• Six-word story contest • Book debates with local authors (Canada Reads style) • Human library – check out people instead of books! Events can be themed i.e, cultural workers, local history makers, etc. • Genealogy and family tree activities – make use of library resources, archives, and online tools. • 3-D Printing workshops • Poetry slams • Writing workshops (memoir, poetry, plays) • Multilingual storytelling • Poetry walls • Readings by local authors • Workshops for emerging authors – i.e., how to get published • Guided tours of locations written about in books with readings of relevant passages • ‘Adults read things they wrote as kids’ events • Postcard projects – collect and display memories and moments from a special place or the Culture Days weekend! • Theatre • Make a prop workshop – use the props in an upcoming production! • Try on costumes – combine with a photo booth • Back-of-house tours – tour props and wardrobe shops, dressing rooms, rehearsal halls, etc. • Improv workshops/Theatre sports • Play readings • Open rehearsal or workshopping new pieces – consider live streaming or adding a tweet chat to engage those who can’t attend in person • Q & A with directors, actors, producers, etc. • Tech workshops and demos – set design, lighting, audio • Workshops for aspiring actors – i.e., audition prep • ‘Actor for a Day’ – let members of the public try out a role in a scene from a signature or upcoming show • Stage combat workshop • Sneak peek of your forthcoming season • Dance • Flash mob! • Classes for different ages and levels of experience • Dance sampler – try out different styles • Explore the history of dance – how, where and why did your dance discipline develop? How does it relate to other dance forms? • Q & A with choreographer, artistic director, etc. • Creative movement/improvisational movement workshops • Collaborative choreography – create a new work for the public • Open rehearsal or workshopping new pieces – consider live streaming or adding a tweet chat to engage those who can’t attend in person • Guided tour of the history of your company – include archival dance footage, costumes, posters and a Q&A with your Artistic Director • Take it to the streets! Develop site-specific work in a unique setting • Sneak peek at your upcoming show or season • Museums and Heritage • Artifact preservation workshop – ask the public to bring their artifacts from home and show them how to preserve their pieces • Antiques Roadshow-style event • Artifact-handling opportunities • Historic food, crafts, and games • Collaborative pop-up museum – ask the public to bring their artifacts and share their stories • Walking tours of historic neighbourhoods, historic plaques • Back-of-house tours (opening ‘the vaults’) • Active participation in exhibit development • Social media posts from local historical figures or statues – engage the public in a discussion on local history • Collect oral histories • Visual Arts and Craft • Show your process – how do you stretch canvas? Make your paints? etc. • Create collaborative works with the public • Demos of techniques • Classes for different ages and skill levels • Artist talks • Matting & framing workshops • Makers fairs • ‘Make & Take’ art swap • Studio tours • Knit-ins and yarn bombing • Walking or bike tours of public art • ‘Plein Air’ workshops • Explore traditional art forms and techniques • Music • Conduct Us! – Invite the public to conduct your choir, orchestra or symphony • Instrument petting zoos • Open rehearsals • Sing-a-longs / sing-ins • Master classes • Webcast concert and hold a tweet chat with conductor, composer, etc. • Open mics • Jam sessions • Songwriting workshops • Recording sessions, sound engineering demos • Film and Video • Hands-on technique workshops i.e., stop-action, claymation • Silent film screening with live music • Special FX workshop or demo • Interactive green screen shoot • Screenings with Q&A’s by directors, actors, etc. • Set or studio tour • Exhibit vintage film and video equipment, processes etc. • Storyboarding workshop • Screen rare works • Outdoor/public space screenings • ‘Make a film in a day’ workshops • Culinary Arts • Tastings – wine, cheese, olive oil, etc. • Demos – crepe making, pasta making, etc. • Cooking, baking, or preserving workshops • Plating and presentation techniques • Decorative fruit and vegetable carving • Cupcake, cake or cookie decorating • Farm, brewery, or vineyard tours • Explore traditional food cultures – i.e., Chinese tea culture • Harvest festivals • Multidiscipline • Offer workshops on the different aspects of your practice – i.e., for an introduction to capoeira, offer classes in movement, music, history and Portuguese • Collaborate! • Have a musician interpret the work of a visual artist and vice versa – explore different musical and visual art styles • Have a writing group collaborate with a hiking group – poets compose site-specific poetry to be recited on a hike during Culture Days • Provide theatre or historical costumes for volunteers to model for a life drawing class • Hold an ‘action photography’ workshop with a dance class as the subject – post the photos online so dancers can have a memento of their class • Choose a theme or story nub and have it interpreted differently by artists of different artistic mediums • Have a dance class to live music – create entry points so the public can learn and participate in both the music making and the dancing Consider a community art project that allows everyone to get involved no matter their skill level or artistic discipline – for example ‘Communitrees’ invited everyone in Huron County to make unique works of art using living trees as their canvas. Together, they created a large-scale outdoor public art gallery! To a child, there is nothing more important than his or her own name. Using student names to teach letter recognition is a very powerful teaching tool. Names are very meaningful to children, therefore they are eager to learn to identify the letters in their own names first; it is very empowering and motivating for them. A child who is motivated and feels empowered about his or her own learning is going to learn more quickly and retain more than a child who is not.
