Draw the House with Emily Besser and Eliza Gosse
30 June - 25 August 2024
Meet at the Welcome Centre | Sydney Opera House Presents | Experiences
Create a range of drawings inspired by one of the world’s most iconic buildings. Once a month join like-minded creative souls to explore the Opera House and its surroundings through the eyes of an artist. Working with a different artist each month, explore various drawing techniques, and perspectives inspired by one of the world's most iconic buildings.
| Date | Artist | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday 30 June 2024 | Emily Besser | 9.45am - 11am 11.30am-12.45pm |
| Sunday 28 July 2024 | Eliza Gosse | 9.45am - 11am 11.30am-12.45pm |
| Sunday 25 August 2024 | Eliza Gosse | 9.45am - 11am 11.30am-12.45pm |
A $20 fee will be charged per transaction. It will be refunded after you’ve attended the tour.
Maximum five (5) tickets per person. Tickets registered in excess of the ticket limit may be cancelled without notice.
The only authorised agency for this event is Sydney Opera House. For more information about authorised agencies, see the frequently asked questions below.
In English
Wheelchair accessible
There are a number of wheelchair and companion seating locations available.
Social Story
A social story provides information about what to expect when attending a venue or show. It has short descriptions with images. See the Centre for Creativity Social Story
To book accessible seating contact Box Office via email or telephone on:
+61 2 9250 7777 (Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm AEST)
The tour involves walking throughout the Opera House site to find interesting aspects of the building, so we will be stopping frequently to sit and draw. Please advise us upon booking if you have any particular learning or mobility needs for us to support.
Find out more about accessibility at Sydney Opera House
Run time
The duration of this event is 75 minutes.
Age
Recommended for all ages and all skill levels.
This class is for all ages and skill levels, from beginners to experienced. Come solo, with a group of friends or a family member.
Please note that the tour route includes indoor and outdoor spaces across the Opera House, so there is a fair bit of walking up and down stairs. There will be moments to stop and sit during drawing activities to get your rest.
The Opera House is committed to the safety and wellbeing of children that visit or engage with us. Read our Child Safety Policy(link is external)
What you need to know
Please dress for the weather as we will be working outdoors. Participants must provide their own sketchbooks and materials from a suggested list by our art teacher (this will be emailed to you upon registration). The tour will meet at the Welcome Centre located on the Lower Concourse. Our Welcome Team will be around to help direct you. We highly recommend bringing sunscreen, a water bottle and wearing a hat.
This walking tour will visit various spaces throughout the Sydney Opera House and will include around 300 stairs. Please wear flat, comfortable shoes - your feet will thank you! If you have any concerns about the intensity of the tour please contact our Tourism Reservations team on 02 9250 7250 or tourismbookings@sydneyoperahouse.com
John Berger - Art Critic, Novelist, Painter & PoetDrawing is a way of coming upon the connection between things; just like metaphor in poetry reconnects what has become separated.
Slow down, observe...
You will also learn from an expert Tour Guide about the influence of visual arts in the Opera House's history, including the beautiful tapestries that grace our venues and foyer spaces.
Drawing is practical as an architectural and engineering blueprint, but it is also a tool for creative expression and making meaning, visually documenting what we see or imagine on paper, for others to view, interpret and enjoy.
From the very beginning, drawings have played a significant role in the Opera House’s history – a global architectural competition saw entries from all over the world, where a relatively unknown Danish architect, Jørn Utzon, became the winner of a new National Opera House for Sydney. Utzon’s original and somewhat controversial design was an imaginative sculptural response that the judges were convinced would be ‘capable of becoming one of the great buildings of the world’.
Presented by Sydney Opera House
Emily Besser
30 June 2024
Emily Besser is an artist living and working on Gadigal land, Warrane/Sydney. Emily is interested in the ways that drawing and painting interplay and diverge from one another, particularly when a drawing becomes its own thing and starts to take on a life of its own. Besser enjoys novel ways to approach the picture plane which itself can become a space to map the moment, with or without reference to the self and experience, and a site to play with methods of mark-making and chance. In Emily's work she builds up a surface, sometimes to the point of collapse, using layers of motifs, colour and pattern that she finds in her surroundings.
