Family fun: Become the artwork!

Family fun: Become the artwork! is on at Aberdeen Art Gallery on Monday 19 October, from 10.30am to 4.00pm. It's a hands-on workshop for children, run with staff and students from Gray's School of Art, and the whole thing is free and drop-in.

The premise is simple: the children wear colourful boiler suits and spend the session exploring shape, colour and movement by sticking, layering and building bold forms directly onto them. It's a session inspired by Bauhaus design and Gray's School of Art's teaching legacy, so the focus is on the basics of form and colour rather than anything too precious. The kids aren't just making something to take home; they're turning themselves into the artwork.

There's a bit of weight to the setting, too. The gallery was designed in the neo-classical style by Alexander Marshall Mackenzie and opened in 1885, and it houses one of the finest collections in the country, spanning more than 700 years of art and recognised as a Collection of National Significance. It was extended in the 1920s with Cowdray Hall concert venue, the interior Remembrance Hall and the exterior Cenotaph, all by the original architect. Between 2015 and 2019, it went through a major redevelopment led by Hoskins Architects, supported by Aberdeen City Council and the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

So, you've got a Bauhaus-inspired workshop for kids happening inside a gallery with over seven centuries of art around it. It runs from 10.30am to 4.00pm on Monday 19 October, it's free, and you can just drop in.