Matt Hewson
The Geelong Gallery’s Youth Council will hold its Canvas Swap workshop in January, offering young people a chance to get involved with the Gallery.
The workshop, based on a TikTok challenge popular through 2021 and 2022, will involve young artists from ages 15 to 17 working on a canvas for five to ten minutes before swapping with a partner, continuing the process until the collaborative works are completed.
Gallery Youth Council member Wolf Young, 18, said engaging young people was an important part of the Youth Council’s function.
“We’re hoping it encourages a lot more people our age to come to the Geelong Gallery, because I feel like there’s a disconnect from people my age, even though art is for everyone,” Wolf said.
“I think doing something that is relevant to people our age can help them engage with the Gallery, and also being able to meet people that are interested in the same things is going to make people more encouraged to come to the Gallery.”
Learning and audience engagement manager Elishia Furet said the success of the first year of the Youth Council, mostly composed of people aged 15 to 17, would ensure the continuation of the program.
“They’ve been great, they come with new ideas for peers their age, and there’s been a lot of enthusiasm,” Ms Furet said.
“Their voice has been really important through this year, so we’ll continue to run it alongside the Youth Ambassador program.
“It’s really great to get young people to design their own programs; they know what they want.”
The Geelong Gallery’s Canvas Swap workshop will run over two sessions on Friday, January 27.
