PA Day Camp 2022

This camp is full.

Join in the fun for a full day of art exploring and creating in the studio! We will paint, print and sculpt the day away.

Monday, October 24 from 9am to 4pm

Ages 5 to 10

$45 Members/$55 Non-Members

Here’s how Camp will look this year:

The RMG will remain closed to public on Mondays – only camp participants onsite
Drop-off between 8:45am and 9am
Small camp cohorts
Mask friendly camp for staff, volunteers and participants
Rigorous cleaning throughout the day
Pick-up at 4pm

COVID -19 protocols and guidelines

Should we be unable to offer onsite camps, we will do our best to offer alternative options to keep your child engaged with art making experiences. If we must cancel camps due to public health restrictions, we will issue full refunds. Cancellations by participants will be subject to our cancellation policy.

Frequently Asked Questions

If you have questions or concerns that aren’t addressed here, please feel free to contact the Learning Department. More detailed information about camps and the Learning Team will be sent to registered families prior to the first day of camp.

I see that you do online registrations, can I register in-person or over the phone?

While we prefer online registrations, we do accept in-person (cash, debit, VISA and Mastercard) and phone registrations (VISA and Mastercard). There is a mandatory registration form that needs to be completed fully for each camper at the time of payment. These forms are reviewed by staff and documented in order to ensure we know what’s what, and who to contact. We may reach out to families if we have follow-up questions prior to camp.

Families who choose to make payment over the phone will be emailed a copy of the registration form. The form must be filled out and sent back as soon as possible to secure the spot.

What is your maximum capacity?

15 campers maximum per camp.

What if I have a child that is outside the age range, can they still join?

All of our camps are geared specifically for children within the designated ages. In order to ensure the best experience for everyone, participants must fall within the indicated age range.

Are pre- and post-care available?

No, unfortunately, we are not able to offer this service.

What type of activities have you planned, are campers outside at all?

Campers spend equal time in the Lookout and the Studio. Camp will have in-gallery interactive visits include looking activities, games, and sketching. We also have a new fully fenced space! We plan to eat snacks and lunch outside, and play games, if the weather is agreeable. We will also take advantage of beautiful days with outdoor art making projects whenever possible.

Do you provide snacks/lunch?

Parents are asked to pack a water bottle, peanut free snacks and lunch daily. There are two snack breaks and lunch is from 12-1pm.

What else might my child need to bring?

We recommend sunscreen and a hat for outdoors, if you believe your child may need a change of clothes please provide that. The RMG is air conditioned and some campers may feel more comfortable having a hoodie/sweater on hand should they feel cold throughout the day. Please ensure your child wears art friendly clothing and comfortable footwear.

What is the staff to camper ratio?

We aim for a minimum of 1 to 7 ratio.

Do you provide a “kiss and ride”?

Drop-off takes place from 8:45am – 9:00am. We ask campers are signed in with a staff member in the front lobby. Families can choose to escort their camper to their “homeroom” or a camp staff member can ensure your child gets to their room.

Families may choose to do a “kiss and ride” drop off in the mornings at the front of the building starting at 8:45am.

We require all families to pick up their camper in the lobby at the end of day at 4pm. Only authorized adults will be allowed to sign out campers.

OPG Sunday: Colourful Collages

This month, we will be exploring elements of colour and design through a contrasting collage activity. We will look at puzzle pieces to create funky designs and piece them together into a colourful arrangement.

Free admission.

This is a drop in event. No registration is required.

This event is generously sponsored by Ontario Power Generation.

OPG Sunday: Celebrate World Kindness Day

This month, we are celebrating World Kindness Day while taking inspiration from our permanent collection exhibition The Ties That Bind. We will explore how we spread kindness in our community. We will use gelli plate printing to create beautiful cards for members of our community, and make friendly figures with plasticine.

Join us at 11am for a storybook reading of I Am Enough by Grace Byers.

Free admission.

This is a drop in event. No registration is required.

This event is generously sponsored by Ontario Power Generation.

OPG Sunday: Nature’s Pattern

This month, we are taking inspiration from Kazuo Nakamura: Universal Pattern exhibition. As a member of the Painters 11, Nakamura was fascinated by nature. We are too! We will create bold and colourful textured abstract artworks finished with a decorative pattern frame.

