• Visit
  • What’s On
  • Learning & Research
  • About
  • SFU Art Collection

Open

Wednesday–Sunday, 11am–5pm

Always Free

Support the Gibson

8888 University Drive

Burnaby, British Columbia

Canada V5A 1S6

778-782-4266

Open

Wednesday–Sunday, 11am–5pm

Always Free

VisitGetting HereAccessibilityContactShop
Learning & ResearchUniversity Students & FacultyK–12 LearningKids & FamiliesTeen Art Lab
What's OnCurrentUpcomingArchive
AboutTeam & GovernanceSupportOpportunitiesFacility Rentals
SFU Art CollectionRecent AcquisitionsPublic Art

workshop

upcoming
May 24, 2026, 1:00 PM–4:00 PM

Kaleidoscopes and Viewfinders

Sunday Workshop

A view through a circular opening is shown, revealing a landscaped area with several bright orange chairs arranged in front of a modern building. The background features a mix of trees, a blue sky with clouds, and grass. The foreground is slightly blurred, emphasizing the view beyond the opening.
Liz Oakley

Sunday May 24, 1pm–4pm
Tuey Art Studio
Free with registration. All materials provided.
Registration closes Thursday May 21.

Join Liz Oakley, the Gibson's Art Studio Lead, for a workshop on making instruments that modify how you see your surroundings!

Let’s look at the world in new and unexpected ways – through kaleidoscopes, viewfinders, and periscopes! In this workshop, we’ll use reclaimed paper tubes, recycled cardboard, reflective surfaces, and a variety of other materials to make a series of experimental instruments that modify how you see your surroundings. Learn techniques for making several kinds of viewfinders. Then explore outside to see how your instrument affects the way you interact with the environment. Come play with your perception!

“My son loved it! It was great to spend time together as a family doing something creative.”

“The workshop was extremely engaging. It was interesting looking with new eyes at all the textures in our environment.”

Please note:
This workshop is intended for people ages 12 and up. If you are younger and want to participate, please email psammarc@sfu.ca to inquire.
Under 15 years must be accompanied by an adult.
Ages 15 to 18 must have a waiver signed by their parent/guardian or otherwise be accompanied by an adult.
All participants must register a free ticket, including adults accompanying minors.
Rain or shine! Please dress appropriately for the weather.


This workshop is generously supported by the Tuey Charitable Foundation, the Deux Mille Foundation, and Friends of the Gibson.

Want to be notified of other workshops? Join the Gibson's newsletter (bottom of the page).

The Gibson reserves the right to cancel this workshop due to low registration, and will make every effort to reschedule it.

Artists

  • Liz Oakley
Register here


Liz Oakley is an interdisciplinary artist and educator with a background in puppetry. They are interested in how art can enable forms of attention that disrupt our sense of the usual and open spaces of possibility, presence, and co-creation. Recently, Liz’s performance, installation, and puppetry designs have appeared in Vancouver at the SUM Gallery, Vines Festival, Audain Gallery, SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts, What Lab, and Playwrights Theatre Centre. Liz is currently the Art Studio Lead at the Gibson Art Museum. They are also an artist-in-residence in Vancouver schools with the AIRS program and an educator at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Liz resides Vancouver on the unceded traditional territories of the xwməθkwəy̓ əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. They have an MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts from Simon Fraser University’s School for the Contemporary Arts.