Artist shows students and teachers how to look at culture through art Artist in residence Matt McVeigh has provided an invaluable learning experience to the students and teachers of Tom Price and Paraburdoo during his six and a half week stay in the Pilbara. During Matt’s residency, Kindergarten to Year 3 classes learnt the local traditional Indigenous words for animals and plants through ceramic tile making and Year 4 to 7 classes explored dreamtime stories through making puppets and performing a play. The high school students delved deeper into how contemporary art – including sculpture, conceptual, performance and installation – could be used to address culture. “A lot of kids are like ‘I’m not strong at drawing and painting’. I’ve tried to show them, widen their appreciation of art and what it can be, it’s not your traditional motifs with paintbrushes,” Matt said.
Zara Parker came up with the idea to fill a tent with red, yellow and black balloons and throw a ‘cultural party’. Photo by Tiffany Davidson
Matt and the students worked on a seesaw installation piece after a discussion on the culture of the Pilbara found that some students thought Tom Price was just about mining.
Matt’s visit was thanks to a $30,000 Artist in Residency (AIR) Grant provided by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Department of Education, ArtsEdge and the Australia Council.
One side of the seesaw represented mining and the other side was left empty for students and their families to place personal objects of importance, until the seesaw was at an equilibrium weight.
The grant aimed to bring local culture and stories into the classroom while incorporating art into other subject areas to facilitate cross-curricular activities.
“You’ve got this beautiful national park and Tom Price has got a strong community, probably more so than some of the other communities I’ve been to, so that’s what I tried to address,” he said.
“I liked writing poems and painting about my culture” Ethan Hicks, Year 9
“I really l ik painting ed things ab ou my cultu t r e” Tasma C o
oke, Year
9
Page 6 | Inside Ashburton | September 2012
Throughout Matt’s residency, the students continued to focus on different aspects of culture through art. Year 9 student Zara Parker came up with the idea to fill a tent with red, yellow and black balloons and throw a ‘cultural party’. Upon entering the tent, glitter is thrown at guests to represent Zara’s past and present ancestors. “The piece is about celebrating the Indigenous culture in Tom Price. The balloons represent a party. The colours represent my flag, they symbolise my pride. The glitter is the spirit of my ancestors. I wanted to do something different to the art by other Aboriginal artists. This work (installation art) is fun and interactive,” Zara said. Year 12 student Arnie Injie also shadowed Matt for one week as part of his work experience. Tom Price Senior High School teacher and AIR Grant coordinator Robyn Wade said the grant provided the students with opportunities they often missed out on due to remoteness, and hoped it would inspire some students to consider artistic careers. She said Matt also helped demonstrate to teachers that they can run an art exercise in their classroom to engage their students differently.
“Matt is very helpful and always gives good advice as to which ste p to take next with my ar twork , and always willing to suggest ways to improve” Paula-Kayte Shannon, Year 11