Making Mobiles
Join artist Lucy Grant to make colourful geometric mobiles inspired by the art of Alexander Calder. Make a stable base then cut out colourful card shapes and hang them from wire to create a delicately balanced moving structure.
Intaglio Print Portraits
Make intaglio portraits of friends and family, using a print process employed by artists since the fifteenth century. The studio will be equipped with printing plates, etching tools, artist quality paper and a small press.
Block Printing
Imagine yourself as an architect and design your own house or building. Choose from a variety of cardboard shapes and objects to use as the building blocks to print your own simple and striking image.
Maritime Painting
Join artist Lucy Grant to imagine and paint your own dramatic sea adventure, taking inspiration from some of the great artists who have painted ships at sea.
CAST-OFF SATURDAY 29 AUGUST
CHANGE OF VENUE – due to the forecast of heavy rain and high winds tomorrow, the final CAST-Off of the summer will take place indoors, in the CAST building.
CAST-OFF SATURDAY 22 AUGUST
Make prints using leaves collected from around the garden and look for detailed textures from which to make rubbings. Build folk-inspired wooden constructions, paint a portrait of yourself or of a family member, and create a two-tone plaque out of clay.
CAST-OFF SATURDAY 15 AUGUST
Paint a colourful still life arrangement of fruit, flowers and vegetables, and create crowns from flowers. Build animals from wood and make houses and habitats of all shapes and sizes from clay.
CAST-OFF SATURDAY 8 AUGUST
Use the power of the sun to create your own cyanotype print, build a wheeled contraption from wood, and move water using structures built from pipes and tubes. Paint a Loe trout using natural pigments and create a clay creature.
CAST-OFF SATURDAY 1 AUGUST
Find ways to move water uphill using waterwheels and pumps, paint colourful feathered birds, and make an intaglio image of an insect, using a tiny printing press. You can also build a wooden boat that floats and make tiny tableware out of clay.
Wednesdays in the Art Studio
Artist Lucy Grant will lead free creative activities in CAST’s ground floor learning studio every Wednesday in August.
MAKE A BOAT THAT FLOATS
Use driftwood, feathers, twigs and leaves to make a boat that floats at CAST, then make the short walk down to the Cober River with your friends and family to make it sail.
CAST-Off Summer 2026
UPDATE – due to the forecast of heavy rain and high winds on Saturday 29 August, the final CAST-Off of the summer will take place indoors, in the CAST building.
Paper Cuts
We invite families to create vibrant paper-cut images and symmetrical designs in celebration of spring.
GROW A SPRING THING
Join CAST’s learning team to make your own potted plant. Then bring it to life in a spring garden with help from animator Mae Voogd. Participants of all ages are welcome. This workshop is part of Helston Spring Thing 2026.
Get Set Go!
Add axles and wheels to recycled bottles, cartons and tubes to make a junk model vehicle that really goes!
CHRISTMAS PRINT WORKSHOP
Join Lucy Grant and the CAST learning team to print handmade cards, tags and wrapping paper in time for Christmas. Create your own designs or use simple shapes to build bold, Scandinavian folk-style patterns. This free drop-in workshop is open to all ages and perfect for families.
Creatures of the Kiln
Join Vicky Wiltshire from Clay Trap to make your own clay creature, talisman or charm. If you would like to keep your creation you will have the option to have it fired, at a cost of £5 per item. Participants of all ages are welcome.
Paper Lantern Making
Join Lucy Grant to find out about lantern traditions around the world, use wax and tissue paper to create translucent shapes and make your own special lantern. Participants of all ages are welcome.
Lightbox Tuesday 12 August
Create sea monsters and curious underwater shadow puppets and make your own slides to project in our black box space, or trace a friend’s portrait using camera obscura technology.
Lightbox Tuesday 5 August
Trace a friend’s portrait using camera obscura technology. Dress up and strike a pose for an old-fashioned black and white portrait. Make wiggly compositions from seaweed and use the power of the sun to develop your very own cyanotypes:
Lightbox Tuesday 19 August
Make an articulated contraption, taking inspiration from machines and ‘things that go’. Build your very own zoetrope – an animation device that will make your drawings come to life! Use camera obscura technology to make portraits in Jonathan Polkest’s ‘Draw Me/Tedna Ve’ booth.
CAST-Off Saturday 23 August
Learn how to make your own plantable paper with seeds embedded, create your own construction from wood, or polish serpentine stone into a shiny pendant. You can also have a go on our tiny printing press or make an enormous vegetable print!
CAST-Off Saturday 16 August
Listen carefully and sculpt the sounds you hear out of different coloured plasticine or see what water carrying structures you can make with tubes and pipes. There will also be an opportunity to try your hand at creating felt pods, mask making, and building with clay.
CAST-Off Saturday 9 August
Make a kite in the shape of a fish to fly in the wind and see what you can build from wood. Spend time painting and try your hand at printmaking using a portable press.