Exhibiting student art celebrates the fresh perspectives of young minds and the future they represent. Exhibitions are tangible evidence of creative learning and the joy that art and artistic expression can bring to our lives. In 2016, the Loreto Marryatville Art Department accepted an invitation to exhibit in the Catholic Education Office Art Space at Thebarton.
Year 9 visual art students from Loreto immersed themselves in the story of Mary Ward’s life - Mary was the founder of Loreto schools worldwide. Their investigation took them beyond familiar well known facts and images to identify with the young Mary Ward - who showed tremendous courage and hope in facing disappointments and persecution. The students were inspired by her faith and tenacity in facing 17th century challenges and drew parallels with the lives of contemporary women who advocate for issues of justice and equality.
Inspired by artist, Thomas Doyle and collaborative duo, Walter Martin and Paloma Munoz, the students each took one aspect of Mary Ward’s life story and created a ‘miniature world’, ensuring that their stylised approach and attention to detail communicated their concept visually.
Audiences are beckoned to engage with the miniature artworks, look closely and become more intimately connected within each scenario. Photographs enable the viewer to appreciate the concepts in a more conventional way, zooming into details, utilising light favourably.
The Sacred Places exhibition was opened on November 30, 2016 by Helen O’Brien, the South Australian Director of Catholic Education. Helen spoke so warmly to the students in attendance about the joy their work brings to people working in and visiting the Catholic Education Office. In quoting Picasso, ‘The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls’, Helen O’Brien drew the students’ attention to the significance of their engagement in the legacy of Mary Ward and Visual Art’s contribution to the holistic development of their learning. Developing multiple, imaginative solutions to problems is applicable in any subject and transferable to any field or life experience.
View the gallery of images below.
Written by Suzanne Randell & Jacky Hamilton, Loreto Marryatville Visual Art Department
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