What If Museums Let the Public Inside the Artist’s Studio?

Creative Conversations at National Gallery of Australia

Most museum programs let visitors admire the art. Some let them handle a brush. But what happens when audiences are invited to step into the creative process itself—unexpected, iterative, and alive?

That’s the question the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) has been exploring through Creative Conversations, a program that’s quietly rethinking how museums engage their audiences. It doesn’t rely on spectacle or cutting-edge tech. It relies on something more elusive: generosity of process.

At the Museums & Public Programs Summit, Saskia Scott, Public Programs Convener and Emily Casey, Program Convener for Kids and Families at National Gallery of Australia shared their approach.

Creative Conversations at National Gallery of Australia

From Finished Products to Living Practices

At the heart of Creative Conversations is a simple but powerful idea: museums don’t just hold artworks—they can connect audiences with artistic thinking. Instead of treating that thinking as something opaque or expert-only, the NGA opens it up.

Each session begins with a conversation. An artist—whose work is in the national collection—shares their process, influences, motivations, and materials. In conversation with a curator, this isn’t a lecture. It’s a studio visit without the travel. It’s a creative unpacking that doesn’t stop at what was made, but dives into how and why.

Then comes the workshop.

Whether its photographic techniques inspired by leading Australian photography artist, Anne Ferran or bamboo instrument-making alongside members of the Pacific artist collective the SaVĀge K’lub, the second half of the program invites participants to create—not in imitation, but in dialogue. It’s about engaging with the artist’s way of working, not recreating their results.

That distinction matters. When participants are encouraged to think like an artist, rather than copy one, the entire tone of the experience shifts.

The Artist Thomas Carroll at National Gallery of Australia

Process Over Perfection

If there’s one principle that runs through the program, it’s this: prioritise process over perfection.

That changes everything.

Suddenly, it doesn’t matter if you’re four or seventy-four. If you’ve never held a paintbrush or studied art history. What matters is your curiosity. A willingness to try and try again. And a safe environment to do so.

By framing experimentation as the goal, the NGA creates space where failure isn’t a dead end—it’s part of the experience. In many ways, that’s what distinguishes Creative Conversations from more traditional museum learning formats. It doesn’t just teach people about art. It shows them what it feels like to be an artist.

Australian photography artist, Anne Ferran at National Gallery of Australia

And that shift—subtle though it may be—builds connection. Audiences leave not just understanding the work better, but feeling part of the creative world that produced it.

Designed for Diversity

One of the most striking aspects of Creative Conversations is how thoroughly it embeds inclusion—not as an add-on, but as a foundation.

From Australian Sign Language interpreters to seating that makes space for children at the centre, from tactile materials to illustrate the conversation to deliberately intergenerational groupings, every element is intentional. Saskia Scott and Emily Casey—who lead adult and family programs respectively—work across departments to ensure that access needs aren’t just accommodated but anticipated.

Even the scheduling and outreach follow this ethos. Instead of launching every event to the general public at once, they begin with targeted invitations—community networks, diaspora groups, and individuals with lived experience. It’s a small but meaningful gesture that says: this was made with you in mind.

The result? People show up who might never have attended a museum program before. And often, they come back.

Belonging Through Making

One of the most telling outcomes of the program isn’t what’s made in the workshop—it’s what’s felt in the room.

Whether it’s the shared experience of playing a musical instrument together with the artist or a display of handmade prints, each session ends with a moment of reflection. Not a critique. Not a summary. A communal pause to take in what just happened, and who made it possible.

That kind of closing matters. It reinforces that the value wasn’t just in the object produced, but in the experience shared. It’s not about celebrating results—it’s about celebrating process and participation.

Creative Conversations at National Gallery of Australia

And that, perhaps more than anything, is what makes this program stand out. It builds community through creativity. It creates space not just for learning, but for connection.

The Studio as a Shared Space

In an era where museums are rightly questioning their role and relevance, Creative Conversations offers one compelling answer: stop curating just the product. Start curating the process.

Because when you invite the public into that process—not just to watch, but to take part—you do more than educate. You create belonging. You demystify creativity. You turn passive visitors into active participants in the cultural conversation.

And you might just find that when people are trusted with the tools of art, they come away with something even more valuable than a finished piece.

They come away with insight, agency, and a deeper connection to the institution that invited them in.

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Saskia Scott and Emily Casey from National Gallery of Australia spoke at the Museums & Public Programs Summit in May 2025.