2022 Highlights
Artexpress
Warners Bay High School is thrilled to announce the nomination of eight HSC Bodies of Work, and selection of seven for ARTEXPRESS 2022. Congratulations to our artistically talented and creative Year 12 students who will have their artworks showcased in a variety of galleries across NSW. ARTEXPRESS is an annual exhibition featuring a selection of outstanding students' artworks developed for the artmaking component of the HSC Examination in Visual Arts in NSW.
First Class 22
Our 2022 HSC Visual Arts students created outstanding artworks and we celebrated the inclusion of students' work in the First Class 22 exhibition at the Museum of Art and Culture (MAC). This exhibition maintains a tradition of curating around a theme from outstanding work produced by Hunter and Central Coast HSC Visual Arts students. From the 2022 cohort Warners Bay High School had nine students selected to exhibit their work. Not only were their artworks materially sophisticated but they also demonstrated strength in their conceptual meaning.
National Gallery Summer Art Scholarship
Congratulations to one of our Year 12 students who was accepted into the National Gallery Summer Art Scholarship program in Canberra as one of 16 students from across Australia. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity as only two students from each state were selected to participate in this fully funded week-long program. The student took part in workshops with artists and engaged with the national collection up close. This student was highly motivated to apply and was proactive in developing her excellent submission which included an artwork and written response. Her dedication to the creative subjects throughout her schooling years and her personal commitment to art led to this excellent achievement and fantastic opportunity.
Brett Piva Artist Workshop
Year 8 Visual Arts students were invited to take part in a full day art workshop with local artist Brett Piva at the MAC Gallery. They actively engaged in Brett Piva’s artmaking practice processes to form mark makings using the natural environment. These initial marks were then developed into a design composition by the artist for a large mural that is featured along the walls of the MAC Gallery. This was an exciting experience for the students as we had just completed a unit of work exploring Australian Street Art. It was a fantastic extension opportunity as they were given access to a practising mural artist who had been commissioned by the gallery to paint a site-specific mural on the outside walls of MAC.
Sounds of Colour- High Potential and Gifted Education Program
'Sounds of Colour' was our first innovative muli-arts event featured at the dynamic MAP mima space. This Creative Arts High Potential and Gifted Education Program engaged students across years 7-11, who attended a full day workshop at the MAP Mima space, a full day Incursion at Warners Bay High School and several concurrent workshops after school on Monday afternoons. Students worked hands on with MAP Mima Curator Pippa Budge and Cultural Experiences Officer Jessica Lakatosh, local Artist Wanjun Carpenter who has also completed an artist in residency at MAP Mima and collected sounds and imagery from the area, many of which were immersed into the installation.
HPGE Visual Arts Program
Students from our feeder primary schools visited our school and engaged in our HPGE Visual Arts program. We created murals to make our space inviting and visually appealing. The students had a great experience and certainly left their mark on our school.
Dilly Bag: Five Islands Public Art Community Workshop
Kyah Stewart was invited to participate in an artmaking project delivered by Aboriginal artists Chris Edwards and Heather Clarke, to produce collaborative design concepts for their public artwork ‘Dilly Bag’, 2022.
ABC Radio
Mayra Kelly, one of our 2022 Artexpress students, who had her artwork selected to be exhibited at the Art Gallery of New South Wales was interviewed on the Breakfast program on ABC Radio in Newcastle. Mayra discussed her HSC Body of Work and her artmaking process.
MAD Night Exhibition/Performance Evenings
2022 saw a return to our bi-annual 7-11 MAD Nights and our HSC MAD Night showcase. Our students had the opportunity to perform, exhibit and manage equipment at our exhibition and performance evenings. We were thrilled to showcase the amazing talents of student from across the Arts within the school and broader community. These magnificent nights aimed to engage students and the wider community by encouraging creativity, and to inspire everyone to think differently about making artworks, performing, connecting to others, and reflecting on how the Arts fit in a modern world. The artworks and performances on show at each event highlighted the passion and dedication of the CAPA staff. We would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support.
Charlestown Library
In partnership with Charlestown Library and the Lake Macquarie Council, we created three mini exhibitions at Charlestown Library, showcasing Year 9 Ceramic students’ Zoo animal trophies; Year 10 Ceramic students’ Teapots, Grayson Perry and Organica works; and Year 10 Visual Arts students’ Still Life drawings.
Artist of the Month
The CAPA Faculty continued the concept of Artist of the Month to highlight the success of students in individual Visual Arts, Ceramics, Photography and Digital Media classes, and to celebrate individual learning outside the assessment and reporting frameworks. Twelve students received this prestigious award which encourages participation and confidence in artmaking.
Excursions
Excursions play a crucial role in our teaching, providing authentic, real-world experiences to complement class-based learning and reinforcing and enhancing what has been taught in the classroom. Our Visual Arts students experienced a diverse range of excursions and exhibitions including Artexpress, Taronga Zoo, Luna Park and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Nobbys Beach and MAC Gallery, Peter Gardiner: Oceanica exhibition, First Class exhibition, Sculpture by The Sea exhibition, and Do Ho Suh exhibition.
Teachers
Mr Burton and Mrs Martin were provided with the opportunity to undertake HSC Visual Arts Critical and Historical examination marking to develop strategies for students to enhance deep knowledge and understanding of the theoretical components of Visual Arts.
