Great Scot December 2017 GreatScot_152_Dec_Online | Page 34

News
Core values
and connectivity
The hallmark of any healthy educational
program is its ability to hold true to its core
values while connecting meaningfully with its
students. At the centre of the junior art program
is the belief that boys need to maintain and
exercise creative, critical and reflective thinking,
while embracing new technologies to make the
art program more relevant and meaningful to the
contemporary student.
Year 7/8 art students are encouraged to
keep a visual diary in which they can freely
express their ideas through regular drawing
tasks. They are encouraged to perform a
drawing task at the start of each period. In
time their visual diary becomes a meaningful
record documenting the boy’s individual creative
journey, as well as a rich source of ideas that
can be developed into more substantial art
works. Research skills, image gathering and
annotations play a key role in embellishing this
journal.
Traditional art media are still explored,
though often in conjunction with new
technology, reinforcing the concept that the
idea is central to the art work and should
determine the method and preferred medium
of expression. Recently, art students have been
using Ipads and computers to enhance their
image-making. Images gathered from their
visual diaries are photographed, combined and
manipulated digitally, incorporating additional
visual elements in the digital environment.
These images produce endless possibilities
for development and application, such as the
lampshade projects displayed on Family Day.
Having young Old Boys contributing to
the art program has been stimulating for the
Art department staff, and informative of new
developments in the industry; their skills have
set a fine example, especially for the senior
boys.
There is still no substitute for the sheer joy
objects such as a ceramic pot or sculpture.
However when you combine their tactile skills
with digital technology, and inspire them with
an excursion to the Australian Centre for the
Moving Image to experience the Aardman
exhibition – the creators of Wallace and
Gromit – you provide the perfect opportunity
for collaborative learning, where boys of varying
abilities and creative skills can contribute to
group effort.
The Year 9 and 10 Studio Arts program
is solely based on photography and digital
imaging. Year 9 students focus on the theme
of Conflict, which reinforces their studies in
other subject areas, creating the possibility of
cross-curricular development. Similarly, the Year
10 program broadly develops the concept of
pushing boundaries through the use of subject
matter, technique and means of expression.
Both these programs are designed to introduce
the boys to the VCE format, and enable them
to make informed choices when selecting VCE
subjects.
ROB PAPUGA – SENIOR SCHOOL
ART DEPARTMENT
THIS PAGE: TOP, BEN CLARKE (YEAR 12). ABOVE, JAMES HARDY
(YEAR 12)
RIGHT PAGE: CLOCKWISE FROM TOP, MICHAEL LI (YEAR 12),
FINN TSIGARAS (YEAR 12), CHARLES SOLOMON (YEAR 11) ALEX
BOLTON (YEAR 11), JOHN LIM WITH MS PENNY LIM. MR MARK
MASON, LUKA TAO, MR YUDHA PANDJI
boys gain from creating three dimensional
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Great Scot Number 152 – December 2017