Join proud Yankunyjatjara and Wirangu woman Shelley Ware to explore Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art in respectful and culturally appropriate ways.
This workshop draws on artworks and traditions to help educators lead meaningful classroom conversations, embed First Nations perspectives, and integrate artmaking with authenticity.
Key Course Takeaways
- Correct protocols for engaging with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art
- Approaches to art appreciation and responding to artworks respectfully
- Strategies for guiding meaningful classroom conversations about culture and art
- Hands-on experience with air-drying clay to explore storytelling through making
- Confidence to integrate First Nations perspectives into visual art programs
About Shelley Ware
Shelley Ware is a proud Yankunyjatjara and Wirangu woman from Adelaide, now based in Melbourne. A familiar face and voice in AFL media, she is best known from SBS and NITV’s Marngrook Footy Show, the Outersanctum Podcast, Broad Radio, and her fortnightly AFL column in the Koori Mail.
Alongside her media career, Shelley brings 25 years of teaching experience as a classroom, art, and literacy specialist. She now works as an Aboriginal Education Officer at Parade College and as an education consultant, sharing her passion for embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Culture and History into the national curriculum. She has also authored powerful and rich teacher resources for NAIDOC, available for free via the SBS website.
Continue Learning
For further strategies that place Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists at the centre of classroom learning, explore Zart’s Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art in the Classroom with Kylie Neagle, presented in collaboration with the Art Gallery of South Australia.
A Message from Zart
At Zart, we believe all educators share the responsibility to embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures into everyday learning. Art provides a powerful and respectful way to begin these conversations. To support teachers, we collaborate with First Nations artists, educators, and cultural knowledge holders, and seek guidance from local Elders on protocols.
We encourage schools to connect with their local First Nations communities first, to build authentic relationships that allow students, staff and the wider school community to engage meaningfully with the richness of First Nations art, cultures and histories.