For Year 12 art students, there is light at the end of the tunnel as they approach their Term 1 exam block. Each year, immediately after assessments, the Art Department hosts a three-day workshop, giving students dedicated time to immerse themselves in their major works.

For Isabella A, the uninterrupted time allowed her to significantly expand the scope of her painted works. “I was able to make artistic decisions and enter a good creative flow only because I had this large chunk of time to focus. This workshop has ultimately changed the trajectory of my project,” she shared.

Our art teachers are always there to talk, they offer feedback and help whenever we need, but they also give us complete creative autonomy and freedom to see our projects come together.

Olivia S (Year 8)

Eden M had a similar experience, feeling proud of the progress she made. “The workshop helped me establish a rhythm and plan for my next steps,” she said. According to Head of the Arts, Mrs Glenis Israel, this is exactly the workshop’s purpose. “The workshop allows students to reset whilst they become absorbed in their work. During the workshop, the girls make real progress in their works, therefore increasing their confidence in their abilities, which stimulates further refinement of their concepts as well as their artistic skills,” she shared. 

It is this considered approach which defines our entire visual arts curriculum, with staff working hard to offer students the opportunity to explore their creativity within a supportive environment. Aside from our Year 12 workshops, our Art Department also holds exhibitions to allow students to work towards publicly displaying their works. In Term 4, they hosted the Years 7-11 Art Show, where students presented everything from charcoal landscape studies to painted protest art and abstract clay creatures.

Mariska D (Year 9), who presented a study of objects she loved as a child, was overjoyed to be sharing her art with a wider audience. “I loved sharing my work with everyone and looking back on the work I created earlier in the year. It’s great to see where I’ve been able to grow in my art this year. That’s what I love about art at St Cath’s. We have the freedom to grow. If our project is making birds, we can choose whatever meaning we want behind that and all sorts of mediums to explore our ideas.”

Even in regular classroom lessons, our girls are encouraged to push themselves creatively to move their works in new directions, with support from their teachers. As Olivia S (Year 8) explained, it is an incredibly delicate balance that the art teachers seemingly navigate with ease. “Our art teachers are always there to talk, they offer feedback and help whenever we need,” she said, “but they also give us complete creative autonomy and freedom to see our projects come together.”