Programmes
Primary and Intermediate School Programme
All primary and intermediate school programmes are led by Gallery educators and take place in the gallery spaces, with hands-on activities in the Learning Centre when time allows. The descriptions below indicate what you can expect from each session; each programme can be customised for your class age group and area of focus – simply chat with our team today.
gbeducation@govettbrewster.com
06 759 0858
Educator Rebecca Fawkner with students in the Learning Centre
Kaiako Jess Marshall talks with students about tukutuku patterns
Students heading into the Todd Energy Learning Centre
Educator Chris Barry talks with students about creation and volcanoes with Len Lye's paintings
Shawn Matuku with Len Lye's kinetic sculpture Fountain III
Edie and Jasper Rhodes with Hany Armanious installation Selflok
Frankley School students heading into the Todd Energy Learning Centre
Educator Rebecca Fawkner with students in the Learning Centre
Fitzroy School and Len Lye's Fountain
Collage
Frankley School students making poi with a 'caring for water' message
Emerson and Isaac Martin and Braydon Baker with Len Lye's Universe
Screen printing
Primary and Intermediate
Exhibitions and programmes
The learning available from contemporary art and that of Len Lye reaches across the curriculum. Choose from programmes based solely on Len Lye’s art or combine artists and exhibitions. Book an introductory Len Lye session, or one of the programmes described below. Alternatively select a focus from the list below and we will create a tour and workshop to meet your needs.
Len Lye areas of focus include:
Science – motion, light, properties of materials
Performing arts – music and dance
Sculpture process
Creativity and innovation – wearable arts
Sensing Len Lye – great for Special Needs classes of all ages
Kinetic kapa haka – combine the science of movement, Te reo Māori and poi
Tuia – Encounters 250
In 2019 The Govett- Brewster joins in the national commemorations of the 250th anniversary of the first onshore encounters between Māori and non-Māori. In Term 2 we're inspired by the exhibition Open Collection: He Rere Ke – Different Pathways and culminate in Term 4 with a major exhibition by the Gallery's 2019 Artist in Residence Brett Graham.
DIY Pepeha
29 Apr - 21 Jul
Y2 - 8
Join the Gallery’s kaiako and learn how to introduce ourselves in te reo Māori. Using the He Rere Ke – Different Pathways exhibition to kick off, we learn the how and why of a pepeha. We start planning our own pepeha and in the Learning Centre sculpt a sequence of symbols from clay and other media to help us recite it.
At school
Ask at home about family history stories and photographs, then share your story with the class.
What is whakapapa and why is it important?
Practise saying your pepeha.
Mounga to Moana
Visual art / Ngā toi / Science: Living world
29 Apr – 21 Jul
Y3 – 8
Inspired by the paintings, prints and sculpture in He Rere Ke – Different Pathways and Kūreitanga II IV we create landscape artworks with a ‘journey of water’ theme. We consider the value and uses of water and how we can all care for water and the land. We learn what being a kaitiaki means. In the Learning Centre we use printing techniques, coloured paper and collage to create an artwork that depicts our landscape and horizon. Connects with Puke Ariki’s Ngā Kūkūwai o Taranaki/Taranaki Wetlands and Ngā Kōrero Mō Te Mounga education programmes
http://pukeariki.com/Learning-Research/Education/Wetlands
http://pukeariki.com/Learning-Research/Education/Ng%C4%81-K%C5%8Drero-m%C5%8D-Te-Mounga
At school
Find out about Parihaka or another local story with connections to the land.
Use your artwork to recite your pepeha.
Investigate art that connects with nature and environmental themes.
What art can you make using reduce, re-use, recycle?
Nicolás Paris Artist Workshops
Throughout May
InfoAnd now for something different... Classes or groups are invited to join Govett-Brewster Artist in Residence Nicolás Paris for workshops in his exhibition ko ngā herenga kei waenga i a tātou, lo que nos une, what connects us to work through fun problem solving exercises with the goal of learning together. Sessions are flexible in duration and content, please contact Gallery educators to plan your visit. Themes for the exercises may include drawing, biology and maths.
Puanga
Visual art / Te Ao Māori /Social Science
Jun
Y3 – 8
Be inspired by the exhibitions Nicolás Paris: ko ngā herenga kei waenga i a tātou, lo que nos une, what connects us and He Rere Ke – Different Pathways to learn how we can bring Puanga into our own lives, including making our own rēwana shaped as whetu (potato bread star).
