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LOOKING BEYOND ONLINE ART COMPETITION Art is the highest form of hope —Gerhardt Richter With so much time spent on screens during the extended period of online learning in Term 3, students of PLC Sydney were encouraged to go outdoors and get creative. An invitation to produce a work of art in any style or medium was given to our budding artists across the College, as an opportunity to use art as a vehicle to communicate a sense of hope amidst challenging times. The online Art Competition titled Looking Beyond aimed to encourage the school community to look up and out, both physically and conceptually as we all tried to look towards the future with a sense of positivity beyond our four walls during lockdown. We (Ms Knight and Mrs Lloyd) provided inspirational resources demonstrating a range of artistic approaches in representing nature in ways which enable the viewer to be
PLC SYDNEY / CAMPHORA
transported into a space of respite with the help of the artmaking techniques of perspective, light and by working directly from the subject. As a part of the competition, students were asked to create an en plein air artwork with the viewpoint of looking up, including the sky (at day or night), communicating a feeling of hope, joy and positivity, as well as demonstrating an employment of colour and an imaginative approach to subject matter.
An impressive number of entries revealed a diverse range of styles and techniques from our Junior and Senior School artists. Exhibition finalists and category winners were carefully selected and judged by ourselves and the Adelaide Perry Gallery Curator, Ms Tiffeny Fayne who met at the end of Term 3 to view the entries. Finalists and winners were included in an online exhibition and the winners of each category were rewarded with a $50 art supply gift voucher. The winning artworks displayed outstanding confidence, technical skill and unique artistic vision that transport the viewer into emotional and spiritual realms beyond the everyday.
