Visual Arts & Technology

Wow! Last week’s Art and Tech Showcase has come and gone but the school is still buzzing from the event. It was so amazing to see such a fantastic turn out of students, families, staff and community members celebrate the success of our amazing VCE students. This year’s theme of ‘Shining Bright – Future Stars of Art and Technology’ was just that, a fantastic display of student work that showcased an exciting future of our talented students.

We had a record number of votes on our digital showcase this year, showing a strong engagement from students across the school. Along with the physical showcase votes, these were used to identify our 1st, 2nd and 3rd place award winners for each subject area across VCE. Each of these winners was presented with a hand made, laser cut trophy and a gift card to celebrate their achievements. 

On the evening, we also celebrated our People’s Choice award winner, voted on the night by our guests along with a new initiative by the College, ‘The Principal’s Choice’, which in conjunction with the college council, voted on an artwork to purchase to be permanently displayed at the college. This year, Lily Evans from Year 12, Art making and exhibiting took out both the People’s choice and Principal’s choice with her ‘Bee’ artworks. Congratulations Lily. 

This year, our guest speaker was Photographer, Craig Wetjen.  Born in the US, he has made a name for himself here in Australia over the last 30 years. Craig shared with us his amazing experiences behind his journey in industry, working with NASA and the experience of publishing his book, “Men and Their Sheds”, aimed at highlighting awareness for men’s mental health issues. As a college, we thank Craig for his insight into industry and sharing his passion for photography with our students and guests.

Our traditional Great Wantirna Bake-off also showcased the amazing culinary talents of our community with entrants invited to bake an  ‘out of this world’ dessert, to be displayed, tasted and and judged by guests. We congratulate our winners for each category, who each received a cookbook full of inspiration that we might see in next year's entries. 

Another popular part of the night is fashion and fun catwalk, featuring the work of our textile students. Over the course of the night, it was fantastic to see and hear conversations take place about the body of student work, from paintings and graphic novels to hand made dresses and wood pieces from textiles. It was an great opportunity for our students to share their work with friends, family and the wider community. 

Overall, this years ‘Shining Bright’ showcase was a massive success that would not be possible without the tireless work of our amazing team of students and staff who have gone above and beyond across the year to bring this night together; starting with our Art and Tech captains, Tiarnah Pullen, Lily Evans and Holly Howard! We thank them for all their work across the year: designing our amazing laser cut spaceship trophies, supporting the painting of props at lunch, bumping the showcase in and out and support on the evening. Your work has been an enormous help to the team, thank you.

I'd also like to give a shoutout to our amazing staff: Amber Thomson, Vicky Rumble, Hannah Blackmore, Mitzi Flandez, Zoe Woebken, Jo Steen, Nicholetta Rigano, Andrew Lewis, Michael Bellm and Dan Clarke who have all made significant contributions to either the digital showcase or the Showcase presentation evening - thank you. Also, a massive thank you to Principal Carrie Wallis for her continued support of our Art and Tech students. 

The Art & Technolgy team wish to thank the folllowing businesses for their donations and support towards the Art & Tech Showcase:

• Zart Art

• Eckersley's Art

• Bunnings Vermont

• Kidman Kandles

• The Hut Gallery

We can’t wait to see what next year’s VCE Visuals Arts & Technology students get the opportunity to create and share with the school community. 

Benn Pollock

Leader of Visual Arts & Technology