Engage Students Differently
PICA’s inclusive gallery setting supports open discussion, reflection and experimentation. Our 2025 program of exhibitions and artists-in-residence offers the very best of local, Australian and international contemporary arts.
Interdisciplinary, Interactive, Immersive
Spanning visual and media arts, performance and participatory art, our 2025 program gives students a chance to explore and respond to artworks that are not accessible in the classroom. Forge cross-curricula links between the Arts, HASS, Technologies and Languages by engaging with boundary-crossing artwork.
Embrace Cultures, Broaden Horizons
Deepen students’ intercultural understanding by exploring the perspectives of artists from diverse backgrounds. Our 2025 exhibitions present cultural narratives from worldwide settings – West Australian First Nations, Australian, French, Philippine and Iranian. The studio residency exchange brings over 30 artists from Taipei, Makassar, New Delhi and Paris to PICA.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures
Nurture respect for the world’s oldest continuous cultures and the unique contributions of First Nations people. In 2025 PICA is excited to present the Revealed showcase of new and emerging WA Aboriginal artists, along with a major new commission by Amanda Bell. Revealing Indigenous knowledge, artists address colonisation, the power of language and connection to Country.
Curriculum Insights
Learn about how exhibitions at PICA in 2025 connect with the curriculum and help achieve learning goals and standards.
Plan an Excursion
Customised gallery experience
Plan an excursion that achieves learning goals, connects with curriculum content and is responsive to the strengths and needs of students. Tours, workshops and activities can be customised to your class.
Behind-the-scenes Insights
Learn from artists and arts workers to demystify professional practice. Explore the tools, techniques and materials to create and present artwork during excursions. Book a time for your class to visit studio artists or to speak with our team about gallery operations, curation and audience engagement.
Build Capabilities to Thrive
Unlock students’ potential by developing skills for the future, such as critical and creative thinking, and ethical and intercultural understanding. PICA’s exhibitions foster empathy and acceptance of diverse identities. Our activities for students are designed to foster resilience, confidence, self-awareness and social connections. Students can express themselves in the PICA Hub using free art materials in creative activities to inspire and empower.
Connect with the curriculum
Excursions to PICA support students to learn about specific content in the Australian Visual Arts curriculum, while extending learning across The Arts, Languages, HASS and Technologies curriculum. During gallery visits, students explore and respond to ways that:
- visual conventions, processes and materials are used to represent ideas and perspectives in artworks created across cultures and contexts (AC9AVA6E01; AC9AVA8E01)
- artists across cultures and contexts develop personal expression to communicate or challenge ideas and perspectives (AC9AVA10E01)
- First Nations Australian artists celebrate and challenge perspectives and ideas of Australian identity (AC9AVA10E02)
Address cross-curricula priorities
PICA platforms First Nations and culturally diverse voices that seek to build positive relationships with communities and the natural world. Consistent with national standards to improve learning outcomes by ‘closing the gap’ between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and their non-Indigenous peers, this also develops the values and worldview necessary for students to contribute to more sustainable ways of living.
Opening Hours for Schools:
Monday to Friday, 9:30am–5pm
To Make a Booking
Contact PICA’s Learning & Access Manager, Jenn Garland at jenn.garland@pica.org.au.
In Gallery Workshops for Students
Hands-on Learning with artists
Connect students with artists at PICA to jump-start creative assignments and develop skills and practices. Free guided tours and creative learning activities can now be extended through hands-on workshops led by artists, or studio visits with artists-in-residence.
Increasing access and participation
PICA is proud to waive fees for student workshops as part of our pay-it-forward system, supporting students and educators experiencing financial barriers.
Promoting Wellbeing
Our programs use arts-based practices to help unlock people’s potential, equipping them with skills that promote holistic well-being – creativity, critical thinking, resilience, confidence, self-expression, self-awareness, social connections, compassion and acceptance of diverse cultures and identities.
