Festival of the Arts

This year saw the long-awaited return of the Festival of the Arts. After missing for some years due to the pandemic, it seemed as if no time was lost, with students, staff, and the wider school community coming together for an evening of music, costumes, and art. The festival took its theme from the College verses and theme this year, centring around the concept of Beauty. Artworks by students from Prep through to Year 12 were put on display for everyone to view and admire. 

Junior School Display

The Junior School Art room was abuzz during the Festival of the Arts, as visitors enjoyed viewing Prep - Year 6 artwork displays, while being serenaded from the foyer by string quartets and other musicians. 

Each year level showcased work created during Book Week, that linked to CBCA shortlisted books, Snap!, Frank’s Red Hat, Dirt by Sea, or We Are Australians. In addition, Prep students showed off their Coral Reef Relief Constructions and Sea Creature Models, Year 1 and 2 had collage and construction work inspired by Wassily Kandinsky and Henri Matisse on display, and Year 3 and 4’s endangered animal collagraph prints lined the glass window cabinet. The Year 5 and 6 Steam Punk sculptures took centre stage, and all visitors enjoyed the interactive experience of adding coloured sticker dots to their mini diorama rooms to mimic Yayoi Kusama’s Obliteration Room installation.

The first Junior School Student Art Competition proved to be a great success, with almost 40 entries across Prep - Year 6. Artworks of any medium were invited to be entered and prizes were awarded for students in Prep - Year 2 and Year 3 - 6 categories. Guests also cast their vote on the evening for a Junior School People’s Choice Award winner.

Junior School Winners

Congratulations to the following winning student entries:

• Prep - Year 2 Winner: Elvina Pan (1JB), Wings of Beauty, watercolour on paper
• Prep - Year 2 Runner Up: Stanley Lin (1CB), Bright Plate, acrylic paint on pottery
• Year 3 - 6 Winner: Nathaniel Tan (4W), Through the Keyhole, acrylic paint and pencil on paper
• Year 3-6 Runner Up: Charisma Grey (4W) Beauty and the Beast, printed photographs on gloss paper 

The votes for the People’s Choice Award have been tallied up pointing to a clear winner, who will be announced at the Junior School Chapel service on Thursday 26 October.

Jacqui Kelly

Junior School Visual Arts Teacher

Senior School Art Display

The Senior School displayed the best student work from the past year, showing everything from the Year 8 pop-art paintings and rubber stamps, the Year 9 ceramic doughnuts and logo designs, to Year 11 VCD movie posters and recycled material sculptures, all the way to Art and VCD final projects. 

New for this year was the Art competition, Calling All Artists, which saw almost 60 entries from across both the Junior and Senior Schools. The competition, like the festival, held the theme of Beauty and this produced a wonderful abundance of artworks, each with different interpretations, mediums, and explanations. We received more than 160 votes across the Senior School, making the competition hotly contested. 

Senior School Winners

• Juanae Choi (7.4) – Years 7-9 Best-in-Show Award with her painting Light
• Mary Spratt (11.15) – Years 10-12 Best-in-Show Award with her series of charcoal portraits I’ve never seen a smiling face that was not beautiful

The coveted People’s Choice Award was awarded to 

• Jaya Eleveld (9.9) for her hand-sculpted ceramic sculpture Imperfectly Perfect. 

The Art, Drama, and Music teams worked tirelessly, planning for months, making

 decorations, tallying votes, running rehearsals, fitting costumes, and setting up spaces resulting in a fantastic night. As this was my first time experiencing this, I would like to express my sincerest thanks to everyone involved that helped make this night possible.

Benjamin Niemandt

SS Head – Visual Arts