THE MYSTERIOUS TOM THOMSON!  |  PA Day for Kids! Monday, September 18, 2023 | 9 am – 4 pm Ages 4-12 Max 36 $70 no hst

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*Please note that this UGDSB PA Day is scheduled for a MONDAY. The Mysterious TOM THOMSON & CANOE LAKE! The Group of Seven's TOM T will lead the way this PA Day as we explore his art, his affection for our Northern Ontario landscapes and his mysterious disappearance on Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park!

DRAWING 101’s FOR KIDS! with Donna Hull 5 WEEK SATURDAY MORNING SERIES Saturdays, October 7 - November 4, 2023 9:30 - 12pm MAX. 15  |  Ages 8 + $150 for all 5 weeks  |  no hst  |  All materials provided. Wake up the weekend in an immersive morning with Donna Hull and learn the drawing 101’s from an art educator with more than 30 years of experience teaching, both in the classroom and beyond! This 5-week series will focus on the wonders of nature, drawing beautiful, organic shapes such as shells and rocks, mushrooms, and root vegetables for the first 3-4 weeks and finishing with their choice of a naturalistic animal portrait. A Deer or Hare! Fundamental Drawing skills are woven into each weekly lesson and home play exercises are encouraged! Our young artists will work on paper and be introduced to artist quality drawing materials and tools such as graphite sticks, mechanical erasers, tortillion blending sticks, kneadable erasers and more!

ART OF DARKNESS! Printmaking for Kids! | with Ray Fleming SUNDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2023  |  9:30 am - 12:00 pm AGES 8 and up |  MAX. 12 $35 (no hst)  |  All materials provided   Young printmakers! Join us for a morning of carving and lino block printing to create some DARK ART just in time for Hallowe’en! Artist Ray Fleming will guide you in the 101’s of printmaking and experience the magic of designing your own haunted black cat, dancing pumpkin, or dancing skeleton print. We will be using a carving tool, inking with a brayer, and pulling our own prints to save and share this October!

EDWARD GOREY'S HAUNTED ABC'S!  |  PA Day for Kids! Friday October 27, 2023  |  9 am – 4 pm Ages 4-12 Max 36 $70 no hst

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Love to draw? Join us for a day of illuminated old-timey pen and ink illustration! Inspired by American writer and gothic illustrator Edward Gorey’s "abcderia" The Gashlycrumb Tinies! We will explore the world of zines, fancy-fine-line drawing and dark humour in this day to celebrate the month of Octobrrrrr!

INside OUTside UPside Down!  |  PA Day for Kids! Friday, November 24, 2023  |  9 am – 4 pm Ages 4-12 Max 36 $70 no hst

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It’s ok to make a mistake! In fact, sometimes it’s the best thing about making art! We’ll HI-5 those artful accidents and embrace our inner randomness in a day filled with free-styling projects designed to let loose our inner Picasso’s!

HOLIDAY MAKERS!  |  SATURDAY MAKE & TAKE FOR KIDS!  |  3 WEEK SERIES with Alexa Collette Saturdays. December 2, 9, 16, 2023  |  1-3 pm Ages 7-12  |  Max 15 $90 no hst for all 3 weeks Join Guelph artist Alexa Collette for some Saturday afternoon artful making in our cheery classroom full of inspiring ideas! This 3-week series will be all about holiday creativity. Young artists will be encouraged to think about gifting and giving as a way to share their amazing imaginations with loved ones! Projects will include; making and decorating your own ornaments, designing and carving lino blocks to make hand-printed cards, and building mini cold-weather creature sculptures! All materials included.

WinterSLEEP!  |  PA Day for Kids! Friday, January 26, 2024  |  9 am – 4 pm Ages 4-12  |  Max 36 $70 no hst

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Burrowing, nesting, hibernating. Let’s explore how our animal-neighbours spend the coldest months of the year through art in a creative and cozy day designed to celebrate the Canadian winter in us!

