The Arts

NICK KARAKOTTAS

Arts Curriculum Coordinator

Welcome to the Arts and Design Faculty news!

I would like to start this issue with a great big THANK YOU to all Arts and Design teachers in our Faculty who have exhibited their flexibility and professionalism over a long period of remote learning. It is a highly difficult task to engage students invaluable Arts and Design opportunities online, however, all teachers have put their best efforts into making this happen. Furthermore, it is with tremendous positivity that I accept the role of Acting Arts Curriculum Leader for the remainder of 2021. I look forward to continuing the great work the teachers and students do daily in our Faculty. I would like to wish Mrs Joy Mackey the best of luck for the future and thank her for all her contributions in the Arts and Design Faculty this year.

I would also like to welcome Mr Nick Weiler, who has taken over Mrs Marina Kaam’s Food Technology classes while she is on Long Service Leave. Mr Weiler will be teaching the subject of Food Technology till the end of the year. He has been received with ample positivity by students who have enjoyed learning about making many delicious dishes, such as pizzas, scones, muffins and Tom Yum soup.

It is with great happiness that we welcome all our students back to school and of course their Arts and Design classes. Their creativity and enthusiasm have shined brightly these past weeks upon their return to campus. Here is some news from all the different subject areas:

Mrs Avzangelis has worked tirelessly with her Year 10 VCD students to create some outstanding skateboard designs. She has also worked hard in assisting students in VCE Visual Arts and VCE Visual Communication design to create a plethora of designs and artworks as a requirement of their studies. Mrs Avzangelis shares with us her stencil wall, which she hopes will fill up with different stencils inspired by the 200-year celebration of Greek Independence.
Mr Akbiyik shares with us some photos of his Year 9 and year 10 Digital Technology classes, who have been working on a Hardware and Software recognition project for the past couple of weeks. In the images, we see the practical component of building personal computers.
Year 9 Drama students have enjoyed putting on a live version of their online performance for the ‘Suitcase Series’ program run by the Malthouse Theatre. They will soon complete their ensemble, which consists of a series of vignettes inspired by a professional stimulus script of a previous Malthouse Theatre production called ‘Hello, world!’. The themes of their performance centre on Sustainability, Climate Change, Social Media and the current issues in the world. Also, best of luck to Toni Stathopoulos who will be sitting her written VCE exam on Wednesday.
In the area of Media, Year 12 Media students are finished for the year, having created amazing artworks and analysing the film and news media industries. Mr Gridley wishes best of luck to Zoe Pandelias and Chloe Abbott who will complete their final exam on Monday!
Mrs Tripathi shares a few designs with us in this Newsletter article created by our Junior School students. In particular, some images on Grade 5 iPad art, Grade 3 Melinda Harper inspired art and Grade 4 Zentangle art.
Mrs Smit would like to mention the resilience of the 6, 7, 8 art cohorts for their creativity using found objects during remote learning. She shares some photos of these artworks with us.

Closing, I would like to wish all our VCE students who are either completing their interschool exams in Units 1 & 2 (Media, Visual Art, Visual Communication Design) or sitting the external examinations for Units 3 & 4 (Drama, Visual Art, Visual Communication Design) best of luck for their examinations. I would also like to remind everyone to check the school’s Facebook page for access to the online MS/SS Arts show and JS Art Show, which were recently posted for the public.

Kind regards,

Mr Karakottas