Workshop
Upcycled Cardboard Animal Sculpture with Yulia Shtern
Sunday, April 26, 2026 from 1 – 4 pm
at the AGB, 10 Flint Street, Bancroft
Everyone welcome — from complete beginners to practicing artists
Turn your recycling into sculpture. Using upcycled packaging, you’ll tear, bend, layer, and glue thin cardboard into smooth, organic animal forms. We’ll work with colourful household materials like cereal boxes, pasta boxes, and paper-pulp egg cartons.
This intuitive, hands-on process encourages playful exploration while introducing practical techniques for working with recycled materials.
New to making art?
Start quickly and confidently with simple methods and accessible materials. You’ll move quickly from experimentation to a finished sculptural form in a supportive environment.
For artists:
Rethink material and process by working without traditional tools or armatures. The colours and textures of packaging become part of the visual language, opening up new ways to approach structure, surface, and sustainability.
Throughout the session, you’ll engage in hands-on making, shared discovery, and informal discussion around material awareness and creative choices—balancing experimentation with close observation as you develop your own approach to form.
You’ll leave with a small animal sculpture and practical strategies for continuing to work with recycled materials in your practice or daily life.
No prior experience necessary. All materials are provided, though you're encouraged to bring your own cardboard packaging to incorporate.
Yulia Shtern is a Canadian Visual Artist and a Scenic & Costume Designer for Theatre, Dance, and Opera.
Shtern earned a BFA in Drawing and Painting from the Ontario College of Art and Design (Toronto, Canada), and a Master degree in Scenic Design from the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada).
Yulia attended artist residencies in Canada, Italy, Germany, South Korea, China, and USA. Both her theatre design work and her art were recognized by a number of awards. Her art exhibits internationally, and can be found in private collections across North America and Europe.
Her series Magical Zoo consists of sculptures of animals created from upcycled materials with no paint or pigment. It places an emphasis on environmental preservation and on sustainable artistic practices.