MIXED-MEDIA ADVENTURES FOR KIDS!  with Emmi Boyle  |  4-week Media Collage Series Saturdays  |  February 3, 10, 17, 24, 2024 9:30 - 11:30 am  Ages 6-12  |  Max 12 $110 for all 4 weeks, no hst Guelph artist EMMI BOYLE brings her love for mixing-it-up with materials and hi-5 kid-energy to the Elora Centre for the Arts this winter for 6 weeks of massive imagin-ating in our MIXED MEDIA ADVENTURE collage series! Let your junior artist loose with Emmi to explore animal collage, printed fabric, cardboard cities, and printed fabric star garland! All materials provided.

DRAWING 201’s FOR KIDS!  |  with Donna Hull 4-WEEK SATURDAY AFTERNOON DRAWING BASICS February 17, February 24, March 2, March 9, 2024 1:00 - 3:00 PM Ages 7+  |  Max. 15 $100 for all 4 weeks, no hst 

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Warm up your winter SATURDAY AFTERNOONS with artist DONNA HULL for 4 fun-filled weeks designed for kids who love to draw! This series invites back our young artists from our Drawing 101 series and is also open to new junior-artists who wish to spread their wings and expand their drawing experience!

FLYING DRAGON!  | Acrylics for Kids with Katherine Olenic Sunday March 3, 2024  |  10 AM -12  PM Ages 8 +  |  Max. 12 $40 no hst 

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Back by popular dragon-demand! Let artist Katherine Olenic lead your junior artist in a fantasy- filled, vibrant DRAGON 11"x14" landscape on canvas. Katherine will discuss colour theory, composition, and guide artists in the use of acrylics.   A great way to start a fire-breathing Sunday morning! All materials included.

DEER IN THE FOREST for FAMILIES!   OIL PASTEL for KIDS & ADULTS with Katherine Olenic Sunday March 3, 2024  |  2 PM - 4 PM Ages 6 +|  Max. 8  $60 for 2  |  Ticket price includes one child and one adult

2 spots left

Join artist Katherine Olenic for some together-time for the artist in YOU and your YOUNG ARTIST.   This class is designed to bring kids and a parent, grandparent, or caregiver TOGETHER! Each big and little will work on their own DEER IN THE FOREST oil pastel on 11"x15" paper. Learn some great techniques and take home your work to hang them side by side to share your Sunday afternoon memories!

MARCH BREAK ART CAMP  |  Art History Time Machine!  Monday, March 11 –  Friday, March 15, 2024  9 am – 4 pm Ages 5-12  |  Max 36 $350 no hst  |  All materials provided 1 spot left Let’s time-warp our way through Art History with artists Rae, Alexa and Stephanie for a week of time-travelling ART Exploration! The old masters will meet their match when our young makers mix it up and learn some classic artmaking techniques! Try your hand at Mesopotamian Bas-Relief Prints. Byzantium Mosaics. Egg Tempera Animal Portraits. A Van Gogh Pop-Up. A Mixed Media canvas inspired by the Group of 7’s Lawren Harris! Get ready for a multi-media-mash-up week of creativity, fresh air play & friendship!

SPRING AWAKENING!  |  PA Day for Kids! Monday, April 8, 2024  |  9 am – 4 pm PA Day camp has been changed to Monday April 8, to align with UGDSB PA Day schedule.  Please contact programming@ecfta.ca if you have registered and would like a refund for the Friday, April 19 PA Day. If you have registered already for April 19, your spot is secure. Please join  us on Monday the 8th! Ages 4-12  |  Max 36 $70 no hst 1 spot left! Please email programming@ecfta.ca for a spot. April SHOWERS bring May FLOWERS in this creative-play-day featuring expressive watercolour painting and paper. Let’s spread our arms wide and welcome April, learn about the solar eclipse and let our creativity shine in our cheery Art Classroom and Maker Space!

