Friday 12 December
-3°C and Broken Clouds
Agnes will open Saturday, 13 Dec at 1:00 pm.
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This fall and winter Agnes is offering three school programs: Understanding Art: Interpretation and Intention, Portraiture and Visual Literacy: Exploring the Elements of Art. Please review program details and descriptions below.
Our school programs are led by Agnes docents. The docent program is generously supported by the Lloyd Carr-Harris Foundation.
Dates: Mondays–Fridays, 6 October–19 December 2025 and 12 January–17 April 2026
Times: 10 am and 1 pm (excluding Friday afternoons)
Cost: $80/class, 30 students max. Agnes’s School Programs are free for Limestone District School Board (LDSB) classes thanks to the continuing support of their board.
Location: In-Person, Rm 223, Rideau Building, 207 Stuart St
We regret that our temporary home at Rideau Building is not a fully accessible space. Please consult the Rideau Building Accessibility Features. Gender-Friendly single user washrooms are available on the 3rd floor.
While we are operating offsite, our programs do not include an exhibition tour. Docents will use high-quality digital photographs of artworks to guide conversation.
Classes visiting Wednesday, Thursday or Friday afternoon are welcome to extend their field trip with a self-guided visit to the Rideau exhibition space. Check out the current exhibitions page.
Students in grades 4–12 will explore the differences between an art interpretation and the artistic intention and the ways in which these two concepts work together to create nuanced and varied meanings in artworks*. They will practice developing interpretations based on visual evidence, personal experiences and information about the artist. They will also have the opportunity to practice communicating their thoughts and feelings about artworks while responding to and respecting a variety of perspectives and experiences.
This program includes a 30-minute guided discussion and a 1-hour artmaking activity. Students will act as both interpreter and artist, developing and applying their own artistic intention to a painting of their creation.
Dive into the world of portraiture with an engaging program tailored for Grades 1–12. Through Visual Thinking Strategies and critical analysis, students will explore artworks from Agnes’s collection* and discover how artists represent and manipulate identity through intentional choices.
This program includes a 30-minute conversation and a 1-hour art activity.
Students in Grades 1–12 will enhance their visual literacy skills by examining how artists use the elements of art to communicate meaning in both representational and abstract works. Using Visual Thinking Strategies, docents will guide students in describing, analyzing, and interpreting artworks*, making connections between the manipulation of the elements of art and meaning.
This program includes a 30-minute guided discussion and a 1-hour artmaking activity. Students will create a 3D landscape using oil pastels, further exploring the element of space.
Go to Reflecting on Lii Zoot Tayr
We invite students in grades 9–12 to reflect on the exhibition Lii Zoot Tayr (Other Worlds) an exhibition that features the work of five contemporary Métis artists. Students consider the themes present in the exhibition including in/visibility, unseen forces and the natural environment. This asynchronous school program is designed to enrich Indigenous arts education with connections to the curriculum.
Go to the School Program, Nocturne
We invite grade 1–6 students to explore the exhibition Nocturne. This asynchronous program embraces the sensory exploration of the night while considering the landscape genre in Historical Canadian Art. Artists’ enduring fascination with the hours between sunset and sunrise provides the foundation for curriculum links in poetry, painting and perspective.
If you wish to conduct a class tour yourself, please book in advance at (613) 533.6000 x 77347 or AEACpa@queensu.ca. Admission for self-guided programs is free. Please read our guidelines for self-guided tours.
