Public Programming & Education

Public programming: visited Lang Pioneer Village Museum offered a meaningful opportunity to engage with local social history through an immersive seasonal event. The historic village setting, which preserves 19th-century rural life, provided a contextual backdrop for a Halloween-themed installation that blended heritage interpretation with contemporary audience engagement. Decorating the space encouraged visitors to experience the site in a more interactive, community-focused way, demonstrating how public programming can activate museum environments, foster participation, and connect historical spaces with present-day cultural traditions.

Art Gallery of Peterborough

Family Sunday, March 1st, 2026

Workshop Title: Colour, Nature, and Collage: Making Together

Inspired by the exhibition of Cole Swanson, Lithic Life

Overview

​​The program that is being implemented will be held at the Art Gallery of Peterborough as part of their regular Family Sunday programming that takes place the first Sunday of each month. This program is designed and geared towards families but is not exclusive to them. It will run March 1st in the upstairs studio from 1 PM to 4 PM at the Art Gallery of Peterborough. Participants of all ages will engage in a hands-on collaborative art-making experience, as well as create small individual pieces that will be inspired by Cole Swanson’s exhibition that is currently being held at the gallery. 

Participants will be encouraged to explore the work of Cole Swanson and participate in a scavenger hunt prior to heading up to the studio space. The works that are being created will focus on materiality, process, layering, and abstraction. The workshop invites participants to explore natural dyes, texture, and collage as forms of playful and meaningful expression.

Participants will create individual pieces with pre-dyed papers, cutting, tearing, and collaging them onto a base sheet provided by the facilitators. Following the completion of their individual piece, they will then proceed to the larger collaborative piece. Participants can choose to include a part of their personal piece affixed to the canvas or add cut-outs from the pre-dyed paper or use markers and oil pastels directly on the canvas. 

This program aligns with the gallery’s vision of creating a gathering place that engages the community and promotes the arts as a cornerstone of community creativity and development. The program provides the local community with the opportunity to come together and create a visual art experience through explorations that stimulate and promote perceptions of art. The activity emphasizes accessibility, sensory engagement, sustainability, and intergenerational creativity.