The MIRROR ROOM in June!  | PA Day for Kids! Friday, June 7, 2024  |  9 am – 4 pm Ages 4-12  |  Max 36 $70 no hst one spot available! Join us for a colourful and cheery day discovering Yayoi Kusama’s magical world of PA Day POLKADOTS and MIRRORS! We’ll be focusing on pattern, repetition, and bending & shaping space & time, so get your noggin’ ready! http://www.yayoi-kusama.jp/

MICRO MINI MAKERS!  |  Miniature World Camp Tuesday, July 2 - Friday, July 5, 2024 (4 day camp) 9 am to 4 pm Ages 5-12  |  Max 36  |  $280 no hst   It’s a micro-art world week! Small hands can make great art in a week full of tiny builds, small-scale sculptures, and mini masterpieces! We will explore a mix-up of mediums all micro-focused on the miniature. It will be petite-week of pint-sized perfection! sold out

Mid-Century MINI MODERNISTS! | Young Designers Camp Monday, July 8 - Friday, July 12, 2024  9 am to 4 pm Ages 5-12  |  Max 36  |  $350 no hst  sold out! Get ready to think outside of the box! Modernist thinkers and artists pushed the boundaries of art making and new materials and so will we! We'll explore the modernist teachings of the Bauhaus and focus our skills on developing Paul Klee-inspired block printmaking; 3-D architectural sculptures in the style of Wassily Kandinsky’s landscapes; and a kinetic wall sculpture that would make Maholy-Nagy proud!

Beyond the STRATOSPHERE! | TECH+ART Camp Monday, July 15 - Friday, July 19, 2024  9 am to 4 pm  Ages 5-12  |  Max 36  |  $350 no hst  Campers! Let your  imagination go sky-high in this hi-octane art power pack week of science and art! Design and build your own model rocket throughout the week and turn them into kinetic flying works of art. On Friday, we’ll make sparks fly and launch our rockets into the sky for a ka-pow display of our creative genius! We will explore new worlds where young artists have never gone before!

POW! POP! PLAY! | POP-ART Power Camp Monday, July 22 - Friday, July 26, 2024 9 am to 4 pm  Ages 5-12  |  Max 36  |  $350 no hst  

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Explore the colourful KA-POW world of pop culture in this big bold week featuring some big-wigs of the POP Art world! Andy Warhol, Keith Herring, Jasper Johns and Roy Lichtenstein will come to visit and inspire a week full of eye-popping colour, bold design, printmaking, stencils, collage and paint!

MYSTERY Mansions! | DESIGN IT+BUILD IT! Camp Monday, July 29 - Friday, August 2, 2024 9 am to 4 pm  Ages 5-12  |  Max 36  |  $350 no hst  

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Roll up your sleeves this week and get ready to design + build a MANSION of monolithic proportions! We will be the designers, architects, and creators of our own collaborative mysterious build. Behind every door is a new mystery! In each room will have a secret to solve. From invisible ink messages, trap doors, and kinetic sculptures, we will create a mansion that will put the Winchester house to shame. Will you be able to find your way out of this mystery?

ABC’s + LMNOP’s | ALPHABET ART Camp for AGES 4-6! Tuesday, August 6 - Friday, August 9, 2024 (4 day camp) 9 am to 4 pm  Ages 4-6  |  Max 36  |  $280 no hst   sold out The alphabet offers 27 amazing opportunities to get creative! Let’s go all alphagetti this week and explore the world of the ABCDErian. We’ll learn about unusual words from other cultures, alphabets from around the world, night writing for the dark, and create our own personal alphabet font! This camp is designed for you youngest artists who are just entering their learning journey. Projects will be geared for our 4-6 year olds, with a day full of making fun and play. A great introduction to Summer Camp!

OUTDOOR Explorers! | PLEIN-AIR+MORE Camp Monday, August 12 - Friday, August 16, 2024  |  9 am to 4 pm  AGES 5-12  |  MAX 36  |  $350  |  No hst sold out Let’s break out of the studio this week and head outdoors for some plein air in the fresh air and learn about some earth-shaking art movements that embrace the environment and the earth beneath our feet! We’ll explore the tradition of plein air painting in the great outdoors, with a nod to the Group of Seven, and get some green-spiration from the Earth Art and Environmental Art movements.

