Year 7 

Gallery for a Day

Gallery for a Day Incursion

On 28 August, our flexible library space was transformed into ‘A Gallery For a Day’ by Amanda Cooper. Her exhibition of original artwork from well-known Australian picture books was set up in our library with the illustrations displayed as if they were in a gallery. Amanda read the Year 7 boys an amusing book, highlighting an original illustration from the story. As a group she discussed with them the media and style the illustrator has used and why they made those choices. Students increased their observation skills as they explored and responded to the artwork. Not only were they immersed in the world of book illustration, they become “Art Detectives”!

Working in groups of 2 or 3, students were challenged to complete a scavenger hunt which focussed on the art works. This activity gave them an avenue to explore all the pictures that they were particularly interested in. We trust that our budding illustrators and authors were inspired by this incursion and feel sure that everyone benefitted from such a wonderfully engaging event in the SJC library.

Deirdre Riordan

Library Teacher

Student comments

It was great to see how all the books are made and the illustrations from the books. They were fascinating. Luke T

It was interesting to hear about how Mandy sorts all the books into different categories and then selects her favourites from them. Will B

I liked to learn all the background information about how the books were made. Some illustrations were put together with things like mud and all the colours of the rainbow. At the bottom of the pictures there were notes and sketches which showed the planning for the illustration. Xavier G