A gallery guide and program designed with kids, for kids, launched recently at the Devonport Regional Gallery through the Peter Underwood Centre's Limitless Learning project.
Dubbed It’s ok @ DRG, the guide is now available to all families visiting the gallery as they tour the exhibitions and find new ways to engage with the art and document their journeys on a map.
Primary school students from Children’s University Tasmania worked through an inquiry cycle with staff from the Peter Underwood Centre, Devonport Regional Gallery, and the paranaple arts centre.
“The Peter Underwood Centre, at the University of Tasmania, is delighted to be working collaboratively with Devonport Regional Gallery and local families on the Limitless Learning project,” Peter Underwood Centre for Educational Attainment Regional Lead (NW) & Community Co-Designer Jesse Brennan said.
“Devonport Regional Gallery is one of nine participating Learning Destinations in the Limitless Learning project,” Mr Brennan added.
The four-year endeavour, generously funded by by the Tasmanian Community Fund, the Jetty Foundation, and the Cuthill Family Foundation, aims to develop a model for co-designing quality informal learning.
“Right away the front page [of the guide] tells the child, ‘It’s ok’,” Convention and Arts Manager Geoff Dobson noted.
“The resource supports young visitors and families to feel comfortable, helping them understand expectations and the space, before giving them ways to engage with the variety of exhibitions shown in the galleries,” Mr Dobson explained.
That may be choosing a song or body movement that represents their interpretation of the artwork, or giving colours a sound.
Boredom simply becomes an invitation to creativity.
Find out more about the Peter Underwood Centre.