In this new program for 10- to 12-year-olds, participants will be invited to explore a wide range of artistic mediums, including painting, illustration, printmaking, sculpture, model making, and textile art. In continuity with our flagship programs for 4- to 9-year-olds, preteens will also be introduced to an artist of the week, allowing them to engage with an artistic practice in a more mature and in-depth way.

Each day, they will create and experiment with a project inspired by the works of the week’s featured artist, while participating in playful cultural mediation activities that help them discover these iconic creators. A weekly drawing class will further strengthen their technical skills and sense of observation.

Every week, the group will take part in an outing to a Montreal museum related to the featured artist’s practice. Possible destinations include the Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum of Natural History, the Museum of Architecture, or the Museum of Contemporary Art. A local artist represented in our boutique will also meet with the children to share their artistic approach and experience.

The week will be punctuated with free time at La Fontaine Park or atop Mount Royal, where participants can enjoy time together, sketch in their notebooks, or simply take in Montreal’s natural surroundings.

This week, preteens will explore the miniature and richly detailed world of Karine Giboulo, a Quebec artist known for her vibrant installations filled with small characters and intricate models. Through her work, Karine portrays human society with whimsy: serious and sometimes tragic, yet always perceptive and never defeatist. Her multicolored worlds, populated with tiny figures in motion, become stages for social issues where big questions unfold with playful flights of imagination.

Inspired by her practice, participants will create their own models of an imaginary world along with characters sculpted in clay or modeling clay, while being introduced to concepts of volume and three-dimensional composition. A cultural mediation session will explore the role of models and miniatures in art, also referencing the stop-motion films of Aardman Animations, renowned for their clay creations such as Wallace & Gromit.

To enrich their experience, children will visit the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art to discover works from the city’s vibrant contemporary art scene.