Workshop: The Art of the Mobile with Andrew Maize

In this hands-on workshop participants will explore the work of Alexander Calder, the history of mobiles and kinetic sculptures, and learn strategies and techniques to animate their very own mobile compositions. We will discuss the physics of mobiles and the various approaches and techniques of creating movement and balance using a variety of materials.

Materials will be provided, but students are welcome to bring in their own light-weight materials to incorporate into the mobiles. (Shells, small stones, wood, old drawings, fun paper, found objects, wire, beads, shiny things, etc.)

Spaces are limited and registration is required for this workshop REGISTER HERE

Andrew Maize’s playful and improvised approach to his art practice is contingent on environmental, social, and material relations. Recent interests include mobile instruments for improvised performance, wind-powered kinetic sculptures, and experimental drawings using smoke and natural pigments. He is curious how transdisciplinary collaboration and improvisational methodologies can help embody more creative, adaptable and resilient ways of being in the world. As an arts educator and organizer, Maize has been involved in collaborative projects that engage communities with art in non-traditional spaces. Maize graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from NSCAD University in Halifax NS in 2012, and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Guelph in 2021. Maize is Artist in Residence at McIntosh Gallery from January 19 – February 13.

From January 15 – May 16, 2026, McIntosh Gallery will present two exhibitions curated by Helen Gregory that explore our complicated human response to climate change and the increase in severe storm events. Andrew Maize’s *(s)twerH takes the form of a laboratory/studio where Maize will develop a body of work grounded in a kinetic, interactive, wind-driven installation. Galvanized by the work of climate scientists on the complexity of turbulence and the increased prevalence of severe storms, Maize explores potential common ground between scientific and artistic research to develop a more nuanced understanding of our relationship with the earth’s forces.  Atmospheric Shifts brings together extraordinary new work by Wally Dion, Lisa Hirmer, and David Spriggs created in response to research from the Canadian Severe Storms Laboratory in Western’s Faculty of Engineering. These new works are put into conversation with material and visual culture from the McIntosh Gallery Collection, RBC, Museum London, and the Canadian Severe Storms Laboratory (the Northern Tornadoes Project, the Northern Hail Project, and the Northern Mesonet Project).