Draw the House with Mark Gerada, Fionn McCabe and Nadia Odlum
23 February – 29 June 2025
Meet at the Welcome Centre | Sydney Opera House Presents
All ages | 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 23 February 2025 | Mark Gerada | 9:45am - 11am 11:30am-12:45pm |
| Sunday 30 March 2025 | Fionn McCabe | 9:45am - 11am 11:30am-12:45pm |
| Sunday 27 April 2025 | Fionn McCabe | 9:45am - 11am 11:30am-12:45pm |
| Sunday 25 May 2025 | Nadia Odlum | 9:45am - 11am 11:30am-12:45pm |
| Sunday 29 June 2025 | Nadia Odlum | 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.
Sydney Opera House Insiders pre-sale
9am, Tuesday 21 January 2025
Become a Sydney Opera House Insider to receive exclusive pre-sale access
General Public tickets on-sale
9am, Wednesday 22 January 2025
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
For any special access requirements phone the Contact Centre on 02 9250 7777 or email bookings@sydneyoperahouse.com
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 tour 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.
What you need to know
Please dress for the weather as we will be working outdoors. Participants must provide their own sketchbooks and pencils. Please keep what you bring to a minimum so it's easy for you to move around and draw quickly.
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. Pease 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.
What to bring
Please dress for the weather as we will be working outdoors. Participants must provide their own sketch books and materials from a suggested list by our art teacher (this will be emailed to you upon registration).
Where does the group meet?
The tour will meet at the Welcome Centre. Our Welcome Team will be around to help direct you.
What time do I need to arrive before my tour?
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 all your bags and personal belongings.
This should allow enough time for the mandatory visual inspections and/or cloaking of all bags and personal belongings by Opera House staff before starting your tour. Where possible, please leave bags at home.
Please note we are unable to cloak bags larger than A4 size.
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.
Useful information:
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, Jorn 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
About the artists
Mark Gerada
Mark Gerada is a multi-disciplinary practitioner who lives and works in Sydney. With an oeuvre which comprises a multiplicity of creative disciplines, Mark’s practice is flexible, enabling him to straddle the lines between commercial and non-commercial work, and between figurative and experimental art-making.
As an artist, Mark was commissioned by the City of Sydney to create City Wilderness Trail and Brisbane City Council to create the Beasts Of Alderley Suburban Wilderness Trail - both projects communicating the importance of relationships in nature. He completed a specialised ecology project titled Koala Land, which sets out ways to conserve koala populations, and out of this body of work produced and illustrated an educational children’s book titled Our Home. He is currently designing a development in South East Queensland where humans and koalas will live side by side, where the needs of native flora and fauna come first.
Mark’s experiences are rich - he previously worked in publishing and advertising, has 22 years of experience in university teaching (Architecture, Design and Visual Communication), worked as an illustrator for magazines and newspapers around the world, had a successful ceramics business, and still produces commissioned paintings for private houses, offices and hotels. As an artist, he has exhibited work in Sydney, Melbourne, London, Brussels, China and Malta.
Fionn McCabe
Fionn McCabe is an educator, printmaker and cartoonist living on Gadigal/Wangal land. He is a co-founder and producer of Read To Me, a live visual storytelling event based in Sydney. His stories and drawings have been published and exhibited internationally.
Nadia Odlum
Nadia Odlum is a Sydney-based artist whose practice explores the material language and lived experience of urban space. Their abstract works transform everyday city elements to investigate how bodies and environments interact, focusing on both individual and collective responses to space. An insatiable curiosity for different mediums drives their diverse practice, which spans paintings, drawings, sculptures, artists' books, and public artworks, alongside socially engaged projects, workshops and performance collaborations.
Plan your visit
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 minute walk to the Opera House.
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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