The Art Gallery and Museum provides fun and interactive learning programmes to suit school groups of all ages. School visits are tailored to meet the needs of students through facilitated discussions, hands-on activities and engagement with real experiences. Contact our educator to book your visit.
If you are wanting resources on particular topics for your kura do contact me. Between our archives, collections and resources we have a vast wealth of information about our local history and visual art.
All programmes have been tailored to suit
- Years 1- 3
- Year 4-6
- Year 7-10
Senior secondary programmes and resources are created to suit particular standards on request.
What's on this term
The Word Witch - Flights of Fancy, David Elliot
Curriculum Links: Visual Arts | English
Dates | 07 March – 23 August
Term 1 Week 6 - Term 3 Week 5
Time: 60-90 minutes
Witching Words | Poetry competition
We invite students to explore this exuberant exhibition of David Elliot’s illustrations and Margaret Mahy’s poems.
Students will use this inspiration to compose poems to enter into our Witching Words competition. Selected poems will be published fortnightly in The Ashburton Courier from April 16 onwards. The competition finishes on August 23 with a poetry event where entries will be judged by David Elliot.
Image: David Elliot, The Word Witch, Inside Cover, 2008-2009, mixed media illustration on paper.
Documenting our Heritage, Photo Competition
Curriculum Links | Visual Art, Social Science
Dates | 22 March – 17 May
Term 1 Week 8 - Term 2 Week 4
Time: 60-90 minutes
Tūhura | Explore
Students will examine submitted photographs of heritage sites around Mid and South Canterbury, exploring our regional history and the significance of place.
Waihanga | Create
Ākonga will create their own finished collage artworks using images of historical maps and sites.
This can be adapted to suit a range of ages and curriculum needs.
Image: Aigantighe Art Gallery, Timaru District. Courtesy of Heritage New Zealand Pouhere Taonga or HNZPT
In Plain Site: Memorials and their stories
Curriculum Links | Social Science
Dates | 22 March – 17 May
Term 1 Week 8 - Term 2 Week 5
Time: 60-90 minutes
Tūhura | Explore
From traditional monuments to functional buildings, and even living memorials, this walking tour asks - what do these sites of memory tell us about our town and district? What do they commemorate, and for whom?
Ako | Learn
Students will learn how to orient themselves with a map while discovering diverse stories about the people, events, and changes that have been important to Ashburton community.
Image: Colourview postcard. Ashburton War Memorial, also shows former Ashburton Borough (District) Council building, circa 1974-1980s.
Nocturne, Kara Burrowes and Charrette van Eekelen
Curriculum Links | Visual Art
Dates | 02 May – 21 June
Term 2 Week 3 - Term 2 Week 9
Time: 60-90 minutes
Tūhura | Explore
In this intriguing exhibition, students will explore how a concept like ‘night,’ in which the familiar world softens and shifts, can be conveyed through textiles, colours, and shapes.
Waihanga | Create
Ākonga will learn techniques to create their own artwork using a range of fabric and mixed media, expressing the moods and images conjured by night in a personal way.
Image: Kara Burrowes, To Keep Me Safe, wooden frame and found objects
Painting New Zealand, Ian Scott
Curriculum Links | Visual Art | Art History
Dates | 02 May – 21 June
Term 2 Week 3 - Term 2 Week 9
Time: 60-90 minutes
Tūhura | Explore
Ākonga have a rare opportunity to view previously unseen and rarely seen works by the important New Zealand artist, Ian Scott (1945–2013). Scott’s varied approaches to painting are showcased in this travelling exhibition developed by the New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata – a blend of portraiture, landscape, text, reproduction and abstraction across a 30-year career.
Ako | Learn
We will explore the range of genres and techniques that Scott employs, allowing students to develop and articulate their own opinions. These works also invite conversations about the New Zealand art history that is often quoted within Scott’s paintings.
Waihanga | Create
Students will learn about Scott’s painting techniques to craft their own vibrant pop art paintings. This can be adapted to suit a range of ages.
Image: Ian Scott, Sacred Hill, 2004, acrylic and silkscreen on canvas. Collection of the Ian Scott Estate.
the cuckoo sings for me, for the mountain, Noel Meek
Curriculum Links | Visual Art | Social Science
Dates | 02 May – 21 June
Term 2 Week 3 - Term 2 Week 9
Time: 60-90 minutes
Tūhura | Explore
Noel Meek's installation combines music, video, and photography to present coal as an 'object of care'. Meek explores his own ancestral links to coalmining, as well as raising questions about Aotearoa’s complex relationship to this rock.