Free admission.

This is a drop in event. No registration is required.

This event is generously sponsored by Ontario Power Generation.

OPG Sunday: Animals Abound!

The RMG encourages families to take some time and enjoy the art making process through creativity and collaboration.

Who has the best adventure journeys? Animals!

This month, we will be inspired by our permanent collection exhibition Journeys to create two artworks featuring beloved Canadian wildlife. In the studio, we will create silhouetted animal paintings while in the gallery exhibition we will texturize critters using watercolour pencil crayons.

Free admission.

This is a drop in event. No registration is required.

This event is generously sponsored by Ontario Power Generation.

RMG Fridays Presents: An Evening with Desarae Dee

The fourth and final outdoor RMG Fridays in 2022 features warm weather and warm vibes, so bring a lawn chair or a blanket and come experience the soulful musings of instrumental/fusion artist Desarae Dee.

This is an all-ages event, but pets will not be admitted. Please note that there is no smoking on city property, which includes the RMG’s backyard.

Program:

7:00 – Doors open

7:30 – Performance by Desarae Dee

8:00 – Tour of “Journeys”

8:30 – Performance by Desarae Dee

Upstairs in Arthurs on the 4th:

Films from DRIFF will be playing throughout the evening at 7:15pm, 8pm, and 9pm.

About the Films

The Night Shift | dir. Karim Shaaban | 14 mins

Zein, a young man in his mid-20s, seems content with his job as a customer service representative. During one of his late-night shifts, he receives a call from a customer which exposes him to the drudgery of his work, his powerlessness, and the ugliness of his life.

Deux Dollars | dir. Emmanuel Tenenbaum | 10 mins

After a week of leave, Sylvie is back at the Quebec company where she has been an exemplary employee for more than 15 years. She is then requested to attend a bizarre meeting.

Desarae Dee

A resident of Durham for the past thirty years, Desarae Dee is a powerhouse pianist/keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist who has been dubbed “Toronto’s Queen of Vibes”. With an extensive resume of singles as well as major releases, Desarae has developed a passionate and meaningful sound combining a unique mixture of faith, soul, and vulnerability in a divine balance. She continues to blaze a trail in the name of instrumental music all the while breaking barriers for current and future Black Women Musicians in Canada.

Special thanks to DRIFF in a Jiff and Canada Council and the Arts Reopening Fund for their support with this event. We acknowledge the financial support of Canada’s private radio broadcasters.

Victory: Seniors Art Competition and Exhibition 2022

Exhibition Opening and Awards Reception: Wednesday, August 17, 2:30 pm (no registration required)

The Seniors Art Competition and Exhibition is a showcase of creativity and technical skill among members of the Oshawa Senior Community Centres, Oshawa Public Libraries, and The Robert McLaughlin Gallery. Featuring paintings, drawings, sculpture, and more, this annual community exhibition is structured around a competition theme. This year, the theme is victory and we are excited to stage a triumphant return of the program after a two-year hiatus.

The theme of victory offers a lot for the imagination. From heroic individuals to hard won battles, personal growth to collective efforts, the concept of victory can be illustrated in so many ways. It suggests mastery and persistence, as well as stakes for winners and losers. Sometimes victory is won through struggle and met with relief. Sometimes it results in loss, and still others, in celebration. This exhibition offers a wide array of artistic visions of victory and its many interpretations.

Want to participate?

If you are 55+ and a member of the RMG, Oshawa Senior Community Centres, or the Oshawa Public Libraries, we invite you to submit one artwork for the exhibition.

Artwork drop off and registration takes place on Thursday, August 4 from 10 am-4 pm. Please print and fill out this form and bring your artwork to the RMG ready to hang to enter the competition and exhibition. Show us what victory means to you!

Prizes are awarded in three categories: Novice, Hobby, and Open.

Download the program brochure for more information, including eligibility and contest categories, or visit https://oshawalibrary.ca/seniors-art-competition/.

The Seniors Art Competition and Exhibition is co-hosted by The Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa Senior Community Centres, and the Oshawa Public Libraries.

