4 June – 31 August 2026Â
The Roden Centre for Creative Learning, The National Gallery
Admission free
This summer the National Gallery’s flagship primary school programme, Take One Picture, reimagines Canaletto’s Venice. Each year, children from across the UK respond to a single National Gallery painting, using it as inspiration for imaginative exploration across the school curriculum. This year’s painting is Canaletto’s A Regatta on the Grand Canal (about 1740) .
The exhibition will showcase the work of pupils from 35 schools across the UK. This typical Venetian scene is transformed through the eyes of children with a wide range of inventive projects, all coming from their own questions and ideas about the painting: who is going to win the race?  What’s under the water? Why do the boats look like dragons?
This year, over 79,000 children from 362 schools have participated in the Take One Picture programme. Take One Picture aims to put art at the centre of children’s learning across the curriculum, inspiring creativity, curiosity, and a lifelong connection with artists’ work. By exhibiting a selection of the projects produced, the programme also provides a platform for celebrating children’s work, building pride and confidence in their achievements, and fostering a sense of ownership and belonging in the Gallery. Â
This year’s painting, Canaletto’s A Regatta on the Grand Canal, shows a colourful boat race taking place in Venice, Italy. Crowds of hundreds of people cheer on the gondolas as they race towards the finish line. Canaletto has captured the excitement and drama of the event, with spectators and architecture laid out in a steep angle that recedes sharply into the distance. Canaletto was born in Venice, the son of a theatrical scene painter. Throughout the 18th century, he was an artist of influence, famed for his precisely depicted and evocative views of the city.  Â
This year’s exhibition takes place in the Gallery’s Roden Centre for Creative Learning, which opened in 2025. The Centre enables adults and children to have high-quality creative learning experiences within an inspiring setting.
Karen Eslea, Head of Learning and National Programmes at the National Gallery, said: Â
‘Take One Picture is a very special programme which has been central to the National Gallery’s work for over 30 years.  It is completely free and open to all primary school children across the UK, reaching large numbers and supporting high quality creative learning for all. We know this has a huge impact on children’s lives and learning, and with free teacher training the project has an important and lasting legacy in schools. I couldn’t be more delighted and inspired by this wonderful exhibition – huge congratulations to all the young artists involved!’ Â
To find out more about Take One Picture, see here:Â https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/learning/take-one-picture