Ako | Learn
In this exhibition, students will explore coal as an object of care, symbolising Meek’s ancestral links to New Zealand coalmining, as well as inviting discussions about Aotearoa’s complex relationship to this material.
Activities can be adapted to suit a range of ages, and these could be a particularly interesting way to approach topics around our local and national history of coal mining.
Image: Noel Meek, Coal Score (intimacy), 2025, digital image
Puaka Matariki: Matariki Herenga Waka
Curriculum Links | Te Ao Māori | Community Celebration
Dates | 30 May – 16 August
Term 2 Week 7 - Term 2 Week 11
Time: 60-90 minutes
Tūhura | Explore
Our exhibition reflects the 2026 national theme Matariki herenga waka – For everyone. In this immersive experience using projections of stars and water, we have collaborated with one of our local kura to decorate voyaging waka that ‘sail’ through our space, creating a mooring place for all canoes inside the museum.
Waihanga | Create
After viewing the space and learning about the stars found within the constellation of Te Waka o Raki, including those of Matariki, students will decorate and make their own waka to take home.
Caught in the Moment - Guardian Photographs of 1976
Curriculum Links | Visual Art
Dates | 30 May – 06 September
Term 2 Week 7 - Term 3 Week 8
Time: 60-90 minutes
Tūhura | Explore
A selection of images from this large collection of scanned photographic negatives will take us on a journey across all aspects of life in our district 50 years ago. Some images made the daily paper, but most did not and have never been seen before.
Ako | Learn
Looking at these images, we discuss which moments in time Guardian photographers chose to capture around Whakatere Ashburton and why. We will also explore our collection of vintage cameras so students can learn more about the history of photography.
Waihanga | Create
Using the photographs as prompts, students will create their own newspaper articles based on what might have been happening. This can be adapted to suit a range of ages and abilities, and may be of particular interest to senior photography students.
Image from the Ashburton Guardian negative collection, 1 April 1976.
Ashburton Society of Arts 62nd Annual Exhibition
Curriculum Links | Visual Art
Dates | 07 July – 02 August
Term 3 Week 1 - Term 3 Week 2
Time: 60-90 minutes
Tūhura | Explore
The Ashburton Society of Arts exhibition showcases a wide variety of work from our local arts society. Ākonga will enjoy exploring the many different approaches to visual art and self-expression.
Waihanga | Create
Combined with a tour of our Matariki exhibition, this will be a wonderful way to facilitate discussions about how creativity can be used as part of a community, expressing people’s cultures and whakapapa in a group environment.
Potion, Anita DeSoto
Curriculum Links | Art History | History
Dates | 04 July – 30 August
Term 3 Week 1 - Term 3 Week 6
Time: 60-90 minutes
Tūhura | Explore
We will assess the ways in which Anita DeSoto re-imagines the paintings of the Baroque masters - in this exhibition, the works of Flemish artist Jacques Jordaens - creating new versions of Jordaen’s stories through a feminist lens.
Ako | Learn
Students will compare and contrast images of Jordaen’s paintings with DeSoto’s re-inventions, analysing what has been changed and why.
Waihanga | Create
Using this as a guide, ākonga will create their own re-imaginings of historical artwork.
Image: Anita DeSoto, Red Potion, 2024, oil on linen
Panthalassa, Natchez Hudson
Curriculum Links | Science | Social Science | Visual Art
Dates | 15 August – 18 October
Term 3 Week 5 - Term 4 Week 1
Time: 60-90 minutes
Tūhura | Explore
In re-orienting or disrupting dramatic alpine images, Hudson allows viewers to reimagine their own relationship to the land and draws our attention to the climate crisis.
Ako | Learn
Through exploring these works, students will learn about the dramatic alpine landscapes of Kā Tiriti o te Moana, the Southern Alps, looking at the geology of their formation, as well as what makes them precious to us.
Waihanga | Create
Students will create their own paintings of local landscapes and develop 3-D sculptures from them, drawing inspiration from Hudson’s varied approaches. This can be adapted to a range of age levels and subject links.
Image: Natchez Hudson, Pangaea (Cistecephalus II) (detail), 2021, cast acrylic, bamboo ply and acrylic paint on board. Image courtesy of the artist.
Nature’s Symphony: A Visual Journey through our Forests, Marilyn Rea-Menzies
Curriculum Links | Textiles Technology | Visual Art | Literacy
Dates | 15 August – 18 October
Term 3 Week 5 - Term 4 Week 1
Time: 60-90 minutes
Tūhura | Explore
Weaver Marilyn will be using textile art to bring attention to the beauty of our native bush and forests, raising awareness of their diversity and value.