RMG Fridays Presents: Chastity and Mary & Adelaide

The third outdoor-edition of RMG Fridays happens on July 8th and features performances by two alt-rock bands with Durham Region roots: headliner Chastity, led by Whitby-born songwriter and frontman Brandon Williams, and Mary & Adelaide, a quartet of Oshawa-based indie-rockers. Don’t miss the loudest RMG Fridays concert yet!

Be sure to bring a lawn chair or blanket to enjoy the outdoor entertainment!

This is an all-ages event, but pets will not be admitted. Please note that there is no smoking on city property, which includes the RMG’s backyard.

Program:

7:00 – Doors open

7:30 – Performance by Mary & Adelaide

8:15 – Tour of “True Currency”

8:45 – Performance by Chastity

Upstairs in Arthurs on the 4th:

Films from DRIFF will be playing throughout the evening at 7:15pm, 8pm, and 9pm.

Chastity

Brandon Williams makes resonant songs that capture isolation and resilience. As the songwriter behind Chastity, the Whitby, Ontario musician has made three unrelentingly perceptive albums culminating in the cathartic “Suffer Summer”, which was released in January 2022. Chastity started as a way for Williams to find community in his suffocating and isolating suburban life, and his songs serve as an outstretched hand for the like-minded people on the fringes.

Mary & Adelaide

Mary & Adelaide formed around an intersection in Oshawa. Unimpressed by the sounds they heard around them, four friends decided to make the music they wanted to hear. The indie rock outfit formed in 2017 in comprised of Aidan McGuirk on guitar and vocals, Luke Mitchell on drums, Sam Szigeti on bass, and Kyle Topolnisky on rhythm. They have released four singles, plus a video for their song ‘Faded’.

Special thanks to DRIFF in a Jiff and Canada Council and the Arts Reopening Fund for their support with this event. We acknowledge the financial support of Canada’s private radio broadcasters.

Code Switch

Join Malik for an Artist Talk on July 21st!

In virtual spaces, expressions of identity are usually performed through avatars. Malik McKoy’s new body of work asks how these carefully mediated and constructed identities actually relate to the people they represent when they are used to connect or perform moral virtue. As an abstract self-portrait, Code Switch also considers how technologies like virtual reality and artificial intelligence reproduce human biases, and more specifically, how racialized bodies are subject to the harms caused by online escapism and the commodification of identity.

The exhibition features five new paintings and an augmented reality installation created during McKoy’s residency in the RBC Artist Incubator Lab. A central character appears in all six works. His shifting form and surroundings are composed of the disassembled pieces of a 3D human figure; as 2D shapes, they are unrecognizable as the basic figure McKoy built using 3D modelling software. The avatar stands in for the artist, travelling through abstract and fantastical spaces, which relate in some way to McKoy’s own online identity and the collective experience of disorientation that virtual spaces can produce.

The internet offers users the freedom to grow beyond their physical environment and try on new identities – it is also prone to prejudice, exploitation, and misinformation, when truth or identity can appear transparent one moment and opaque the next. McKoy is interested in exploring how Black and queer bodies in particular are fetishized and consumed as cultural currency. For instance, in DBLRM (Do Black Lives Really Matter), he adopts a cynical view of public promises for representation, inclusivity, and justice by highlighting the fragile balance between utopia and horror in virtual fantasies. As playful as it is discerning, Code Switch reflects McKoy’s ongoing effort to bridge his digital and paint-based practices and to grapple with the increasingly blurred line between online and offline selves.

The RBC Emerging Artist Residency Program is generously sponsored by the RBC Foundation and the RBC Emerging Artist Project.

Artist Talk with Malik McKoy

Join Malik in Gallery A for an artist-led tour of his solo exhibition Code Switch.

As RBC Emerging Artist in Residence, Malik McKoy has created a new body of work that considers how technologies like virtual reality and artificial intelligence reproduce human biases, and more specifically, how racialized bodies are subject to the harms caused by escapism and the commodification of identity online. In McKoy’s ongoing effort to bridge digital and paint-based practices, the work in this exhibition grapples with the increasingly blurred line between online and offline selves and how carefully constructed avatars actually relate to the people they represent.

The RBC Emerging Artist Residency Program is generously sponsored by the RBC Foundation and the RBC Emerging Artist Project.