:Tuesday, 8 July 200810:30am - 1:00pm
WHERE:Museum of Contemporary Art140 George Street, The Rocks, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia
HOW MUCH:$30.00 BOOKING:
Book through the Museum of Contemporary Art:mailto:education@mca.com.au

Art Express 2008

James Algie Not Jonah

My daughter (6 years) and I visited this years Art Express at the Art Gallery of NSW. Art Express is a series of contemporary exhibitions of outstanding artworks created by NSW Higher School Certificate (HSC) Visual Arts students from both metropolitan and regional New South Wales, Australia .

Art Express is a fantastic opportunity to expose your child to a selection of many forms of art as it includes a broad range of approaches, and expressive forms, including ceramics, collection of works, drawing, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture and video.

We looked at each piece together and talked about what it was, how the artist created it and what we liked and didn't like. My daughter was drawn the sculpture pieces within the exhibition.

After the exhibition we roamed around the rest of the gallery before heading down to the members room which also caters for children with an area for colouring in and reading.

It was an enjoyable way to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon.
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Art Express is on at the Art Gallery of NSW and is running 2 FEBRUARY till 30 MARCH 2008 .
Also touring regionally.
http://www.insideartexpress.com.au/

Gallery Kids - NSW

The Art Gallery of New South Wales is running a program called Gallery Kids from July to September. There are tours ($10) for children aged 3-5 and free performances every Sunday. My nearly five year old and I headed out on Sunday to see the 2.30pm show.

It was packed. We got there early because my son enjoys watching the setting up process so managed to get a good seat but unless your child is old enough to sit at the front without you, seating with a good view was difficult to find.

The show itself was fairly entertaining. Apparently it changes every week. The performer, Mic Conway, did a bit of magic and made a few jokes, while driving his message about art home to the children. I’m not sure they all got it. My child was certainly more interested in his false teeth and chicken juggling. And as a show itself it wasn’t particularly cohesive. However he did get the kids involved by asking a lot of questions and only the very young left during the show.

For the Art Gallery itself it’s a great way to get families in and a good money spinner. My child doesn’t know much about art or have much interest in quietly walking around a place where he’s not allowed to touch anything but he does know where the café is and he knows he likes cake and there were a fair few other kids from the show who managed to find their way to the café too.

On leaving the Gallery I thought wouldn’t it be nice to have an exhibition that was child friendly in some way (something they could touch or interact with) and permanently in the Gallery rather than just putting on child friendly shows around the art?