At school
Find out why Taranaki iwi celebrate Puanga instead of Matariki
Read legends associated with the stars
Learn Te Reo for our planets and seasons
Research the connections between food and Puanga
Find out about New Year celebrations from a variety of cultures
Construct a manutukutuku (kite) or other art to celebrate Puanga
Māori astronomy revealed, see https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/1274-revitalising-maori-astronomy
Home for a lizard
Visual art / Science: Living world
Jun – Jul
Y3 – 8
What’s living or not living in your garden? The exhibition Nicolás Paris: ko ngā herenga kei waenga i a tātou, lo que nos une, what connects us brings nature into the Gallery. We discover ways to bring nature back to our neighbourhood. We learn about habitat restoration and design a home for a lizard or bug.
Connects with Puke Ariki’s Ngā Kūkūwai o Taranaki/Taranaki Wetlands education programmes.
At school
www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/1397-create-a-lizard-friendly-habitat
What’s special about Aotearoa’s skinks and geckos?
What habitat do bees and other insects need to thrive?
Compare human architecture with natural structures
Find out about Enviroschools here
Find out about Predator free Taranaki here
Bug batik
Len Lye programme
Visual art / Science: Living world
29 Apr – 21 Jul
Y1 – 4
How can we use nature to make art? See how Len Lye combined nature and art in his exhibition Len Lye: No Trouble. We follow his example, learn creative ways to get ideas, practise drawing strategies to invent imaginery creatures and learn about the batik process. In the Learning Centre we use wax resist processes to create an artwork with a bug life cycle theme.
Connects with Puke Ariki’s Ngā Kūkūwai o Taranaki/Taranaki Wetlands education programmes.
At school
Make linocuts or relief print from natural materials
Continue experimenting with batik
Use natural science images to inspire more art
Write a poem based on a bug’s life cycle
Introducing Len Lye
Len Lye programme
Science/Visual Art/Dance/Music/Technology
Ongoing
Y 0 – 8
What can we learn from Len Lye? Experience the multi-sensory exhibitions through interactive activities adaptable to your students’ learning needs and level. Find out how Len Lye came up with ideas and why his art is special. Then create your own Len Lye inspired artwork. See Len Lye: Art That Moves and Len Lye: No Trouble for exhibition information.
Find out about Len Lye at www.govettbrewster.com
Creativity and innovation enquiry
Len Lye programme
Science / Technology / Visual Art
Ongoing
Y 5 – 8, 90 mins
We tour Len Lye: Art That Moves, Len Lye: No Trouble and Mikala Dwyer: Earthcraft focusing on how to get ideas. We discover the problems Len Lye overcame when constructing sculpture then activate our own creativity and problem solving skills. In the Learning Centre students experiment with materials, movement and light to invent a structure that is evidence of a creative mind.
This lesson links with Puke Ariki’s Creativity and innovation education programme.
BYO your class ipad or phone to photo students’ designs.
At school
Talk about how and why people get creative
What are some Taranaki examples of problem solving?
List ways traditional Māori used technology?
Make a sense trail around your classroom
Kinetic kapa haka
Len Lye programme
Dance / Ngā toi / Te Reo
29 Apr – 21 Jul
Y1 – 4, 75 mins
Get moving and practise te reo, inspired by Len Lye: Art That Moves, Nicolás Paris: ko ngā herenga kei waenga i a tātou, lo que nos une, what connects us and Mikala Dwyer: Earthcraft. Combine traditional poi movements with invented moves and share movement words in English and te reo. We take our moves to the Learning Centre and add sound, experimenting with energy, creating pathways and patterns that explore the natural world.
At school
Brainstorm movement kupu on a poster
What were poi used for traditionally?
Find out the meaning of particular poi movements
Make poi and use to practise moves learnt at the Gallery
Pictures that move
Len Lye programme
Visual Art/Science: Physical world/Technology
Ongoing
Y 5 – 8, 90 mins
Discover how old school animation works and give it a go. What makes Len Lye’s films still cool today? We go to the flicks, viewing Len Lye’s abstract films to discover how image, movement and sound are combined to create an illusion. Students analyse animation techniques and use gallery zoetropes (animation viewing devices) to create their own moving image. BYO your class video camera, phone or ipad to record students’ animations.
At school
View Len Lye’s films online or the Colour Box DVD available from the Govett-Brewster Shop or loan from the Gallery educators.
Download the Len Lye: Abstract Animation resource here.
Secondary School Programme
Secondary school visits to the Govett-Brewster are most successful when teachers and Gallery educators collaborate. To inspire your programme we can shape a lesson tailored specifically for your students from Year 9 +.
Secondary art teachers taking part in the Gallery schools programme consistently praise the sessions as relevant and thought provoking.