Workshop: Term 1
Developing skills and practices: Everyday Materials, Bricolage and Ecological Awareness
Explore how artists use materials and processes to communicate concepts and impact audiences. Local artists lead workshops that expand on the approach of internationally acclaimed artist Laure Prouvost. Students will develop bricolage skills of making something new by putting together things already at hand. They will experiment with everyday found materials to solve problems in a creative challenge to collaboratively make a participatory artwork. Focusing on building ecological awareness through arts practices, the workshops encourage students to notice and care about the natural world and connections between living things.
Dates: Week 4 (Monday 24 Feb) to Week 8 (Friday 28 March)
Years: 5–12
Duration: 1.5 hrs
Workshop: Term 1
Presenting and Performing: What Goes into an Exhibition of Artwork?
Broaden student perspectives through hands-on learning about presenting exhibitions and the curatorial process. Behind-the-scenes insights from arts workers at PICA help students to evaluate and respond to public displays of artwork, supporting them in planning and curating exhibitions of their own work. Workshop sessions explore how artists interact with curators and arts institutions, encouraging students to consider the relationship between artworks, audiences and the spaces where they are displayed.
Dates: Week 4 (Monday 24 Feb) to Week 8 (Friday 28 March)
Years: 9–12
Duration: 1.5 hrs
Workshop: Term 2
Exploring and Responding: Australian Identity, First Nations Art and Cultural Practices
Explore the techniques used in artworks challenging concepts and histories of Australia and Australian identity. Students will investigate artworks by First Nations Australian artists in the Revealed showcase that cross over multiple art forms. Directly engaging with First Nations Australian artists and learning about cultural practices, students will respond to their gallery experience by creating a series of visual panels that express their own views using techniques that have been demonstrated within the Revealed exhibition.
Dates: Week 4 (Monday 19 May) to Week 7 (Friday 13 June)
Years: 5–12
Duration: 1.5 hrs
Workshop: Term 3
Developing Skills and Practices: Hatched Masterclass – Learn from the Best
Hear from PICA’s Hatched Artists about their artistic journey. These hands-on activities will help students prepare for their Year 11 and 12 assessments by covering creative thinking and working processes. The workshop includes tips on linking authentic experiences to broader social, cultural and political contexts, research approaches, material experimentation, documentation and developing effective artist statements.
Dates: Week 4 (Monday 11 August) to Week 7 (Friday 5 September)
Years: 10–11
Duration: 1.5 hrs
Workshop: Term 3
Presenting and Performing: What Goes into an Exhibition of Artwork?
Broaden student perspectives through hands-on learning about presenting exhibitions and the curatorial process. Behind-the-scenes insights from arts workers at PICA help students to evaluate and respond to public displays of artwork, supporting them in planning and curating exhibitions of their own work. Workshop sessions explore how artists interact with curators and arts institutions, encouraging students to consider the relationship between artworks, audiences and the spaces where they are displayed.
Dates: Week 4 (Monday 11 Aug) to Week 7 (Friday 5 Sept)
Years: 9–12
Duration: 1.5 hrs
Professional Learning for Teachers
Professional Engagement and Knowledge: Culturally Responsive Teaching and Contemporary Aboriginal Art
Educators are invited to participate in a professional learning and community network forum to broaden their knowledge of contemporary Aboriginal Art practices in WA. The event will unpack the techniques used by First Nations Australian artists in the Revealed showcase to express cultural identity and challenge concepts and histories of Australia. Covering topics of cultural and intellectual property, the forum will address teaching strategies that develop an understanding of and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and languages and are responsive to students’ community settings and linguistic backgrounds.
Suggested Dates: Term 1 School Holidays (Thursday 17 April)
Professional Engagement and Knowledge: Creating and Presenting Installation Artworks with Students
Educators can get behind-the-scenes insights from artists and PICA’s team about creating and presenting installation works. Exploring the tools, techniques and materials to help students scale up and create immersive artworks. The discussion will cover gallery operations, including the curation and audience engagement of installation works. Arts workers will share practical tips and techniques about the display, transportation, tools, safe practices and documentation of installation art.
Dates: Term 3 School Holidays (Sunday October 4)
