Hero photograph
L3 Painting folios
 
Photo by Amie Blackwell

Canterbury Secondary Schools Art Competition

Bree Smith —

The Visual Arts Department is working to make the visual mahi of our students more visible. On Thursday 6th September we celebrated the entry of three of our Level 3 painting students to the Canterbury Secondary Schools Art Competition.

This is an initiative established by The Windsor Gallery, which provides selected students with the opportunity to have their work professionally framed and exhibited in the gallery for a duration of two weeks. 

The competition attracts the best and brightest of schools from across the region and includes substantial prizes for students who are judged in the top three. 

The Drawing Room art supplies store and Juhel framing are major sponsors of this highly-anticipated event. 

Ms Bree Smith proudly attended the opening with students Hannah McKeeman, Kate Hayles, Emma Patmore and their families. 

The work of our students shone against some very well-resourced schools and was well received. 

Although unsuccessful in winning the three major prizes (which incidentally were awarded to three non-painting disciplines), Katie Hayles was awarded an additional prize by the organisers for “a beautifully layered work, which [was] very well painted”. Ka Rawe Katie! Congratulations to all three of you for striving for excellence and being such strong ambassadors for the school.

The judges for this event were Blair Jackson (Director of Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū) and Aaron Kreisler (Head of the Fine Arts Department University of Canterbury). 

They found the level of student work very high and were faced with a difficult task awarding the places. 

All three students were awarded a $50 framing voucher from Windsor Gallery. 

The exhibition opening was wonderful and there were many visitors to the gallery during the duration of the exhibition.