Ako | Learn
Both this exhibition and Natchez Hudson’s use innovative approaches to the natural world to draw attention to its beauty, and to our precarious relationship with it. Students can compare and contrast these approaches and discuss what care for the natural world might look like.
Waihanga | Create
Students will use mixed media and textiles to respond to their local environment.
Image: Marilyn Rea-Menzies, Lichen 1, 2020, handwoven tapestry: cotton warp, wool weft. Image courtesy of the artist.
Sharing Histories: Gifts of 2025
Curriculum Links | Social Sciences
Dates | 22 August – 22 November
Term 3 Week 5 - Term 4 Week 7
Time: 60-90 minutes
Tūhura | Explore
Ākonga will explore some of the treasured objects, archives and photographs that joined the Ashburton Museum and Historical Society collection in 2025–2026 and investigate the significance of these taonga to Whakatere Ashburton.
Ako | Learn
The process of acquiring items for a museum collection has many steps and considerations, and students will be asked to consider why museums choose to collect the items that they do. Students can create their own acquisition sheet for objects they would like to see preserved.
Image: Khaki pith helmet. Belonged to John Morgan of Ashburton. AMHS Collection.
Ashburton District Council Ceramics
Curriculum Links | Visual Art
Dates | 05 September – March 2027
Term 3 Week 7 - Term 1 2027
Time: 60-90 minutes
Tūhura | Explore
Students will explore our communal taonga that has been collected over many decades by the Ashburton Council. We look at how and why artworks are considered precious, and get inspired by these beautiful pieces.
Waihanga | Create
Students will create their own precious vessels from earthenware clay, which we will fire. All materials are provided.
Image: Front: Steve James, 'Vase', c.1983, wood-fired salt glaze pottery. Collection of Ashburton District Council.
Rear: Mirek Smisek, 'Manakau', c.1970, salt glaze pottery. Collection of Ashburton District Council.
Solo Exhibition, Heather Sarin
Curriculum Links | Visual Art
Dates | 05 September – 04 October
Term 3 Week 8 - Term 3 Week 10
Time: 60-90 minutes
Tūhura | Explore
Explore local artist Heather Sarin new works in her signature vibrant colours.
Waihanga | Create
After examining Sarin’s work, Ākonga will create their own vibrant paintings, using colour as a form of self-expression.
Heather Sarin, Our Connection to the Natural World, 2026, mixed media on recycled cotton. Image courtesy of the artist.
Icon: 50 Years of the Ashburton Clock Tower
Curriculum Links | Social Science | Engineering | History
Dates | 12 September – 29 November
Term 3 Week 9 - Term 4 Week 7
Time: 60-90 minutes
Tūhura | Explore
This exhibition celebrates the 50th birthday of our town clock tower, an icon of Whakatere Ashburton through the decades.
Ako | Learn
In this exhibition, students will learn about the clock’s former life inside the Ashburton Post Office building, the building’s demolition and long storage of the clock until it was given a new life inside today’s award-winning clock tower, built to celebrate 100 years of local government.
Image: Presentation of Ashburton Clock Tower to the Borough by County Council, 1976. AMHS Collection.
Permanent programmes
Living on the Land: Tākata Whenua o Hakatere
Social Science | Mahika Kai | Science
Learn about the area as it was used by tākata whenua – explore how natural resources were used for food and clothing, and the importance of Mahika kai. This workshop includes handling items from our collection, and can easily be transported to your classroom.
Extend this with a harakeke weaving workshop, learning about the tikanga and history of this precious plant while making a small craft to take home.
Harakeke will be provided depending on seasonal availability, with paper weaving as a substitute.
Rocks and Fossils
Science | Geology | Biology | Investigation
Learn about the geology of the district through a collection of our rocks and fossils which are found in surprising places around us. This can be adapted to primary schools.
Years 0-9: Use hands-on experiences of fossils to develop observational and critical skills, and to introduce ākonga to concepts such as geology, evolution, and time-scales
Years 10-13: Use evidence from these fossils to explore patterns of speciation and changes in geology
Exploring Printmaking
Intaglio | Woodcut | Screenprint | Lithograph
A selection of prints from our collection, including Many Uncoded Factors by Michael Armstrong which showcase and highlight different types of printmaking. Start a printmaking journey making monoprints. This can lead on to printmaking workshops.
This can be adapted to all year levels
Image: Nigel Brown, Moon's ocean, 1996, lithograph
Ng King Bros. Chinese Market Gardens
Multi-culturalism | Immigration | Social Science
Learn about the Ng King Bros. Chinese Market Garden site and glimpse inside this amazing piece of history that gives insight into both Chinese market gardening operations, as well as providing a social history of settlers who migrated to New Zealand, how they lived, contributed to and integrated into New Zealand society.
