The Art Kitchen
A free weekly drop-in for artistic expression, healthy snacks and feel-good community vibes.
Macaulay Village Park
This program has concluded for 2025. The Art Kitchen is a free weekly drop-in artmaking group at Macaulay Village Park on London Avenue, Picton (The Heights). Creative expression, healthy snacks and feel-good community vibes. Plus free books from County Kids Read! Bring a creative project to work on or make use of our art supplies. Don’t know what to work on? Our team of artists are happy to help guide you through a project. This is an all-ages group, kids and teens most welcome!
Supported by
Kids Fashion Workshop
For kids of all ages, make fabulous costumes to wear on the fashion runway!
WHEN: Sunday June 1, 1pm - 4pm
WHERE: DOI Studio, lower level of The Armoury, 206 Main St, Picton
PRICE: FREE! Sponsored by the Picton BIA
**All children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult**
KIDS FASHION SHOW: Friday June 6, 7pm, Armoury Square, 206 Main St.
The Department of Illumination is gearing up for Picton Fashion Week with a Kids Fashion Workshop! ✨ We welcome kids of all ages to dive into our supplies and make fabulous costumes to wear on the fashion runway ✨ Bring your wackiest ideas and wildest creativity!
Supported by:
Drop In Community Art Making
Lend a hand in creating The Delhi Pageant. ALL SUMMER LONG!
Drop in and lend a hand in creating The Delhi Pageant! We might be making masks, puppets, costumes, props or installations.
WHEN: Thursdays & Fridays, 10am-5pm ~ May 22 - Aug. 15, 2025
WHERE: Delhi Park, Picton - across from the community gardens; if driving, use Lalor St entrance.
Boxtopia
A creative cardboard kingdom for kids and adults alike!
Boxtopia is our creative cardboard kingdom for kids! We show up with as many cardboard boxes as we can get our hands on and a whole bunch of art supplies, and we help kids create their dream box forts!
We do this project several times a year, often bringing Boxtopia to festivals or other special events. Boxtopia can be themed (ie: farm, pirates, circus) or just pure fun and imagination. Contact us if you want us to bring the magic of Boxtopia to your special event! Fun fact - adults love it, too!
MAKE A LANTERN
Making a lantern is fun and creative, and is suitable for most ages and skill levels
Join us in our studio for a lantern-making workshop! Making a lantern is fun and creative, and is suitable for most ages and skill levels, although younger ones will need assistance. Your lantern can be as simple or as complex as you wish, but it’s best to budget at least a few hours’ time to make one. No need to pre-register, just drop in when you wish!
We are located in the lower level of The Armoury, 206 Main St, Picton, all the way at the end of the hall. Please park on Main Street or the Mary Street parking lot.
The price is $15 per lantern and we’ll provide you with all materials and instruction. You can also buy a lantern kit from us if you’d like to make one at home.
Can’t make it to a workshop? Maybe you’re coming from out of town? We’ve made some tutorials below so you can make a lantern at home with readily-available materials. There are lots of other types of lanterns, too - the only kind we don’t like are sky lanterns - they are polluting and a fire hazard.
Make sure to display your lantern in the lantern gallery when you arrive at the Crystal Palace!
Craftivism
Workshops were co-hosted by: Nella Casson and Bill Stearman, creating a series of large fabric banners with activist themes.
Craftivism was a free workshop series in winter 2024, with facilitator fees funded by County Arts.
Taking place at The Department of Illumination Studio, we created a series of large fabric banners with activist themes. Workshops were co-hosted by lead artist Nell Casson and supported by Bill Stearman, longtime activist and award-winning quilter. Each banner highlights causes chosen by the participants. The banners were created using a variety of media and techniques.
Scarecrow Festival
A fun group activity building functional scarecrows from old clothes, straw and imagination.
Thanksgiving Weekend! {{ A fall event dedicated to making scarecrows. A fun group activity building functional scarecrows from old clothes, straw and imagination. Thank you to our sponsors for supporting us with materials for many years. }}
After 13 years of hosting Prince Edward County’s annual Scarecrow Festival, we have passed the torch to our friends at North Fire Circus for the 2024 event which will be happening at Macaulay Museum with proceeds supporting their production The Witches. To the countless people who attended and supported the Scarecrow Festival while it was in our care, thank you for the all years of fall fun, and we hope you will continue to support this community event.
ALL ABOARD
A Port Hope artist residency, working with the community to create a tiny cardboard version of itself.
In September 2022 Krista Dalby and Nella Casson did a month-long artist residency at Critical Mass Art: Port Hope, working with the community to create a tiny cardboard version of itself! It was such a special project, and we are so grateful to Critical Mass for the opportunity, as well as support from The Prince Edward County Arts Council and VIA Rail Canada. Thanks to Two Blue Shirts Productions for this sweet video!
WILD THING: a celebration of biodiversity
Bringing together the arts and sciences to create a delightful celebration of the natural world around us.
In 2022 we partnered with South Shore Joint Initiative to bring together the arts and sciences to create a delightful celebration of the natural world around us. We ran a series of school workshops where children learned about local species and created artistic interpretations; we hosted The Society of Stitchers, an embroidery club that collaboratively created a quilt of at-risk local species, and then we had a public celebration in Picton’s Benson Park with live music from KASHKA and That’s What She Said, crafts, the unveiling of our biodiversity quilt and a community procession.
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS
