Onslow Students Light up!

Published by: Miranda Stephens | 10-Dec-2019
Earlier this year students at Onslow Primary School had the opportunity to work with professional artists Iona McAuley and Angela Barnett through the AWESOME Arts Creative Challenge program. Students worked hard to produce their own unique artworks through process driven workshops exploring light and shadow.
The AWESOME Arts 2019 Creative Challenge took place in Onslow last term with the arts project, 'Shine'. The program is designed for remote and regional schools and is presented in partnership with BHP promoting the valuable educational initiatives that happens in some of WA's most remote and regional communities.

Over two weeks, the year 1/2 and 3/4 classes at Onslow Primary School worked with artists-in-residence Perth based puppeteer Iona McAuley and Melbourne based multimedia artist Angela Barnett to explore the theme 'Shine' and what it means to them in their community. The artwork is created and driven by the students and through this process could take shape as a book, photographs, pictures, videos, films or an online or digital medium and is entirely inspired by the culture, community, experiences and aspirations of the students creating it.

Over the course of the two weeks the students explored the theme 'Shine' through the navigation of light and shadow. They created papier-mâchè lanterns from recycled materials, painting them to generate a beautiful rainbow array of colours within the classroom. They also investigated their silhouettes with projectors, creating shadow puppets and discovering how light and darkness can shape our impressions of the world.

The student's final artworks were unveiled at a community celebration at the end of the residency in which parents, teachers and other students were invited to view and celebrate the student's achievements. This was AWESOME's third year visiting the community of Onslow in partnership with Onslow Primary School.

In 2019 AWESOME has a team of thirty-two artists from all over Australia including film makers, visual artists, sound designers, musicians, new media artists, dancers, photographers and theatre performers. Over the year AWESOME has visited 21 communities in Western Australia to work with the local schools and communities. Selected artworks and photographs were showcased at AWESOME's major annual event the AWESOME International Arts Festival for Bright Young Things held in the Perth Cultural Centre from 5-18 October.

Newsletter Sign Up

Join Our Growing Community

ART NEWS PORTAL is a global crowd sourced art news feed.
Everyone is welcome to share their art and culture related news.