Whakatere Ashburton History
History | Social Science | Local knowledge
Take a guided tour through the geography and history of the Ashburton district, then let students work on their own observation skills with a scavenger hunt
Year levels: 0-8: This picture and word-based scavenger hunt through the museum gives us a brief overview of the district.
Year levels 9-13: A more in-depth scavenger hunt builds students’ language and research skills.
ESOL students: This scavenger hunt includes pre-visit vocabulary activities
Liquid Gold: Irrigation
Social Science | Literacy | Geography
Water has had a huge impact on all aspects of the Canterbury Plains Kā Pākihi-whakatekateka-a-Waitaha. Learn about and explore how water has moved throughout the district and enabled agriculture to grow.
This can be extended with a writing activity, where students report on an important milestone in the development of our irrigation system by researching and developing their own news article.
Natural Disaster History
Social Science | Response to disaster | Drama
Using props and costumes from our collection, create a role play to dramatize the travels of a correspondent who wrote a story for the Lyttleton Times about crossing the Ashburton river by coach during the dramatic flood of 1868.
This interactive activity brings history to life, while also allowing comparisons about disaster preparedness between the past and now.
Survivor WW1 Game
History | Interactive game | Problem solving | Social science
Years 3-9: The Survivor WW1 Game, provides a social, interactive, kinesthetic learning experience through experiential learning that “brings to life” the statistics, campaigns and artefacts of the NZ WW1 soldier.
Experimenting with Paint
Oil | Acrylic | Watercolour | Mixed Media
Experiment with various painting approaches and media through looking at paintings from our collection like Let that River by Jenna Packer
This can be adapted to all year levels
Image: Jenna Packer, Let that River (detail), 2018, acrylic on aluminium. Ashburton Art Gallery Inc. collection.
The making of The Moon and Farmer McPhee
After reading the story, we will explore the process and experience of working with Margaret Mahy that David has shared with us to create this wonderful story. We see planning sketches, the original artwork as well as the book
Play with clay!
In collaboration with the Hakatere Ceramic Studios, students can design and create their own pottery pieces, learning about the properties of clay and the process and history of glazing and firing along the way.
Materials and the costs of firing are provided by the gallery
Years 0-8: Create a vessel based around an animal of your choice
Year 9-13: Students examine the history of hand-building ceramics, looking at a range of spiritual, physical, cultural, historical, and technological settings. They then build their own vessel of significance, to embody their ideas, feelings, and actions.
Image: Work by a senior student from Ashburton Christian School.
Domain Tales
History | Navigation | Map-reading | Local geography
Take a guided walk through the domain using a map from 1937 and historical photographs. Compare and contrast changes over time while developing our navigation skills.
Tell us your interests
Do you have an idea for a learning programme at Ashburton Art Gallery and Museum?
Our educator can design a creative learning experience tailored to the needs and interests of your early childhood, primary and secondary school groups. Simply, contact us with your idea and we will work together to create a programme for your students.
Planning a visit
Materials:
All materials for workshops at the Gallery and Museum and at schools will be provided unless stated otherwise. School visits will require schools to provide a projector and full classroom space.
Ratios:
For visiting the Gallery and Museum, we recommend organising an adult to student ratio of:
– 1:5 for Years 0-3
– 1:8 for Years 4-8
– 1:15 for Years 9-10
– 1:30 for Years 11-13
If would be helpful if teachers are able to carry a class register in the case of an emergency.
Arriving at the Gallery and Museum:
The Ashburton Art Gallery and Museum is located on 327 West Street. The Gallery is situated on the first floor and the Museum is on the ground floor. If you are planning to arrive before 10:00am, please inform a Gallery and Museum staff member so they are able to let you into the building. The doors automatically open at 10:00am. For everyone’s enjoyment please ensure that students demonstrate respect to our other visitors.
Help us protect the exhibitions at the Gallery and Museum:
If possible we would advise leaving bags at school, however, if necessary bags can be left in the Learning Centre on arrival. Food and drink are not permitted in the Gallery and Museum spaces. However, food can be consumed in the Learning Centre area if needed. No pens or sharp objects are allowed in the Gallery and Museum spaces. Please let the Gallery and Museum staff know if you wish to photograph the artwork, teachers are more than welcome to take pictures of their students in the Gallery and Museum spaces and Learning Centre. Please emphasise to students the importance of not touching any artworks or objects on display. We don’t mind talking and noise in the Gallery and Museum but for safety reasons, we do not allow running in the foyer or exhibition spaces.
Risk Assessment and Management (RAMs):
Please download and read.
Publicity:
Gallery and Museum staff love documenting school visits so please advise us if your students do not wish to be photographed.