VISUAL ARTS & DESIGNEDUCATORS ASSOCIATION

ANNUAL CONFERENCE

2016WORKSHOPS

Conference delegates will sign up for workshops as they register on Saturday morning. Spaces are limited.

SATURDAY11.30- 1.30pm

SESSION 1Kirkbride Theatre

Seating capacity 200

Jim Birkett Bundanon TrustOMG….not another artwork!

This image presentation explores the role of the Visual Arts outside the traditional gallery space and falls into the realm of the overall conference theme ‘In The Public Domain’.The presentation looks at the many roles of artist and the audience in relation to these artworks, examines location and installation of works and questions the selection of materials used in the production of the works. The presentation examines past and present public installation examples. We will look at the different messages being interpreted from the works and the value of alternative site-specific works. Question: “Is it REAL ART when it is not in a REAL GALLERY?”Alan GuihotMelville High School, Kempsey “Offences Against the State” – negotiating a different means of expression in Vietnamese Contemporary Art.

Contemporary art in Vietnam struggles with no government support and without access to education. Exhibitions are staged (or not staged) at the whim of the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism.Where artistic freedom is impinged upon artists, if they wish to have their work seen in their own country, are often required to self-censor or be more oblique in their conceptual content. With a limited domestic response, in terms of audience, sponsorship or buyers for contemporary art, Vietnamese art often targets an international market, with audience expectations of cultural specificity in the work – a uniquely Vietnamese character.Despite these restrictions, a vibrant, exciting art scene is developing, informed by a unique, different aesthetic.Wendy Ramsey University of Technology, School of EducationExperience, Dialogue and Interpretation

Dialogical pedagogy as the foundation of interpretation and the research of Rika Burnham and Elliott Kai- Kee as a departure point for constructing shared knowledge to create new texts and meanings for artworks.What constitutes a coherent experience of an artwork? Are we invested in a particular outcome or can outcomes be more open-ended? How do we create a learning environment that fosters exploration and discovery? An investigation of the interpretation of artworks in museum and school based contexts, and the role of dialogue as a pivotal exchange between teachers and students, museum educators and audiences. How dialogue constructs knowledge, the relationship between background knowledge and the guided interpretation of artworks as a productive contributor to the exchange and the withholding of information so as not to impede the development of student or audience interpretation. Developing an informed point of view, the active construction of knowledge and frameworks for thinking, truth of experience, the function of authority and information, art history and art criticism as models of enquiry, curatorial and educational perspectives, intense looking and the pace of discovery and the collective or individual experience informing a shared collective dialogue. Fiona DobrijevichUniversity of TechnologyNight Swimming: My life as a fish

How does art challenge the existing dualisms of thought that have been central to our thinking such as nature/culture or human/inhuman, and provoke new ways of thinking about our relationships with the nonhuman world?The term “New Materialism” proposes a new theory that does not privilege the side of culture, but focuses on what Donna Haraway (2003) would call “naturecultures”, and is reflected in the art practice of a number of contemporary artists.

SESSION 240 participants

Boardroom1st Floor,

Building 24

Gemma Baldwin and Lea-Kathryn NelsonMarist College Kogarah Culture Vulture: an authentic, real-world approach to Stage 4 Visual Arts

‘Culture Vulture’ re-envisages Stage 4 Visual Arts and reflects the contemporary world of our students. Based on the concept of authentic learning, the unit is designed to draw together commercial and fine art practices. Students examine their conception of popular culture in an ever-changing, media saturated world. Through focusing on the agencies of the world and audience, students are introduced to a range of artists which blur the lines between fine art and commercial art, including artist Brian Robinson and Mulga. The unit incorporates a range of online applications to foster a collaborative environment and stimulate curiosity, including Kahoot and Padlet. The artmaking task is designed to allow students to exercise choice as they pursue their own passions and interests through printmaking and the selection of imagery and ideas. The use of online tools such as Google Classroom and Drive present opportunities to collaborate on literacy tasks and provide challenges that require higher order thinking and the application of learning in a variety of settings. Art Critical and Historical investigations are situated through the use of Instagram as a mode of mass communication and social engagement. The intention of this unit is to demonstrate real world links that connects fine art to the professional opportunities of commercial art practices.

