HG Youth Arts
HG: Youth Arts is a one-week pop-up community-led arts space developing practical art making and exhibiting skills in 12–25-year-old creative young folk across the Southern Grampians Shire Council.
Designed collaboratively between Hamilton Gallery, Brophy, YUMCHA and professional artist/curator Melissa Grisansich, HG: Youth Arts will host two hands-on workshops and one public participatory celebration event designed to leave a legacy for our youth to feel empowered and skilled to lead community-run artistic spaces, opening pathways into diverse and creative careers.
The Pop-up Youth Gallery exhibition space takes place over the empty premises on the corner of Gray Street and Brown Street in Hamilton.
The two FREE workshops can be booked below but spaces are limited. Please contact our team if you need assistance booking in!
Events
Tues 26th September – 10am – 2pm
Workshop: Intro to Acrylic Painting
Join Archibald Prize finalist Melissa Grisancich to learn how to paint op-shop still lifes!
Classically trained in oil painting techniques and with over 15 years of experience in acrylic paint, Melissa is a celebrated artist/curator whose style is often described as ‘…pop meets Frida Kahlo’. Melissa’s work is very personal and autobiographical, reflecting her interest in street art, iconography, symbolism, imagery from old children’s books, vintage ephemera and 60’s/70’s poster art.
To develop this fun-filled beginner-friendly still life painting workshop, YUMCHA, local LGBTQIA+ youth advocates, have trawled op-shops to curate a selection of treasures to create unique vignettes alongside artworks from Hamilton Gallery’s collection of over 9,000 artworks.
You will learn colour mixing, paint & pigments, tonal and ground techniques, using still life as a reference, materials and mediums.
Wed 27th September – 10am – 2pm
Workshop: Intro to Exhibiting Art
Join Melissa Grisancich, creator and curator of Melbourne’s beloved women-empowering Spring Time series to learn how to exhibit art!
With a resume boasting years of artistic range as a curator, designer, screen printer, sculptor and painter, Melissa has gained significant knowledge for creating and presenting art that they will generously share with our youth in this hands-on technical and curatorial workshop.
Using artworks created in the Introduction to Acrylic Painting Workshop the day before, budding hybrid curator/technical students will transform these artworks from a series of seemingly individual works into a cohesive spatial narrative through expert guidance.
You will learn curatorial theory, how to prepare canvases for hanging, installation, care & restorative techniques for gallery walls.
Thurs 28th September – 4pm – 6pm
Exhibition Opening Celebration
A relaxed, youth-led celebration event inviting the wider community in to view the exhibition painted, curated and installed by local young folk as part of the HG Youth Arts Pop-Up.
This fun, interactive public participatory art afternoon is for all – draw, create and eat delicious food whilst young creatives take over Hamilton’s CBD in a bold expression of identity and self.
This exhibition celebration is free to attend and all are welcome with no need to book in advance.
Come to see the fruits of the earlier workshops, to meet the talented artist leading the program and to mingle with artistic young people and the broader creative community!
Photo by Michael Danischewski.
Exhibition Open – Public Viewing
Sat 30th Sep – Sun 1st Oct
10am – 2pm daily
The completed exhibition is free to visit and open to the public from Saturday 30th September to Sunday 1st October from 10am to 2pm.
Enjoy the fantastic works produced in the week’s hands-on workshops and celebrate the artistic talent of our region’s young people.
About the Artist
Classically trained in oil painting techniques and with over 15 years of experience in acrylic paint, Melissa is a celebrated artist/curator whose style is often described as ‘…pop meets Frida Kahlo’.
Melissa’s work is very personal and autobiographical, reflecting her interest in street art, iconography, symbolism, imagery from old children’s books, vintage ephemera and 60’s/70’s poster art.
About Barking Spider Creative
In one word – Story.
Barking Spider is all about Story.
Their job is to enable the sharing and telling of stories – and to create the platforms for their telling. Stories can come from communities, from individuals, from the young and from the old. Stories can also be shared from beyond the grave – through objects, sites, geography and through collections & histories.
Barking Spider Visual Theatre creatively and theatrically interprets sites, stories, objects and collections.
Barking Spider Visual Theatre began in 2006, as a Melbourne-based multi-art form company. Now based in Colac Otway Shire, the company is developing and creating stories with art forms such as puppetry, percussion, art-installation, animation/film, sound installation and live performance.
In this one-off collaboration with Hamilton Gallery, the extraordinary experiences created for young visitors are inspired by the stories inherent in our current exhibition, which celebrates 50 years of the Friends of Hamilton Gallery.
“Barking Spider transform the ordinary into the extraordinary,
inspiring awe, joy and wonder with meaningful beauty.”
– Artistic Director, Penelope Bartlau
