Date: Monday 21 or Tuesday 22 September 2026 (Term 3 Week 10)
Time: 9:30 am – 2 pm
Venue: Field of Mars Environmental Education Centre (East Ryde)
Cost: $60 per student

Bush Studio: visual arts enrichment is an invitation to students in year 3 to 6 to spend the day immersed in, and be inspired by, the unique urban bushland setting of the Field of Mars Reserve and to experiment with digital photography to make engaging and interesting artworks. This one-day workshop is designed to extend participants' creative and photography skills beyond the classroom.

Students will create a portfolio of beautiful photographs as they learn the language of photography, digital photography techniques and photo editing on an iPad. Responding to the urban bushland setting and work of Barkindji photographer Kent Morris students will learn how to remix and manipulate some of their images to create a digital artwork. Students will be given the opportunity to select one photo or artwork to be printed and framed while at the centre.

Date: Tuesday 25 or Wednesday 26 August 2026 (Term 3 Week 6)
Time: 9:30 am – 2 pm
Venue: Field of Mars Environmental Education Centre (East Ryde)
Cost: $60 per student

Bush studio is a one day workshop for Stages 2 and 3. To meet demand the program will be offered on two separate days. 

Bush Studio: visual arts enrichment is an invitation to students in year 3 to 6 to spend the day immersed in, and be inspired by, the unique urban bushland setting of the Field of Mars Reserve and to experiment with a range of mediums to make engaging and interesting artworks.

Students will be introduced to a variety of work by Australian contemporary artists, including Aboriginal artists, and begin to consider the wide range of perspectives and processes contemporary artists use when making their work. Students will be encouraged to work collaboratively at times, to rethink what drawing can be and do, and to play with the idea of permanence and ephemerality in their artwork. An online gallery at the end of the program provides a platform for students to showcase their artworks and artmaking process. Media used may include drawing, writing, painting, collage, clay and stop-animation.  

This one-day workshop is designed to extend participants' skills and artmaking experiences beyond the classroom. Teachers are encouraged to extend this opportunity to students who display a higher level of engagement in visual arts.

Date: Tuesday 21 April 2026 (Term 2 Week 1, second Staff Development Day)
Time: 8:30 am – 3:30 pm
Venue: Field of Mars Environmental Education Centre, East Ryde

Cost:

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

For more information, visit Field of Mars Environmental Education Centre

Bush Studio: Primary visual arts professional learning workshop provides educators an opportunity to develop skills and strategies for teaching visual arts activities with their students. Participants will learn strategies to explore their immediate experience of the unique urban bushland setting of the Field of Mars Reserve. With guidance from artist educators, they will experiment with a range of mediums to make engaging and interesting preliminary works across a variety of mediums, including drawing, textiles and printing.