School Programs

Townsville City Galleries offers schools programs in the Townsville region that foster excellence in arts practice and provide opportunities for young people in the arts.

Young Indigenous Printmakers

The Young Indigenous Printmakers program is a collaborative project run in partnership between Umbrella Studio Contemporary Arts and Townsville City Galleries. Young Indigenous Printmakers is a free education program that is aimed at Indigenous high school students. Students learn and experience lino printing, carving and editioning, and gain exhibition experience. The program seeks to engage, foster and promote artistic development.

Students participate in a two-day intensive printmaking workshop with a printmaking expert and an Indigenous artist who introduce printmaking and explore the students’ Indigenous culture and identity. The first day is held at the school and the second day is spent in Umbrella’s Studio. The students’ prints are exhibited in Umbrella’s Gallery space or at Townsville City Galleries once a semester.

To have your students participate in the program, please contact galleries@townsville.qld.gov.au.

Make Your Mark (Primary Schools)

Make Your Mark is a free visual art workshop delivered to primary schools by Townsville City Galleries in collaboration with local artists, who are engaged to develop an art workshop inspired by their own art practice.

The workshop is offered to all primary schools in the Townsville area. As part of the program, students are encouraged to create an artwork, which can then be taken home or put on display.

Schools in Galleries

Townsville City Galleries is pleased to offer the free Schools in Galleries program.

Secondary schools are offered a tour of a selected exhibition, paired with a complimentary workshop with either an exhibiting artist or a local artist with a similar practice.

Schools in Galleries program details are released to schools throughout the year. Spaces are limited and bookings are required.

People, Culture & Country

People, Culture & Country: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Project is proudly supported by Townsville City Galleries and Townsville City Council.

In this program, small groups of Upper Primary and Junior Secondary students from schools across the North Queensland region work collaboratively (in their own school) to produce contemporary wearable artworks to be showcased to the wider community.

Students are taught traditional and contemporary skills and techniques (e.g. weaving, printmaking, painting) by First Nations artists in order to create the wearable artworks. They then prepare for a photoshoot experience where one student models the outfit and other students help with hair and makeup design and application.

This project supports the linking of emerging First Nations artists with professionals in the Creative Arts Industries, and offers the wider community an insight into First Nations history, traditions, and culture through new works of art.

This project is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland and by Townsville City Council, Townsville City Galleries.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Project: People, Culture & Country is an initiative of the Department of Education - North Queensland Region.

Find out more about the 2023 iteration of the program in this informative video:

Click on the image below to view the full 2023 catalogue:

Illuminate

An initiative by local Visual Arts Teacher Rose Rush, and developed and delivered in partnership with Townsville City Galleries, Illuminate aims at enriching arts practice for Senior Visual Arts Students and Visual Art Teachers in the Townsville Region.

In 2024, Illuminate entailed a series of workshops held over three days in which participants were given the opportunity to learn new skills out of the traditional classroom setting. As part of the program, wearable art workshops were delivered by local artist Alison McDonald, and drawing and painting workshops were delivered by Northern NSW artist Jacqueline Scotcher. Students were also given a tour of Tate Adams: In Black and White provided by the Galleries team. Participants were encouraged to use Illuminate as an opportunity to get creative as well as build connections and networks with other students and artists.

We look forward to the next iteration of the Illuminate program in 2025!