“Keep up the good work. Activities engaged students’ perceptions about visual art and oral aspects of art." - high school art teacher
Educator Chris Barry and students with Amanda Gruenwald's paintings. Photo Sam Hartnett
Students and educator Chris Barry with WharehokaSmith's Kureitanga II IV
Brittany Glassey with her 2016 Top Art folio
Ethan, Shawn and Liam Matuku with Tom Kreisler's Old and New
Students with Jeena Shin's painting. Photo Sam Hartnett
Secondary
Selected exhibition themes are described by curriculum area and can be developed into a tour which includes worksheets, creative group activities or extended in the Learning Centre into workshops. Focus on visual art with teacher input, go cross-curricula, with architecture, materials technology, performing arts, and wider social contexts such as the functions of contemporary art and the role of museums including cultural tourism.
Tuia – Encounters 250
In 2019 The Govett- Brewster joins the national commemorations of the 250th anniversary of the first onshore encounters between Māori and non-Māori, and the feats of Polynesian navigators and explorers who reached and settled in Aotearoa New Zealand many years earlier.
In term 4 a major solo exhibition by Brett Graham will examine how the relationship between his people, Tainui, and Taranaki iwi was affected by European encounter. https://govettbrewster.com/news/2018/11/dr-brett-graham-in-taranaki-as-govett-brewster-art
Top Art 2019
noon Mon 13 May – noon Fri 17 May
Todd Energy Learning Centre
An exhibition of New Zealand’s 2018 secondary schools’ NCEA Level 3 art portfolios that achieved Excellence or Scholarship. Please contact Gallery educators to book class visits.
Sculpture
Until Fri 19 Jul
InfoGet inspired by Len Lye: Art That Moves, Nicolás Paris: ko ngā herenga kei waenga i a tātou, lo que nos une, what connects us and Mikala Dwyer: Earthcraft. Use the exhibitions to analyse sculpture conventions and compare and contrast each exhibition’s meanings and associations.
Painting and printmaking
Until Fri 19 Jul
InfoHe Rere Ke – Different Pathways is an opportunity for students working with NCEA 3.1 to see paintings and printmaking in the flesh. Students analyse methods and ideas from established landscape painting and printmaking practice. They can also consider literal and metaphorical pathways between whenua, places and people, and how they could use these ideas in their own art making.
Sensing Len Lye
Ongoing
InfoInteractive experiences designed for Special Needs groups. Please contact Gallery educators to discuss visit options.
Artist collaboration
Throughout May
InfoThroughout May classes and groups of students are invited to join artist-in-residence Nicolás Paris for workshops in his exhibition, working through fun problem solving exercises with the goal of learning together. Themes for the exercises may include drawing, biology and maths. Sessions are flexible in duration and content.
Please contact the Gallery educators to plan your visit.
Talk Art
Ongoing
InfoCan your students say more about art other than whether they like it or not? This general introduction to the exhibitions gives students confidence and skills to analyse art through discussion and instant activities.
Media Studies
Ongoing
InfoHow did cameraless movies work? What makes Len Lye’s films still so cool? Inspired by innovative approaches to filmmaking and the stimulating exhibitions, students deepen their knowledge of where film came from through a variety of hands-on options including zoetrope drawings, experiments with OHP colour projections and a ‘direct’ film workshop.
The Gallery’s state-of-the-art 60-seat cinema shows experimental film, arthouse and cult films and film festival programming. Special screenings can be arranged by appointment. Please contact Gallery educators for further information or find out what’s on here.
Direct film workshop
Inspired by Len Lye’s direct films students use cameraless hand animation techniques to learn how to create their own whole class 16mm ‘direct’ film. No cost, contact Gallery educators for details.
Te Reo Māori
Karanga atu ki a koutou ki raro i te maru o te maunga tītohea; he pou here tangata, he pou here waka, he pou here kaupapa.
Ko Jess Marshall tōku ingoa. He Pākehā ahau nō Taranaki e ngākau nui ana ki te ao Māori. Ko au te kaiako hou ki te Whare Toi o Ngāmotu.
Warm greetings to you all. My name is Jess Marshall and I'm the new Te Reo educator at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery/Len Lye Centre.
Nau mai, haere mai, rarau mai!
The Govett-Brewster Art Gallery/Len Lye Centre welcomes Wharekura and Māori Studies classes to all exhibitions.
Contact Gallery kaiako Jess Marshall to discuss how visits can enhance language and hands-on learning needs.
gbeducation@govettbrewster.com
06 759 0858
Kaiako Jess Marshall demonstrating
With Para Matchitt's Whakapapa IV
Learning about tukutuku patterns
Glow poi
With Para Matchitt's Whakapapa IV
With WharehokaSmith's Kureitanga II IV
Direct filmmaking