MAGICAL Creatures! | DRAW + DOODLE Camp Tuesday, August 20 - Friday, August 23, 2024 (4 day camp)  |  9 am to 4 pm  Ages 5-12  |  Max 36  $280|  No hst   sold out If you love, doodling, drawing, toons, anime, story booking or story boarding, this camp is for you! Magical Creatures is a drawing-forward camp, focusing on pencil, ink, illustration markers, watercolour, fun fonts and text. This camp is perfect for the young illustrator in you!

Small HUMANS Big ART! | BIG IDEAS Camp Monday, August 26 - Friday, August 30, 2024   |  9 AM- to 4 PM Ages 5-12  |  Max 36  $350  |  No hst   sold out Small hands can make BIG work in this week of thinking big and making bigger! Let’s look at the world around us through a new lens…a magnifying lens! In this thinking-big week, young artists will create monstrously sized insects that glide over the classroom; explore printmaking with the bountiful patterns found in nature; and join in a collaborative mural that takes its inspiration from the abstracted chaos of Jackson Pollock mixed with a kid-made Rorschach test.

Drawing Basics is designed for older kids 10 and up who love to draw and want to learn some new skills! Young artists will learn how to draw from observation and how to translate what we see into drawing. Led by artist Eileen MacArthur, Eileen will guide the class in learning about line, value, and balance in composition. Artists will be experimenting with various wet and dry drawing material including graphite, charcoal, ink and watercolour.

SOLD OUT AGES 5-12  |  MAX 36   $70  |  No hst   Excite your October senses with fluorescent bolds and bright colours! Phosphorescence, luminescence and day-glo will be the theme of the day as we explore how artists use solid, bright colours and shapes to create ART with intensity! Let's explore abstraction, pop art and synthetic colours as we embrace a hyper method making art!

AGES 6-12  |  MAX 12 

$40  |  No hst  |  All materials provided

Young makers! Join Guelph artist Ahmri Vandeborne and learn how to book bind! Make your very own notebooks, journals and books in this playful Saturday afternoon, perfect for kids who like to journal, draw, or keep track of their discoveries when they’re exploring outside. We'll bind and decorate together and then explore the Elora Centre for the Arts to document all our discoveries in these brand-new, hand-made pocket books. Artists will leave the class with the skills to keep making their own special books for all their favourite activities!

AGES 5-12  |  MAX 36    $70  |  No hst Let’s explore the wild and wonderful surreal world of Salvadore Dali through his mysterious Melting Clocks landscapes! Young artists will learn about weird world of Surrealism and how artists use dreams to create strange artworks with hidden meanings. We will also be looking at some of the methods artists use to express complex ideas, such as frottage and finding images in abstract marks. Get ready to dally with Dali!

Give your kiddos’ school break a creative kickstart to the New Year before they head back to school!

Join artist Alexa Collette on Thursday and Friday for 2 snow-inspired days exploring mixed-media, paint and clay, to create their own imagined winter-worlds filled with snowy landscapes and captivating creatures! Ages 6-12.

Artist Eileen MacArthur is back in the ECFTA classroom to lead a fast and fun, art-packed introduction to the basics of painting for young artists ages 8 +.

Eileen will offer guidance in observational painting techniques, transfer-methods, colour theory, value, brush handling and composition, and how to break a painting down into more manageable parts!

Art-up your Saturdays in a playful afternoon of drawing with artist Donna Hull! Learn the 101’s of drawing from an art educator with more than 30 years of experience teaching in the classroom and beyond!  This 4-week series will focus on a visit from LIVE ANIMALS, the wonders of nature, drawing organic shapes and artist's choice of a naturalistic animal portrait, Owl or Horse! FEB 15, 22, MARCH 1, 8

IMAGINING IS BELIEVING March Break Camp!

A week where creativity knows no bounds. A place to dream, to believe, and to inspire. Where imaginations can run wild, where possibilities are endless, and art comes alive! For ages 5-12.