MTG: Hooray, hooray, it's a Bay school holiday

Laura Vodanovich

Here we are in another school holidays already.

As always, we've a range of exhibitions and activities to interest children at the museum.

Something that's been a huge hit with our younger viewers is the Bottled Ocean 2118 exhibition by artist George Nuku.

A number of school groups had the opportunity to participate in workshops with George, creating artwork from plastic bottles that then went on display in the exhibition.

Many of these students returned on weekends with their parents and whānau to proudly show them the final product.

Your children can experience this creative challenge with a school holiday workshop led by our talented educators, where participants turn bottles into their choice of a sea creature, pencil jar of bird feeder.

We've had lots of great feedback from adults about the Bottled Ocean 2118 exhibition as well – so it's certainly something all generations are enjoying.

Targeted for children, our ever popular activity trail has had a revamp for the holidays to include new galleries and displays, and the Drop-In-Zone will be operating again throughout the holidays.

The Drop-In-Zone, for those who haven't used it before, is a space where children and adults can do craft activities, read books and it's also a place to relax and take a breather.

We have our art display space back in the front foyer so artworks made in the Drop-In-Zone can be proudly put on display to share with other visitors.

These holidays we're also offering four school holiday programmes.

These fun two-hour activities let children explore their creativity with a range of options – painting kōwhaiwhai patterns, beginner printmaking, stop motion animation and virtual reality, or plastic fantastic (upcycling bottles into artwork).

For the plastic fantastic programme we ask you to bring two clean plastic bottles, for all the other programmes materials are provided.

See a glimpse of Victorian life by visiting the House of Webb exhibition, which shares the stories of the Webb family's journey from Stockingford, England, to Ormondville, Hawke's Bay.

Learn about the challenges of sea travel at that time, discover the rat in our animation of a painting, watch writing appear on the walls and see the way children amused themselves during that era.

Explore your theatrical and dance side in the Nyree Dawn Porter exhibition, with ballet costumes to try on, with a ballet barre and mirror to strike a pose.

Visitors love this experience and it's been wonderful seeing the range of people, regardless of age and gender, enjoying this fun activity.

If you or your child enjoy dress up and taking a photo don't miss the black and white-themed Art Deco dress up spot downstairs by the 1931 Hawke's Bay Earthquake gallery.

With a variety of accessories, a backdrop of the Marine Parade and a period-style bench, you can certainly get into the spirit and take a photo memory home with you.

• Painting kōwhaiwhai patterns, holiday programme. Tuesday, October 2, 10am-12pm. $15 – please register to secure a place.

• Curators Talk, join Social History Curator Gail Pope for a talk on the House of Webb exhibition. Tuesday, October 2, 11am, meet in front foyer. Free event.

• Penmanship workshop, look at the styles of Spencer and Palmer and learn the basics of British Roundhand, taught during the 1800s. Tuesday, October 2 , 5.30pm-7.30pm. $30 (Friends of MG $25), materials provided.

• Printmaking for beginners, holiday programme. Thursday, October 4, 10am-12pm. $15 – please register to secure a place.

• CMNZ Concert Trout, Piers Lane & Hiroshi Ikematsu, with members of the NZSQ programmed alongside Schubert and Rossini. CMNZ commissioned Ross Harris to write a meditation on the trout fishing near Turangi. Century Theatre, Sunday, October 7, 5pm. Tickets available from Ticketek.

• Stop Motion Animation & Virtual Reality, holiday programme. Tuesday, October 9, 10am-12pm. $20 – please register to secure a place.

• Plastic fantastic, holiday programme upcyling bottles into artwork. Thursday, October 11, 10am-12pm. $10 – please register to secure a place.

• Lace Tour, join our collections team to explore lace in the collection. Thursday, October 11, 11am. Please register to secure your place and receive venue location details. Spaces are limited. Free event

• To register for any event please contact MTG Hawke's Bay phone: 835 7781 email: info@mtghawkesbay.com or visit MTG reception.

• Laura Vodanovich is the director of the Museum Theatre Gallery (MTG) Hawke's Bay.