During 2015 Prep, Art boys have welcomed a range of creative practitioners from the Art world into their classrooms. First the nationally and internationally award-winning author and children’s book artist Kim Michelle Toft. She is passionately committed to raising awareness of marine conservation, and uses her Art to do the talking. This is reflected in large, vivid, silk mural paintings that captivated the boys. Years 2 and 3 boys had the opportunity to watch painting demonstrations, listen to her books and shake it to her music.
KERRIE ANDERSON WENDY RIX SHELAGH ROGERS
Prep Art Department
Year 6 boys were inspired by a young artist duo, Grace Dewar and Ian McCallum, known as Kontraband. Both artists combine formal signwriting with urban mural painting. Boys had the opportunity to view the transformation of urban spaces in Toowoomba, and to create their own stencils, which they then spraypainted. Ian, who is a qualified signwriter, and Grace, who has a Bachelor of Creative Arts, are the founder and coordinator of Queensland’s largest street art festival: First Coat, which facilitates youth workshops throughout Queensland. They led a valuable discussion on graffiti and street art, the legal and illegal aspects of the art form, and an inspirational journey into cross-cultural mural painting.
Finally, NSW painter Caitlin Reilly was invited as Artist in Residence to coincide
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THE SOUTHPORT SCHOOL SOUTHPORTONIAN 2015
with Book Week. Year 5s completed five mini–projects, including making their own books using a Chinese paper-folding technique. To illustrate the books they used a French technique known as Frottage or graphite rubbings of everyday objects into humorous book creatures.
YEAR 5 EXCURSION TO QAGOMA
In August, the Year 5 cohort accompanied by their classroom teachers and the Art Department visited the Brisbane Qld Art Gallery and Gallery of Modern Art. The excursion was linked to the Australian history program, and throughout the day boys investigated the inspiried Art of our first Australians, Torres Strait ceremonial Art, contemporary Australian Indigenous and non-Indigenous Art, and a show on 21st century Japanese art, featuring an actual journey through a sliding door into another galaxy.
