Offered in partnership with Autism Ontario, the McMichael Art Program is designed to engage budding artists living with autism spectrum disorder and their siblings into enjoyable art and nature

Offered in partnership with Autism Ontario, the McMichael Art Program is designed to engage budding artists living with autism spectrum disorder and their siblings into enjoyable art and nature explorations and creative studio activities. During each two-hour workshop, led by experienced gallery educators, participants are encouraged to explore, discover, and create art at their own comfortable pace, while enjoying social interaction in a relaxed and nurturing environment.

Week 1 - Colour Studio: Enjoy a leisurely outdoor hike to experience the seasonal colours and reenergize your observation skills, before heading into the studio to artistically experiment with the magical world of colours and textures to create your very own multimedia composition.

Week 2 - Nature Studio: Join our Look and Listen walk to discover the beauty of natural shapes and sounds, explore your personal connection to nature and then - at your own pace - creatively express it in the studio by engaging in artmaking activities.

Week 3 - Printmaking Studio: Discover the magic of physical and visual textures in an outdoor Texture Hunt and then artistically, use the found natural texture and other provided objects to experiment with printmaking techniques. And don’t forget about natural inks! Did you know that they could also be found in nature?

Week 4 - Sculpture Studio: Let’s create 3-dimensional art together using a variety of materials. Use clay, or other tactile materials to build something that has shape and form inspired by the colours in nature and activities of that time of year.

Each family will also receive ONE Family Pass to enjoy the McMichael at leisure on the day of the program, or any other day of their choice.

This event is open to autistic children and their siblings, ages 7 and up. Maximum 3 children per family.

Due to the limited class size, we ask that participants who register can attend all four weeks.

This program is generously funded by our partners at Charitable Gaming Community Good through charitable gaming fundraising at Bingo World and Gaming Richmond Hill. It is intended to support autistic people and their families in York Region and those that live outside of this area may have their registration cancelled.

Dates: Sundays, October 5, 12, November 2, and 9, 2025

Cost: $25.00/child. Once registered and paid, refunds will not be issued.

Once your registration is successful you will receive an automatic confirmation.  If not received, please check your "junk" or your "other" box.  If in doubt contact your area administrator at centraleast@autismontario.com

Parent/Caregiver supervision is required. This is not a transfer of care event. The parent/caregiver is required to remain onsite.

Please note that we strive to offer tickets to as many families as possible, but tickets are limited. If, for any reason, you are registered and can no longer attend, please let us know so we can share those tickets with other families.