Michael Craig-Martin: free opening for 16-25 year olds
BNP Paribas AccessArt25
Saturday 5 October 2024 10am - 6pm
Main Galleries | Burlington House
Free, booking required.
Michael Craig-Martin
Join us for a day of free art, workshops and immersive experiences at the Royal Academy this autumn, brought to you in partnership with the BNP Paribas AccessArt25 programme.
This autumn, Sir Michael Craig-Martin RA will fill the Royal Academy of Arts with colour in a brand new exhibition. Think monumental sculptures, immersive digital artworks, and large-scale, vivid colour paintings.
On this specially programmed day for young people aged 16-25, you can visit the exhibition for free and explore a range of art workshops throughout the day. This event has been made possible by the BNP Paribas AccessArt25 programme and tickets also include a light breakfast, lunch or afternoon meal.
Sign up to our 25 & Under scheme to unlock your access to free tickets. Young Friends who are under 25 will receive a promo code to book.
Please note, all ticket holders will be able to arrive from 10am to enjoy the drop-in activities, workshops, and their choice of a light breakfast lunch or afternoon meal.
Programme highlights
Life Drawing: a Homage to the Old Masters
10am – 6pm
Join 2B OR NOT 2B COLLECTIVE as we explore the reimagining of artworks. Inspired by Michael Craig-Martin’s artworks which pay homage to artists like Georges Seurat, Édouard Manet, and Diego Velázquez. With a cohort of life-models, we will re-stage these paintings for you to interpret. What elements from a painting should be omitted, and what details should be exemplified.
Talk: Michael Craig-Martin
2pm – 3pm
Join us for an introduction to the exhibition from the artist himself. Craig-Martin will host an interactive talk introducing his practice and supporting attendees to consider ways of thinking and being with his work.
Screenprinting Visual Alphabets
10am – 6pm
Led by RA Schools Printmaking Tutors Kath Van Uytrecht and Leigh Clarke , participants will be encouraged to create screenprints inspired by Craig-Martin. Layer graphic images of domestic objects, use bold colours and gain a deeper understanding of printmaking, colour and graphic image making.
Wall Drawings
10am – 6pm
Join artist Nancy Allen in creating a collaborative mural. Using crepe tape as a drawing medium, you are invited to work together to create compositions of everyday objects in an evolving mural throughout the day.
The Department of Claims and Accidents
(Oak Tree Special Branch)
10am – 6pm
Join ARTPEDAGOGY to explore conceptual art and ways of thinking. When entering The Department of Claims and Accidents, you will be given a glass of water. There, you will submit your application to apply for an imperceivable and inconceivable transformation.
Still Life Drawing
10am – 6pm
Explore observational still-life drawing with artist Rebecca Halliwell-Sutton in this workshop focusing on everyday objects. Utilising isometric paper, experiment with perspectives and composition as you orient drawings to tessellate or interlink.
Word Stepping Stones
10am – 6pm
Playing with words and the perception of language is a frequent feature in Michael Craig-Martin’s work. Join artist Maisie Maris, for this workshop as we look at our own interpretations on the exhibition, our associations, methods of communicating, and our own storytelling.
Reading Room
10am – 6pm
Learn more about Michael Craig-Martin and the themes within his work in the RA Schools Library. Explore the collection and research his contemporaries, as well as the wider art historical references. This quieter space can frame your understanding and interpretations of the exhibition.
Are you 25 or under? Sign up to access tickets
Sign up for 25 & Under to unlock access to your free ticket to the opening of Michael Craig-Martin. Plus see great art for less with half-price tickets to all RA exhibitions.
Related events
Private viewFreeHouse Members' breakfast and private view
7 February 2025
Private viewSummer Exhibition Preview Party 2025
11 June 2025
