Reflecting on Family Day Free Drop-In Art Event

This past Monday, our gallery was alive with creativity and community spirit as we welcomed visitors of all ages to our Family Day Free Drop-In Art Event! With over 116 attendees and a team of dedicated volunteers, the event was a joyful celebration of art, exploration, and hands-on creativity.

Collage by Maxim

One of the highlights of the day was our collage-making station, where participants used old Mann Gallery calendars featuring images from our permanent collection. These repurposed artworks became the foundation for mini galleries and stand-alone collages, each piece a unique expression of imagination. Some standout creations included Maxim’s surreal bird nest collage, featuring elements from Paula Cooley and Beth Hone’s work, and teenage Grayson’s quirky scene of a man walking a dog on a headlight. The activity was a wonderful way to engage adults who may feel hesitant about making art—by selecting, cutting, and arranging images, many found themselves growing more

Collage by Grayson

confident in their artistic abilities.

Our scavenger hunt added another layer of excitement, inviting visitors to explore the gallery and search for hidden details, including guitars and birds cleverly woven into artworks. New teenage volunteer Hassan was fantastic at assisting with the hunt and monitoring the gallery space. Participants aged 18 and under even had the chance to enter a draw for an art gift basket, adding an extra element of fun!

Another engaging activity encouraged visitors to take clipboards and sketch their favorite artworks—a practice rooted in 'slow looking,' [check out this link for "slow looking" posted by the Tate] which helps us truly see and appreciate the details of an artwork. Studies show that the average visitor spends just eight seconds looking at a piece of art, but by sketching, we notice aspects we might otherwise overlook—line, shape, texture, and form. It’s a wonderful way to develop a deeper connection with art, and it’s not about drawing skill but about seeing with fresh eyes.

Throughout the day, we also encouraged participants to think like curators: if you were to create your own gallery or museum, what would you exhibit? This thought exercise sparked some great conversations, with people reflecting on their favorite museum experiences. Our gallery educator, Lana Wilson, shared her own story of being inspired by an interactive exhibit at the Royal Tyrrell Museum as a child—an experience that led her to pursue a career in art education.

I told people that the reason I work as an art gallery educator is because I fell in love with a dinosaur museum at age 8. A simple computer program encouraged you to design your own dinosaur by choosing from different tails, legs, arms, head shape, body shape, teeth shape. When you were finished and hit enter, the program showed your dinosaur and told you whether it could really survive or not, and if not, why. I was delighted that such a fun activity could help me learn inside the museum. So, now I get to design and lead fun activities in museums and galleries.

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this fantastic day of art-making, exploration, and discovery! Whether you created a collage, participated in the scavenger hunt, or simply spent time enjoying the exhibitions, we loved having you here.

Estelle and Keman

Stay tuned for more upcoming events, and in the meantime, we encourage you to keep looking closely, creating, and curating your own artful experiences!