The Pandora Project

The Pandora Programme is a 16 weeks of creative workshops designed to support people to explore, rebuild, and strengthen their creative practice through making.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

Programme Details

Duration: 16 weeks (two 8-week terms)
Start date: 9 February 2026
Location: CAN, Napier
Group size: Maximum 12 participants

Cost: $490 total (You can pay in full or two payments of $245)

Materials and equipment will be available during sessions. You’ll also receive guidance on what you may wish to purchase for your own practice.

How the Pandora Programme works

The programme is delivered through a sequence of facilitated workshops, supported by studio practice and group learning.

Participants are guided through a wide range of creative approaches, with an emphasis on:

  • exploration rather than mastery

  • process rather than product

  • permission to experiment without pressure

Workshops are hands-on and practical, with space for discussion, reflection, and shared learning.

GET CREATIVE

Workshop focus and content

Across the programme, participants explore a variety of techniques and materials, including:

  • painting and colour exploration

  • gelli plate printing

  • monoprinting

  • collage and collagraphs

  • mixed media approaches

  • working with chance, layering, and mark-making

Guest tutors contribute additional sessions in areas such as watercolour and printmaking, expanding the range of techniques and perspectives available to participants.

No prior experience is required. Equally, experienced artists are supported to step outside habitual ways of working.

GET CREATIVE

The Pandora Programme runs across two 8-week terms.

TERM ONE | STARTS FEBRUARY 9TH

The Practical Toolkit. A deep dive into the "How." You’ll explore:

• Color & Composition: Mastering the foundations of painting.

• Printmaking & Collage: Working with Gelli-plates, collagraphs, and monoprinting.

• Guest Masterclasses: Specialist sessions in Lino print and Drypoint led by guest facilitators.

• The Process Journal: Every student receives a journal to document their evolution.

TERM TWO | STARTS 6 APRIL 2026

Mentored Studio Practice. A more flexible, supported studio-based term.

This includes:

  • Access to studio space and equipment at CAN

  • Time to develop and refine work from Term 1

  • Group interaction and peer learning

  • One 1.5-hour personal tutorial with Helen at her Napier home studio

  • Deeper focus on your own visual language and direction

SECURE YOUR SPOT

Who is this programme for?

The Pandora Programme is for:

  • beginners wanting guided entry into creative practice

  • experienced artists feeling stuck or disconnected

  • people returning to creativity after interruption or change

  • anyone wanting to explore art as an ongoing practice, not a one-off experience

It is not outcome-driven and does not aim to produce exhibition-ready work.

GET STARTED.

What participants take away

By the end of the programme, participants typically leave with:

  • increased confidence in their creative decisions

  • exposure to a wide range of techniques

  • a clearer sense of how they work creatively

  • a repeatable process they can continue independently

  • connection with a supportive creative community

SECURE YOUR SPOT

  • Helen I’ve been trying to get an opportunity to say thank you for your support and inspiration this year. I was really hesitant to come to an art class at the start of the year. My high school art teacher and also an art teacher in Auckland put me off art classes but you were fantastic. You are fantastic at taking anybody with no judgement about where they are in their art journey and being supportive and gently pushing them that little further along. Always in a lovely way of celebrating what they have achieved but suggesting a stretch for them. I don’t think my art this year would have come along so much if it wasn’t for that supportive start you provided. So a big thank you 😘

  • My need was a new form of expression and release - something light and free and less physical than my normal routine. You have indeed shone your light in that direction for me. 5 weeks has gone so fast, too fast, enough for a taster, a tease, a tempter.

  • Helen you have taught me to not discount any work in progress. Rather see what part I like or don't and build on that. Develop my horizons and not be goverened with what already is my creation but make a new creation from it. Make what makes me smile. Great fun thank you!

  • This short course and another art course have helped me get a bit of my mojo back. It has inspired me to start using the many art products I have accumulated over the years and get creative again. Thank you Helen for the past 5 weeks.

  • Thank you Helen. I've so enjoyed devoting 2+ hours every Monday afternoon in May to art with your wonderful, passionate tuition and guidance. Being able to focus on this, away from the real world has been bliss. The introduction to gelli plate printing was a bonus with sometimes magical results!

  • Thank you Helen for sharing your incredible wealth of mixed media art techniques during the Pandora Project at Creative Arts Napier. I love that your sessions are for small groups, rather that big "one size fits all" type classes. Your ability to find the artist in everyone created a fun, encouraging environment and I enjoyed having the opportunity to try out many different materials without having to outlay a huge expense. I'd recommend the Pandora Project to anyone who is wanting to explore different art mediums as In Helen's sessions there no mistakes, just pieces of art in evolution.

About the Programme

The Pandora Project was developed after several years of personal and professional change, including the loss of my studio space at Waiōhiki Arts Village and a period of focused reflection through a 100-day art journey and international study.

This programme brings together everything I’ve learned about process, resilience, and creative practice — and makes it accessible, practical, and supportive for others. My goal is to make meaningful art education accessible to as many people as possible.

ABOUT ME

Places are limited to 12 participants.

If you’re ready to commit to your creative practice and explore what’s possible with the right structure and support:

GET STARTED