The school culminates in a very busy period for the Visual Arts faculty as we complete our 2023 programs and plan for some exciting initiatives in 2024.

HSC Body of Works and Artexpress 

While we do not know the final HSC results for our students, they have performed very strongly with their Body of Works.

Congratulations to the four students who had their Body of Works short-listed for Artexpress; Holly B, Riley C, Rachel K and Oliver R. Holly and Riley have been selected for Artexpress exhibitions.

There were about 8600 students who submitted HSC artworks with approximately 200 shortlisted, so this is a wonderful result and carries on the success of our students who have been shortlisted with many being selected for the Artexpress exhibitions over the past 20 years.

The calibre of the Body of Works this year was consistently high and impressive across the whole year group and it is important to congratulate their creative effort in producing the wonderful artworks this year.

The Young Curators Project that Year 11 VA students engaged in with Archibald Prize winner, Euan Macleod, concluded with an exhibition of his artworks in the Seaview gallery in the latter part of Term 3. 

Euan was so impressed with the student’s involvement in conjunction with students at St George Christian School that he has produced prints for each of the students. Euan has been invited to be our guest speaker at our Presentation Day, December 11 and will present the prints to the students on that occasion.

ART23  Our annual artist workshops had its showcase exhibition on 23 November, with student artworks from Year’s 7 to Year 11 on display. These workshops are not focused on producing highly refined artworks, but rather focus on students gaining experience in using materials or art making activities that extend their creative learning experience.

It is also an opportunity for them to work with practising artists and learn about their individual artist practices, that informs their learning as part of their Visual Arts curriculum.

Year 8 students from our school submitted a collaborative and immersive sculptural artwork for the 8th annual Public Schools Arts Festival! It featured as part of the Festival’s Visual Arts exhibition in the Addison Road community Center’s StirrUp Gallery, exhibited in a group show of collaborative artworks from both public primary and high schools. Our work was super popular with visitors!

This event gives art students in public schools an opportunity to showcase their collaborative artwork – sculpture, drawing, video, painting, drama, and music – in the professional exhibition and performance spaces at Addison Road. The festival also had a fantastic line up of primary and high school bands, with over 200 people attending! We are so thankful to Vanessa James and Robyn Chiles for organising and facilitating this amazing event and supporting public education and creativity in the Inner West and across Sydney.

Visual Arts and Design ArtStream students in Year 8 worked with artist Christian Bonett to explore the alive urban spaces of Marrickville and Dulwich Hill, revealing our vibrant personal and cultural identities through this hand-built series of ceramic sculptures.

Year 10 students are participating in a transition program to prepare them for the HSC course that they will begin next year. In Visual Arts, students will be attending the Kandinsky exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW. The focus will be on how to “unpack” an artwork to acquire a meaningful understanding and appreciation of abstract art and the representation of expression in modern art. Not only will this enrich their learning experience for the HSC Visual Arts course, but also provides the confidence to visit art galleries and exhibitions where they can begin to connect with the works and develop a stronger appreciation of what the artwork is communicating.

The Design Market also occurred on the Information night for 2024 Year 7 students. The TAS and Visual Arts departments worked on producing creative art and design works, that were sold at the market. In Visual Arts, special mention must go to Ms Varley and her amazing team of jewellery making.

The students attended lunch time works shops to produce the pieces for the Design Market and their hard work and dedication paid off with everything they produced being sold. Likewise, much appreciation to Mr Schroeder and his photography students who produced photo packs based on various locations around Sydney. They also had a sell-out of their photo-packs.

Year 7 Visual Arts students have also developed their painting skills producing portrait paintings for the Dully Archies exhibition on 30 November. This is indeed a time for celebration to see the various approaches to painting a portrait. For most Year 7 students this is their first foray into paining on canvas and applying lessons on skin tone and painting techniques. It is a challenge, but the results are impressive and a joy to see on exhibition with each student having their work on show. 

What's planned for Visual Arts in 2024:

There are also several initiatives planned for 2024. One of them involves an invitation from the Inner West Council to work with an artist on a major street artwork in Dulwich Hill. We will also be introducing a colour theory program with Dr David Briggs who is President of the Colour Society of Australia and member of an international program - The Colour Literacy Project. This will provide a strong foundation to student artmaking, particularly as students move towards HSC Body of Works and understanding how artists have used the properties of colour in their artmaking.