Eliza Gosse
28 July & 25 August 2024
Eliza Gosse explores life through the lens of architecture – specifically the clean, simple lines of post-war and mid-century design. Drawn to forms produced decades before she herself was born, Gosse creates paired back images that are not so much a depiction as an evocation of an era or place, or the people who may once have lived there. Eliza Gosse is an alumna of the National Art School, Sydney, graduating a Master of Fine Art in 2019. A multiple award recipient, she has won the Mosman Alan Gamble Award (2022), the William Fletcher Grant for Emerging Artists (2018); the John Olsen Drawing Prize, National Art School (2017). Gosse has also been a Finalist in the Archibald Prize (2023, 2022); Wynne Prize (2020); Salon des Refusés at S.H Ervin (2022); Mosman Art Prize (2023, 2022, 2020, 2017); Paddington Art Prize (2021); Ravenswood Australian Women's Art Prize (2020, 2019, 2018). Gosse is currently practicing in Sydney and represented by Edwina Corlette Gallery (Brisbane) and Olsen Gallery (Sydney)
Other information
Venue information
Our foyers will be open 90 minutes pre-show for Concert Hall and Joan Sutherland Theatre performances, and two hours pre-show for Western Foyer venue performances. Refreshments will be available for purchase from our theatre bars.
All Sydney Opera House foyers are pram accessible, with lifts to the main and western foyers. The public lift to all foyers is accessible from the corridor near the escalators on the Lower Concourse and also in the Western Foyer via the corridor on the Ground Level (at the top of the escalators). Pram parking will be available outside the theatres in the Western Foyer.
Getting here
The Sydney Opera House Car Park, operated by Wilson Parking, is open and available to use. Wilson Parking offer discounted parking if you book ahead. Please see the Wilson Parking website for details.
Please check the Transport NSW website for the latest advice and information on travel. You can catch public transport (bus, train, ferry) to Circular Quay and enjoy a six min walk to the Opera House.
Covid-safe information
The health and wellbeing of everyone attending the Opera House is our top priority. We’re committed to making your experience safe, comfortable and enjoyable, with a number of measures in place including regular cleaning of high-touch areas, air conditioning systems that maximise ventilation, and hand sanitiser stations positioned in all paths of travel. We remind our audiences and visitors to please stay home if you feel unwell. If you need to discuss your ticketing or booking options, contact our Box Office team on 02 9250 7777.
The health and wellbeing of everyone attending the Opera House is our top priority. We have a number of safety measures in place including regular cleaning of high-touch areas, air conditioning systems that maximise ventilation, and hand sanitiser stations positioned in all paths of travel. While face masks are no longer required, we ask all our patrons and visitors to practise good hygiene. Please stay home if you feel unwell and read more about our flexible ticket options.
The Sydney Opera House no longer requires patrons to show that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Frequently asked questions
The tour meeting point is at the Welcome Centre located on the Lower Concourse of the Opera House.
It’s a great idea to arrive early, grab a drink and soak up the view. Please arrive 15 minutes before your tour to allow sufficient time to cloak any large bags.
This should allow enough time for the mandatory visual inspections and/or cloaking of bags and personal belongings by Opera House staff before starting your tour.
Where possible, please leave bags at home. If you bring a bag, those larger than A4 size will need to be cloaked before you can go on the tour. We're unable to store suitcases or large bags as we have limited cloaking facilities.
If you are going to be late for your tour please call our Reservations team on 02 8188 3734 for assistance.
Where possible, please do not bring bags to the Sydney Opera House. Bags larger than A4 size will need to be cloaked before you can go on the tour. However we can’t store suitcases or large bags as our cloaking facilities are extremely limited.
Cameras are allowed on the tour and there are plenty of photo opportunities throughout the entire tour. Your tour guide will advise you whilst on tour if photographs are not to be taken inside any venues. Please note there is no video filming on the tour.
Mobile phones are permitted on the tour however please ensure they are switched off or on silent for the duration of the tour.
You will have the opportunity to visit some of the Opera House’s many venues and theatres on this tour.
Please note that as we are a busy performing arts centre, venues and theatres are subject to availability at the time of your tour.
You can make a booking for up to 11 people though our maximum capacity per tour is 35 people. For capacity reasons the booking must be made by calling 02 8188 3734. Our Reservations team will assist with your reservation.
We encourage you to purchase your tour in advance online or via the phone where you’ll receive an eTicket. Please bring this with you and present it upon check-in at the Welcome Centre located on the Lower Concourse of the Opera House.
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