2025-26 school programs
October 1, 2025 to April 30, 2026
Offered free of charge. Virtual school programs are available Monday to Friday, from 8 am to 6 pm ET (8 am to 8 pm ET on Thursdays). Webinars must be booked at least four weeks in advance. To participate, you’ll need access to a computer, webcam, microphone, speakers, projector and a wired Internet connection. Please also ensure that students have paper and pencils at the ready as a short drawing activity is included in each program.
Program
Descriptions
People and
Relationships
How do artists communicate without words? In this guided experience, students will consider how body language and facial expressions convey messages that are open to interpretation and analysis.
Kindergarten Grades 1–3 Grades 4–6
Gallery
Highlights
Which artworks do visitors remember and talk about long after they visit? Students will learn about some of the Gallery’s most iconic works in this engaging and interactive experience.
Grades 4–6 Grades 7–12 / Secondary I–V
Indigenous
Expressions
First Nations, Métis and Inuit artists from Turtle Island/North America have been creating since time immemorial. In this facilitated program, students will be introduced to Indigenous artwork so that they may appreciate the worldviews of First Nations, Métis and Inuit artists, past and present.
Grades 4–6 Grades 7–12 / Secondary I–V
Highlights from the Indigenous and Canadian Collection
The Indigenous and Canadian Collection presents a broad range of artworks that date from time immemorial to today and includes artistic practices that operate outside the established western canons of art history. In this guided program, students will consider some of the iconic artworks that give voice to the artists’ visions.
Grades 4–6 Grades 7–12 / Secondary I–V
Signs and
Symbols in Art
The language of art can be a mysterious blend of signs and symbols. In this facilitated experience, students will decode and discuss the visual language that artists use to communicate ideas.
Grades 7–12 / Secondary I–V
Why
Photography?
American photographer Ansel Adams said: “Not everybody trusts paintings, but people believe photographs”. In this guided program, students will consider the Gallery’s rich and diverse collection of fine art photography – ranging from daguerreotypes to digital prints – and learn how artists manipulate the medium.
Grades 7–12 / Secondary I–V
Experience Nick Sikkuark’s fun and creepy illustrations and carvings, which include creatures and story elements from his life in the North, his time in the South, and his adventures around the world. In this program, students will have the chance to be inspired by Sikkuark’s imaginative artworks and get a glimpse into his perspective through his choice of visually interesting materials from the land.
Learn more about the exhibition Nick Sikkuark: Humour and Horror ᓂᑯᓚ ᓯᑯᐊ. ᐃᒡᓚᕐᓇᖅᑐᑦ ᐊᒻᒪ ᑲᑉᐱᐊᓇᖅᑐᑦ.
Kindergarten Grades 1-3 Grades 4–6
Encounter Nick Sikkuark’s creations through his illustrations, literature and sculptures. Learn about the everyday elements that inspired him as well as his interests in the bizarre, miniaturization and amplification and, most essentially, humour and horror. An Interpreter will guide you through the artist’s visual storytelling, in which the same creatures, elements and iconography reappear. Sikkuark’s art will leave you with a sense of anticipation as to where his characters will turn up next.
Learn more about the exhibition Nick Sikkuark: Humour and Horror ᓂᑯᓚ ᓯᑯᐊ. ᐃᒡᓚᕐᓇᖅᑐᑦ ᐊᒻᒪ ᑲᑉᐱᐊᓇᖅᑐᑦ.
Grades 7–12 / Secondary I–V
Winter Count:
Embracing the Cold
NEW
November 25, 2025 to March 20, 2026
Duane Linklater, wintercount_215_kisepîsim (detail), 2022. Linen canvas, cochineal, orange pekoe tea, charcoal, sumac, cotton thread, blueberry dye, dimensions variable. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Purchased 2023. © Duane Linklater. Photo: Steven Cottingham. Courtesy Catriona Jeffries, Vancouver
Winter Count delves into the connections between art by Indigenous Peoples, Canadian settlers and Europeans, all of whom share a fascination with winter. In this guided program, students will explore winter-themed art by these groups and discover points of contact and difference in painting, photography, clothing and more.
Learn more about the exhibition Winter Count: Embracing the Cold
Grades 1-3 Grades 4–6 Grades 7–12 / Secondary I–V