Place-based Learning:

Two Rivers Gallery, Prince George, BC

On Thursday, November 21, 2024, we visited The Two-Rivers Gallery in downtown Prince George. They opened early so we could have this amazing experience. This experience was a great example of Place-based learning because we were able to connect to our local community and learn about culture that is important to all of us. Place-based learning allows students to engage, collaborate, and learn with and from their community in a smaller setting. It is a very powerful way to teach and will leave students with a more memorable experience that they’ll remember for years to come.

At The Two-Rivers Gallery it was really fun to collaborate together as a group with our tour guide, Jessica. We were all excited as we waited to go inside.
The thing that I found particularly interesting is that my class-mates were so observant, and we all seem to connect to different aspects of the painting. We were all engaged and immersed in the world around us. Everyone comes from different backgrounds and situations so it was amazing to hear the various interpretations of the artwork, which included James Gordaneer’s painting, Memphis Story:

After that, Jessica moved us towards the next exhibit, A Walk in Sunflowers, by Ukrainian artist Mykola Zhuravel. I learned that Mykola even made a special piece about Prince George called, Two Rivers, that was inspired by Google Maps. He uses so many different elements – paint, metal, plaster, plastic – in his artwork that it was fascinating to look at and discuss as a group:

There were also many powerful paintings on display that were part of their permanent collection:

Once we finished in the downstairs gallery, we were able to go upstairs to the studio to receive expert direction in watercolour painting and to socialize with each other. I learned that painting with watercolours is a lot more difficult than it looks! My mushroom was very difficult to paint, but the main thing was to work beside each other, while engaging in a new medium.

I can see that going to The Two Rivers Gallery was a great example of Place-based learning because, as students, many of our senses were engaged. We learned about the world around us as we viewed the artwork from many different artists. We were very engaged in conversations about the artworks’ meaning and engaged as we put our paint to paper to try our hand at being artists ourselves. Our critical thinking was engaged and it was fun to be a part of a group of people with the same common goal – learning how to become a passionate educator.