After checking out Centrale & Whitgift’s Easter programme last week we are now in full planning mode for the Easter holidays, which starts for some of Croydon’s younger residents this lunchtime! (Don’t worry you still have over a week to get those eggs in for the BIG day).

So with our planning hats on, this week we are looking at what else we can do for free with the family in and around the town centre.

The main destination for us will be the Museum of Croydon which has a jam-packed programme of events and exhibitions for all ages (with the bonus of nothing being weather dependent).

On the first and last Saturday of the holidays (28 March and 11 April) you can practise your drawing skills in the Museum’s Portrait Drawing Sessions, where participants will take turns posing every 10-15 minutes whilst others draw – all styles, ages, and levels are welcome. Just drop in between 1.30 and 4pm.

If you want something a bit more quirky, the Thursday before Easter (2 April) the museum is holding a workshop to make your own paper pop-up art gallery (yes you read right). Why not recreate one of the Museum’s galleries or dream up your own.

This one’s for over 5s and runs between 2 and 4pm.

On Easter Saturday (4 April) and the following Thursday (9 April) there’s more crafts – on the Saturday you can decorate and collage your own paper lanterns. Then on the Thursday, take the kids to make their own version of the Museum’s iconic 1960s bubble car or create tissue paper stained glass.

On the last Friday of the holiday (10 April) there’s the Whistlejacket workshop to look forward to. Whistle-what? Well, this is a creative workshop with a difference, combining crafting and poetry in a tribute to one of the most famous horses in art history – Whistlejacket! (Aka the George Stubbs horse currently replicated in all its 3-metre-wide glory in Park Hill Park, as part of Art on Your Doorstep). In the workshop you’ll make your own horse masks as well as create some equine poetry with Beth Richards of Page of Wands. This one, although free, is bookable, so be quick as (at time of writing) there’s only a few slots left.

And if that’s not enough to be getting on with the Museum is currently hosting not one but three different exhibitions in its spaces.

If you haven’t yet seen Forge (or seen the bubble car in real life) this excellent exhibition about Croydon’s industrious industries is on until May. Housed in the level 1 special exhibitions gallery space, Forge delves into the borough’s industrial backbone – celebrating the people, places and innovations that have helped shape the Croydon we know today, from its rural beginnings to the powerhouse factories and beyond.

Then next door to Forge there’s the ‘Croydon Art Collection: Matching Masterpieces exhibition, which complements the National Gallery’s ‘Art On Your Doorstep’ trail. A rare opportunity to see art from the Museum’s collection, the 30 or so artworks, have been cleverly matched with one of the National Gallery’s Art On Your Doorstep paintings that have been replicated at life size (frame and all) and placed in various key places around the borough.

In the atrium gallery on level 0, is a photography exhibition of early 20th Century Croydon. Displaying 50 images by Croydon-based photographer Charles Harrison Price, these fascinating everyday scenes were originally photographed for postcards to supplement the photographer’s studio income. The images are from the collection of the late John Gent, who was a former president of Croydon Natural History & Scientific Society.

Now if you need some fresh air after all that indoor creativity and culture you can head outdoors for some more creativity and culture to do the Art On Your Doorstep trail.

And if you have a dog (or can borrow a canine friend) on Saturday 11 April there is an ‘Art on Your Doorstep’ Community Dog Walk. Croydon residents, Sarah and Sidro the dog, who spend a lot of time walking in local parks have arranged a hop-on hop-off route from Wandle Park to Trickle via The Queen’s Gardens and Park Hill Park to enjoy the art on a dog walk.

With all of the above to fit in, it’s debatable whether we’ll have time for an Easter Egg hunt, but we’ll see…

Keep up to date with the Museum’s events on their Instagram.

Images courtesy of the Museum of Croydon, except last 3 images (Whistlejacket and dog, courtesy of Sam Clark, Matching Masterpieces and pigeon art by the Croydonist).

Posted by Julia.