Art of Collections: Drawing workshops for Culture Vultures

Manchester Museum is delighted to be collaborating with artist and Culture Champion Yvonne Noworyta in this series of drawing workshops for the curious, aged 50 and over.

These workshops will allow you to get closer to your inner artist at the same time that you are discovering some of the objects that are part of the Manchester Museum World class collection.

Museum staff and volunteers are going to give you an overview about the specimens and objects presented at each session and Yvonne Noworyta will guide you and support you throughout the drawing process.

The workshops are taking place in a helpful, relaxed and friendly atmosphere. No previous experience is needed and all abilities are welcome.

You can book for one or more sessions of the series.

From 11:00 am to 2:00 pm.

Nearby break out space available and tea and coffee provided.

· Tuesday 5th March, Botany Collection: Plant Models

Manchester Museum has approximately 250 enlarged models of plants and animals that were used to teach students in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many of these models can be taken apart to show the internal structure of plants and animals. They are made of papier-mâché, wood, wire and fabric.

These models are still used to teach students today, although many of them are over 100 years old.

In this initial session of the programme, we will explore the artist’s toolkit to shape how participants may want to channel their creativity, with guidance from our art practitioner.

We will cover mark making, tone and shade, texture and scale of work and how to use materials and sketch books.

· Tuesday 7th May, Zoology Collection: Shells

The Museum Zoology collection includes many mounted mammals, one of the largest collections of shells in the UK, large collections of birds, eggs, bryozoan (small marine animals) and a very diverse collection of specimens preserved in spirit. The collection is worldwide in scope, with specimens from the Arctic to the Antarctic, and from all the world’s oceans. The collection also includes specimens from famous experts and researchers, including birds collected on the Galapagos by Charles Darwin in 1835.

In this session we will look at some beautiful specimens from the sea, and we will be more experimental!

Using a wider range of papers and scale, we will draw/collage, and observe the subject more loosely, putting special attention in texture and colour.

· Tuesday 18th June, Egyptian Collection

Our outstanding collection of Egyptian and Sudanese objects – one of the largest in the UK – illustrates both everyday life and preparations for the afterlife. The homes of the ancient Egyptians do not generally survive, but our collection includes exceptionally well-preserved everyday objects from a pyramid-builders’ town known as Kahun which are nearly 4,000 years old and give a glimpse into how ordinary people lived. The museum also houses an important collection of gilded mummy masks and realistic painted images known as ‘Faiyum Portraits’, dating back to the Graeco-Roman Period (around 300 BCE to 300 CE).

In this session, we are going to work with small scale Egyptian artefacts from the Museum stunning collection, and we will focus on a subject to make detailed work using observational drawing. We will explore different ways of presenting our ideas, with the guidance of our art practitioner and using a fun and playful approach.