Get Artsy With Our Workshop Program
Time to get artsy with the Whitsundays Arts Festival! We just released the full art workshop program for the week of 17-25 September. Many of the workshops explore the Festival theme “Memories,” and others are just for fun.
Get involved as the 2022 artists-in-residence take participants through a series of free and ticketed workshops designed to enjoy, learn, develop skills, network with your community of fellow artists, and collaborate on large art installations while you create an art piece to take home.
The professional series will be held from 17-24 September in the workshop space at Kipara Tropical Rainforest Retreat, and on 24-25 September at the Festival site in Fairy Tree Park on the Airlie Beach foreshore.
Workshop coordinator and Townsville artist and art teacher Sandy Guy says of the program:
“We have a great variety of workshops planned this year. Due to the popularity of previous year’s workshops and increasing demand we will be expanding to a full week of fun and creative opportunities for the whole community of the Whitsundays.”
Artists-in-residence Michael Pope and Aaron Ashley will be hosting Urban Sketching workshops at the Festival site on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 September. Internationally renowned artist Michael Pope is co-founder of the Townsville chapter of Urban Sketchers and is inviting interested creatives of any artistic level to join him and Aaron on the Airlie Beach foreshore. Urban Sketching is an international drawing movement used to document the goings on and essence of a particular place. These morning workshops will take participants through “en plein air” sketching, exploring how to select a scene and then quickly capture the essence using shapes as reference and adding details and tone.
At the Kipara Tropical Rainforest Retreat in the week leading up to the festival festivities, last year’s art exhibition winner, Lisa Ashcroft, will take you on an exploration of new ways of working with watercolours and acrylics. Or tap into your inner street artist and explore street art techniques with Townsville artist and art teacher Sandra Guy. One of our most popular workshops last year was Creating Children’s Books with publisher, illustrator, and children’s books author Sofia Fortunato. Sofia will be back this year to help you transform your memories into storybook characters and create your own book for children. This is the perfect workshop for anyone interested in taking their bedtime story-telling techniques to the next level.
This year will also include our first-ever Sip & Paint workshop with Amanda Sadler who will lead participants through Frida Khalo-esque painting techniques, all while sipping on your favourite drinks!
As well as this professional series program, there are free workshops assisting visiting artists to produce exciting art installations that will be transforming the festival site into an outdoor art spectacular on Saturday 24 September. These include stingrays made from rope and recycled materials with Marion Gaemers and Lynnette Griffiths, and painted memory boards with Amanda Sadler.
The 2022 art workshop program is an exciting and interactive element of the Whitsundays Arts Festival, built on the vision of bringing art to everyone, and the opportunity to immerse yourself in creativity. Whether it be weaving, painting, stitching, storytelling and illustration, or sketching, explore your artistic potential this year with some of Queensland’s finest artists.