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Take a guided tour through He Kapuka Oneone—A Handful of Soil, which explores the relationship between tākata and whenua – people and land – through Aotearoa New Zealand’s art history. Students will think about identity, place, history and belonging in Aotearoa before creating an artwork inspired by their own name in the Education Centre.

Download our Ko wai tōu ikoa? pre-visit worksheet

Take a look at a range of sculptures and installations on display in the Gallery during a guided tour with your students. Students will think about how artists consider space and work in three-dimensions and the sorts of materials they use before heading to our education centre to take part in a sculpture challenge of their own! Classes can choose between a clay-based or mystery materials bag option for the practical part of this session.

Students will take away an appreciation of art and consider a selection works that can cover a range of subjects, styles, media and purposes. The works viewed will be a selection from our current exhibitions. Students are expected to discuss and question what they see. Tours can be tailored to all levels.

Bookings essential.

Download our Gallery Guidelines below.

Our lessons often book up fast but you are always welcome to bring your students on a self-guided tour of the Gallery. We have a wonderful resource for He Kapuka Oneone - A Hanful of Soil which you can use to guide your students through the spaces. Check out all of our current exhibitions here. 

Please ensure you go over the Gallery Guidelines with your students so that they are aware of expectations in the Gallery spaces.

Email schools@christchurchartgallery.org.nz and let us know when to expect you. so we are able manage any clashes with events and other tours. 

Students will consider how artists use their making to reflect on what is happening in the world around them and as a voice for change during a guided tour of He Kapuka Oneone—A Handful of Soil. In the Education Centre students will create a flag which is their own call to action about something that is important to them.

Download our Art and Action! pre-visit worksheet

What happens when we widen our gaze beyond conventional art narratives, and what part does bravery play in making art? Zine making is one way to challenge some of the traditional ideas that we apply to art. Many artists who make zines take risks – either because their work is very personal, deals with contentious issues, or says things in a new way. Students will reimagine the narrative of one of the works in the Gallery and reinvent it in a zine to take away. 

Explore the Gallery with your students, discuss a range of artists’ work and explore ideas of navigation, belonging, identity and how we are connected across time and place. During the guided tour students will use signs and symbols to create a pictorial map of their own identity and journey through the Gallery which they will then complete using watercolour and pastel in our Education Centre. A great lesson for preschoolers and junior primary students!

Have you ever wanted to be someone else? This unforgettable selection of sculpture, video, photography and more reveals how borrowed or re-imagined identities can help us explore what it means to be human. Students will take a guided tour of Dummies & Doppelgängers before creating their own sculptural alter-ego in the education centre.

Available until 23 March 2025

Explore the world of linocut with your students on a guided tour of One O'Clock Jump: British Linocuts from the Jazz Age! These dynamic, colourful and vibrant, linocut prints explore the fast-changing world of speeding motor vehicles, industry, city life and sport during the 1920s and 1930s. After the tour students will head to our Education Centre to create their own linocut print to keep.

Available until 11 May 2025

Top Art is an annual touring exhibition featuring a selection of the NCEA Level 3 portfolios that achieved Excellence in Visual Art in the previous year. Five streams are covered: design, painting, photography, printmaking and sculpture.

Top Art provides an opportunity for secondary students and teachers to gain an understanding of what is required to achieve Excellence at Level 3. It also allows members of the public to see the high quality art being created in schools.

This year the exhibition will be held in the Education Centre at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū from 2-15 April

Book in a time for your class to visit – email Bianca van Leeuwen

To find out more visit - 

NZQA Top Art Page 

Top Art Facebook Page 

Experience Fred Graham: Toi Whakaata / Reflections with your class. This exhibition showcases significant works which celebrate Graham's dedication to making art that speaks to his Māori identity, through the contemporising of customary Māori art practices and imagery. Students will begin with a guided 'tour and draw' of the exhibition before heading back to our education centre to create their own section of a collaborative artwork for your class to take back to school.

Available from 31 May until 5 October 2025

Exhibition developed and toured by Te Uru Waitākere Contemporary Gallery