Here's your chance to have a brush with fame and hang with the PMs at Parliament House

After a former prime minister has gathered all their office supplies into an old cardboard box and the shredder has stopped whirring, their image is immortalised on canvas.

The Historic Memorials Collection (HMC) committee at Parliament House is in charge of commissioning prominent Australian artists to paint the portraits of each Australian prime minister after their term in office. The results are then hung in the Public Exhibition Area.

As of August 2023, the collection spans Sir Edmund Barton to Kevin Rudd (there are some delays in the process).

This Sunday (8 October), artist Naomi Zower will give Canberrans the chance to draw their own Historic Memorials-style portrait.

She’ll host ‘Face time with the Historic Memorials Collection’ as one of many kid-friendly activities for the Parliament House Open Day.

“It’s basically a drop-in-and-draw-a-portrait kind of session,” she says.

Between 11 am and 3 pm, there’ll be easels set up in front of the portraits of the prime ministers and people – young and old – are invited to perch themselves in front of a mirror and “just draw themselves” in a style they’d like to be remembered by.

“We’ll look at the different kinds of poses – front-on, three-quarter – and decide what kind of pose you might like to see yourself in,” Naomi says.

There’ll also be a crash course on how a human’s eyes are not mounted into the top of the forehead, how a typical head is about five eyes wide, and other “little things like that to help with proportions”.

Naomi has a PhD from the Australian National University’s School of Art under her belt and numerous art prizes and exhibitions from across Australia. She now “teaches teachers how to teach art to primary-school students” at the University of Canberra (UC).

Last year, she hosted a similar ‘Facetime’ event on the lawns of Parliament House for the Enlighten Festival, where people were able to pick an easel and paint their best impression of the building.

“It was a really nice way of engaging the public with Parliament House in a creative way.”

She’s also long been impressed by the Historic Memorials Collection.

“I think my favourite is probably Julia Gillard by Vincent Fantuzzo, a great realist painter,” she says.

“Most of them are highly representational paintings, and it’s great to look at them because you can see some are just plain colours, but others have books, or the Australian flag or other little items in the background that give you more of a window into their personalities.”

Parliament House is celebrating 35 years since the late Queen officially opened it and declared it “the embodiment of the democratic principles of freedom, equality and justice”.

There’ll be a raft of “family-friendly activities, pop-up talks, hands-on activities, and a host of great performers” (not least DJ Sue) on Sunday from 9 am to 5 pm.

Outside, it will be marked by a changing of the flag, and a special aerobatic display from the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Roulettes.

Inside, visitors will be able to print a mini poster inspired by the colours and shapes of the two chambers, help build eight LEGO portraits celebrating the first women of Australian politics, and find the fossilised piece of coral embedded in the Marble Foyer.

Ronnie Jordan from ‘Culture on the Move’ will also host two traditional weaving sessions.

The Kalkadoon Pitta Pitta woman was a horticulturist in Sydney for more than 10 years before she moved here with her husband and became a cultural ranger with ACT Parks. She started her business eight years ago with a vision to share Indigenous art everywhere, from childcare centres to government agencies.

“I learned from the elders. They passed their knowledge on to me and have given me permission to teach,” she says.

The first of her workshops is focused on kids. She’ll teach them how to create animal shapes from a variety of natural fibres. Later in the afternoon, adults will have the chance to try their hand at traditional basket weaving.

The materials might differ from those common to Sydney, but Ronnie says there are still “lots of weaving plants” in Canberra.

“You can use bull rush to create baskets, then you’ve got red stringybark to make rope, or dilly bags or fishing nets as well.”

It might take four to five hours to churn out a basket, but Ronnie says no one complains about the time.

“Weaving is part of our healing, so it actually calms you.”

The Parliament House Open Day will be held from 9 am to 5 pm on Sunday, 8 October. Entry is free. Visit the Parliament House website for more information.