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Home Publicationsartists in schools information booklet
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2000 Projects and profile |
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The three projects described below give a taste of the diverse projects. Further project reports can be found in artists in schools 2002.
Durga Tram - Melbourne Girls' College
Story Bench - Foster Primary School
Town & Country - Chaffey Secondary College & Victorian College for the Deaf
Durga Tram - Melbourne Girls' College
School: Melbourne Girls College is an inner city state government
school serving a culturally diverse community.
Artist: Amanda
King is an artist specialising in festival arts. Her past projects
include artwork for WOMAD in Europe, UK and USA. Her work examines traditional
festival ritual, artforms and practices around the globe which she reinterprets
for contemporary Australian participation. Amanda had recently returned
from the Durga Puja Festival in Calcutta which celebrates Durga, a powerful
female role model, displaying strength, wisdom and moral judgement. On
her return to Melbourne she set out to create a decorated tram and parade
for the Moomba Festival 'Trams on Parade'.
"It has been a
fantastic experience for the girls, involving them in a large scale project
through which they could work together on a common creative task." - Rodney Sipthorp, Teacher
Photo by Ponch Hawkes
Program: Amanda worked with Year 7 girls who made a series of large
vibrant props and costumes to complement the painted tram. The prop making
involved 100 girls, 30 of whom participated in the parade. Some of the
girls, under Amanda's direction, also assisted with the painting
of the tram at the Preston Tram Depot. Amanda's energy for the project
was boundless. The girls had little time to gain breath between her demands
to complete the next prop, or develop the next costume, for the parade.
While many schools were winding down for the year the MGC Art room was
'full on all systems go' to complete the physical construction
of items for the festival. In the first term of this year the focus was
on completion of all work and the rehearsing and choreographing of movements
for the parade.
Photo by Ponch Hawkes
The central image of the procession, the 'W' class tram is a
symbol of the Melbourne in which the girls live. The girls will always
think differently about this Melbourne icon as a consequence of their
involvement in the project. The multicultural aspect of the design, focusing
on the Indian goddess Durga made this project ideal for this culturally
diverse girls school. The girls, including some who are of Indian heritage,
embraced the theme and the colourful symbolism associated with the image
for a successful contemporary arts festival. - Rodney Sipthorp
Story Bench - Foster Primary School
School:
Foster Primary School was keen to involve community
members in the life of the school. The project was seen as an opportunity
to establish links between the school and a range of public arts/ community
arts projects in Foster's main street. The project became an integral
part of a broader school beautification program that included landscaping,
tree propagation, litter reduction, restoring native vegetation and gardening.
Photo by Ross Bird
Artists: Trevor
Wheeler and Catherine Blamey are a husband and wife team. They work
as independent artists as well as together. Trevor is a metal sculptor
and has created a range of large outdoor works such as decorative signage,
public shelters and seating. Catherine specialises in glass work. They
have been involved in community projects previously and were keen to work
in a school environment.
Program: Trevor
and Catherine worked with students from Prep to Grade 6 to design and
make three unique benches as the focal point for a newly landscaped outdoor
courtyard. The designs for the hand painted glass mosaic bench tops were
developed by the artists from drawings that students produced in response
to stories told by local story teller, Kathleen Stack. Each bench tells
a different tale, one an Aboriginal story, another Latvian and another
a Scottish tale. The bench bases are created from decorative wrought iron
with concrete infill and complement the motifs in each bench top.
"I'm really excited. I never realised that those things were
made by hand until I saw you making it!" - Prep Student
Photo by Ross Bird
The artists worked in the shelter shed and an enclosed area beside the
gym. Students were involved with many aspects of the work and came to
understand the complexities of the tasks involved. When it came to shaping
the wrought iron Trevor set up a small blacksmiths forge in the shelter
shed. Students watched in amazement as the intricate shapes emerged from
under the hammer. They were fascinated to see their drawings being transformed
into large permanent artworks.
Town & Country - Chaffey Secondary College & Victorian College for the Deaf
School:
Chaffey Secondary College and Victorian College for the Deaf.
Chaffey Secondary College is a junior secondary school in Mildura. The
Sunraysia district, in far North West Victoria includes a mix of vineyards
and dry land farming and is a popular tourism destination. The Victorian
College for the Deaf is in St Kilda Road, Melbourne.
Artists: Belinda
Fox is a practising printmaker with a Grad Dip in Education. She is
an ex-Mildura student who now works and lives in Melbourne. In her own
life she has experienced the divide between city and the country and she
wanted to assist other young people to explore the differences and similarities
in the two environments through their artwork. Both schools felt that
Belinda provided a great young female role model for current students.
 
Artworks by Students at Chaffey Secondary College and Victorian College for the Deaf
Program: Approximately 30 students from each school were involved
in observing and sketching the environments that surround them and developing
those into high quality lino prints. Selected prints were compiled to
make up two hand bound, limited edition concertina style books depicting
their different worlds. These books and many other prints completed during
the residency were exhibited at Alfred Deakin Centre in Mildura. The books
were exchanged between schools building on links developed through letters
and email.
Due to time restrictions Belinda worked intensively at each school for
a frenetic few weeks. At the Victorian College for the Deaf they used
the art room. At Chaffey they were able to set aside a whole room as a
studio for the project for three weeks. It became a hive of activity through
lunch and after school as students and artist worked to the exhibition
deadline. The students selected to be involved in the project were those
seen as most likely to benefit from the experience, some were accomplished
art students, others were not. At Chaffey Secondary College the project
was also linked to English through writing workshops around the theme
'Country' with writer Kerry Conway.
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