Tuggeranong Arts’ Grand Day Out is a great way to start the holidays, celebrate spring and be together with your family. Photo: Tuggeranong Arts Centre.
Have you ever imagined yourself producing Picassos with a paintbrush, playing percussion perhaps or even powering a puppet?
You can never know what you’re capable of unless you give it a go, urges Tugggeranong Arts Centre’s acting CEO Cassidy Buxton.
That’s why on the first Saturday of the September school holidays, TAC is throwing open its doors, offering a feast of free activities for grandparents, mums, dads, kids and teens.
The Grand Day Out on 27 September is a fantastic way to start the holidays, celebrate spring and be together with your family, according to Cassidy.
It’s also a chance to get a taste of the term-based classes running at TAC, she says.
You can book in for a structured art, dance, or drama class, or drop in and enjoy a range of live entertainment and spontaneous art making.
From the flagship Fresh Funk dance class to the magic of fairytale drama and even felt flower-making for adults, the day epitomises the vibrancy, energy and creativity of the purpose-built centre overlooking the shores of Lake Tuggeranong.
“The idea of the day is to give people a chance to sample our program,” Cassidy says.
“Days like this are important because a lot of people don’t know we’re here, and yet the arts are such an important part of our community.
“It’s a space where people can express ideas, thoughts and feelings in response to what’s going on around them. When you are guided by experienced tutors and artists, they can really help bring out the best in you, and it’s easy to experience it positively.”
Photo: Tuggeranong Arts Centre.
Photo: Tuggeranong Arts Centre.
Photo: Tuggeranong Arts Centre.
Photo: Tuggeranong Arts Centre.
Photo: Tuggeranong Arts Centre.
Among the highlights of this year’s program is a massive mural-making project where visitors will be invited to quite literally make their mark on the space.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing that come alive,” Cassidy says.
“We will have two themes – Underwater (with crazy critters from the lake), and Spring Garden. We haven’t done a big mural like this before … I think it will be really gorgeous.”
Participants can learn the art of vinyl paste-ups to make a composition of colourful shapes or let their own creativity go wild using colourful oil pastels on board or chalk on the blackboard.
The centre will also come alive to the sound of music with the outdoor Lakeside stage delivering performances by local artists, community groups and music students from Lake Tuggeranong College and Gugan Gulwan.
There’ll be voice and percussion sessions, and Tuggeranong Valley Band will host a come and try session, which Cassidy says is always a lot of fun.
“You can pick up an instrument and give it a go,” she says.
“Band members will bring in a variety of instruments like clarinet, trumpet, flute and trombone and show adults and little ones how to hold the instruments and make their first sounds.”
The day’s focus is firmly on fun and playful age-appropriate offerings.
Whether you’re moving to the beat, cutting, sticking, painting, or performing, the wonderful thing about the arts is there is no wrong in creative expression, Cassidy says.
“You don’t know what you don’t know and what talent you might uncover,” she says.
“And if you give it a try, you might just unleash something you never knew was there!”
The TAC Grand Day Out is on 27 September, from 10 am to 2 pm, at 137 Reed Street North (cost is free). To find out more and for a detailed schedule, go to Tuggeranong Arts Centre.
