Dates: Monday 31 August– Tuesday 1 September 2026 (Term 3 Week 7)
Venue: Gibberagong Environmental Education Centre (North Turramurra)

Cost:

• $250 per student
• Rural and remote students, please contact Gibberagong EEC to discuss a fee subsidy. NSW regional, rural and remote public schools list (DOCX 122.41 KB)

Bush Studio Songbirds Camp provides an opportunity for NSW public schools students in Years 7 to 12 with an interest in songwriting to work under the creative guidance of a songwriter-in-residence, with workshops on best creative practice, lyric-writing and compositional techniques. 

The camp aims to provide students with an opportunity to observe, interpret and respond to their immediate environment at Ku-ring-gai National Park, Bobbin Head. Students will be inspired by the beauty of Ku-ring-gai National Park, responding to nature through song. This is a unique opportunity for students from across Sydney and NSW on all stages of their songwriting journey to come together.

2026 songwriter-in-residence | Rachel Collis

Sydney-based songwriter Rachel Collis has released 4 studio albums featuring songs and stories that explore the beauty of everyday life. Beautifully crafted and emotionally honest, each song is an invitation to find affinity and belonging in the simple moments. Rachel is also a conductor, accompanist and is currently the Creative Director of the NSW Public Schools Sydney North Singers. 

Dates: Mon 16 Nov – Tue 17 Nov 2026 (Week 6 Term 4)
Venue: Gibberagong Environmental Education Centre (North Turramurra)

Cost:

• $250 per student
• $187.50 for rural and remote students 

Bush Studio: visual arts camp provides an opportunity for public school students in Year 7 and 8 to be involved in an engaging, challenging and stimulating visual arts program led by an experienced visual arts teacher. 

The camp aims to provide students with an opportunity to observe, interpret and respond to their immediate environment at Ku-ring-gai National Park, Bobbin Head. Students will learn strategies to explore their immediate experience of the landscape to create preliminary works as departure points for resolved studio-based artworks.

Bushwalking in the Ku-ring-gai National Park will provide exciting opportunities for students to directly observe and visually document the subtle nuances of the natural environment using drawing and mixed media. Students will investigate ways to create sculptural works using natural found objects and use these sculptures to facilitate the making of drawings and monoprints. The program will culminate in an exhibition for families, friends and teachers.

Date: Monday 2 – Tuesday 3 November 2026 (Term 4 Week 4)
Venue: Gibberagong Environmental Education Centre (North Turramurra)

Cost:

• $300 for metro students
• $225 for rural and remote students  NSW regional, rural and remote public schools list (DOCX 122.41 KB)

Bush Studio: masterclass is a visual arts camp for students in Year 12, especially those studying Visual Arts, including related VET,  content-endorsed, board-endorsed and life skills courses. Students are given the opportunity to refine their skills in specific expressive forms as they work alongside carefully selected artists to observe, interpret and respond to their immediate environment at Ku-ring-gai National Park, Bobbin Head. 

On the first day of the program, students are invited to work alongside artist Emily Besser to discover the intersection of painting, drawing and collage.  Experiment with numerous painting and drawing mediums in order to overcome preconceptions of their scope. Create dramatic juxtapositions through varied scale, density of brushstrokes and pigment, colour and texture as you harness the possibilities of paper as a surface. 

On day 2, artist Nicole Barakat will lead students through a workshop supporting the development of new strategies for their creative practice. Using the metaphor of a garden, students are invited to engage in fun, open-ended, intuitive and experimental processes, in a supportive and safe setting.

Date: Monday 30 November – Tuesday 1 December 2026 (Term 4 Week 8)
Venue: Gibberagong Environmental Education Centre (North Turramurra)

Cost:

• $250 for metro students
• $187.50 for rural and remote students  NSW regional, rural and remote public schools list (DOCX 122.41 KB)

Bush Studio: artist in residence is a visual arts camp for students in Years 9 and 10, especially those considering further studies in visual arts. Students are given the opportunity to work alongside a carefully selected artist to observe, interpret and respond to their immediate environment at Ku-ring-gai National Park, Bobbin Head. Previous artists in residence include illustrator Patrick Shirvington (2023), abstract, process-based artist Emily Besser (2024) and textile artist Nicole Barakat (2025)

2026 artist-in-residence Gabby Malpas is a multimedia visual artist whose practice spans over four decades. Drawing on her experiences as a Chinese adoptee raised by white parents in New Zealand, Malpas reinterprets the Western tradition of Chinoiserie through vibrant, layered compositions featuring still life imagery of flora and fauna grown in New South Wales. Now living on Gadigal land, her creations invite viewers to uncover the delicate yet complex stories embedded within them.

Date: Tuesday 21 April 2026 (Staff Development Day, Term 2 Week 1)
Time: 8.30 am – 3.30 pm (5h 30m professional learning hours)
Venue: Gibberagong Environmental Education Centre (North Turramurra)
Registrations: through Gibberagong EEC via MyPL

Cost:

• DoE Cost: $199 via intercompany journal
• Non-DoE teacher: $299 
  (includes national park entry, materials, morning tea and lunch)

Bush Studio: Secondary visual arts professional learning is a practical visual arts workshop for secondary Visual Arts teachers, including those who teach related VET,  content-endorsed, board-endorsed and life skills courses. Participants are given the opportunity to refine their skills and expertise in specific art forms as they work alongside carefully selected artists to observe, interpret and respond to their immediate environment at Ku-ring-gai National Park, Bobbin Head. Teachers will receive detailed handouts, including activity suggestions and supply lists, that they can take back to their classrooms, integrating new artmaking techniques into future teaching programs.

Workshop focus: Art making practice, including drawing, painting and ceramics art forms.

Participating teachers are invited to work alongside artists Emily Besser and Hayley West to discover the intersection of painting, drawing and ceramics through dialogue between materials and artists' processes.  Experiment with numerous painting and drawing mediums in order to overcome preconceptions of their scope. Create dramatic juxtapositions through varied scale, density of brushstrokes and pigment, colour and texture as you harness the possibilities of paper as a surface. Refine hand-building techniques with clay and explore surface treatments as you redefine their limitations. Be challenged to consider alternative sources of meaning in artworks through activities inspired by the narrative of the landscape as you resolve a process-based collection of works.