Luke Edmunds and Jodie Swan Moriah CollegeShow(me) and Tell- Encouraging Reflective Learning with Podcasting

“In giving students descriptive feedback, you have modeled the kind of thinking you want them to do as self-assessors” Chappuis (2005). This presentation reports on a three-year project that explores the use of podcasting to meditate reflection. This project has created a more authentic learning cycle where students, through the use of technology, are able to collect and curating data about their artmaking practice. Students no longer want to be passive consumers of their learning, but instead want to be active participants in constructing knowledge. By employing the dimensions of feed up, feed back and feed forward described by John Hattie and Helen Timperley in the 2007 article The Power of Feedback students at Moriah College have become active participants in the assessment and feedback loop and have a deeper engagement with their understanding of material and conceptual practice. This presentation will provide participants with a variety of examples of how podcasting has fostered deep reflection and how they might undertake this practice within their own classrooms.

Michaela BurgessSt Scholastica's College Programing for Cross-Disciplinary Site-Specific Collaborations

Inspired by the collaborative exchanges between Dr Rachel Armstrong and Professor Phillip Beesley and based on the concepts from the Favourites Project, this unit of work explores collaborative site-specific installations for Stage 5 students with the aim of public display in the school setting or beyond.A key underpinning in the understanding of cross disciplinary practice is that new and unique creative solutions can be arrived at when dialogue is entered into by 2 or more experts in different disciplines, leading to the following considerations in the classroom:What are the implications of interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary practices in the classroom? How do we foster cross-disciplinary collaborations? How do we program for student-centered pedagogy to enhance our students’ higher order creative thinking abilities for the world beyond the classroom? This unit of work explores cross-disciplinary collaborations with a student-centered focus in the implementation of experimental classroom collaborations where students are encouraged to collaborate and design the course of their own learning to achieve a site-specific installation displayed outside of the classroom.

11.30- 1.30pm SATURDAY

SESSION 2continued

40 participants

Boardroom1st Floor,

Building 24

SESSION 340 Participants

Meet at seminar room,

1st Floor, Building 24

Stephanie Pattinson and Laura BarlowSt Columba Anglican SchoolBringing the Art Museum to Regional Classrooms

The online resources produced by museums and galleries have the potential to provide regional students with increased access to contemporary Australian artists. Collaborating as supervising and pre-service teachers, Stephanie Pattinson and Laura Barlow are exploring these possibilities through the development of an Art Education Curriculum Project as part of UNSW’s Professional Experience Program. Drawing from Laura’s current work on digital learning resources for the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Being Tiwi exhibition and regional tour, Stephanie and Laura have developed a unit of work for Year 7 Visual Arts students at St Columba Anglican School, Port Macquarie. Exploring the history, culture and practices of the painters and printmakers featured in Being Tiwi, this unit introduces students to contemporary Aboriginal artists as well as the functions of museums and galleries. In this presentation, Stephanie and Laura will share the ways they have used digital resources to inform programming and engage regional students with contemporary art. As a work in progress, they will give fresh insights into the processes of collaboration with each other and the wider community in the development and delivery of this unit of work.

Jody RobinsonNewcastle High SchoolGive them something to talk about for the rest of their lives

The ‘Senior Art Adventure’ is an achievable and affordable art excursion created with the purpose to chase and engage with contemporary art interstate and beyond the familiar. Contemporary art has the accessibility and power to connect with young artists. It can be unpredictable, dynamic, hybrid, complex and challenging. It reflects the student’s world. A plane-hopping all encompassing art exploration enables students to reassess their role as an audience as they move throughout a broad range of contexts and art environments. Unique to this excursion is how social media is utilized. Organisational logistics, parent communication, documentation and regular updates in real time have proven to be integral to the positive way the event is received by the school and the broader community. This excursion leads to a renewed respect, value and greater understanding of the importance of the Visual Arts. This presentation will convince you that interstate excursions with multiple stops are possible and more importantly… meaningful!

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11.30- 1.30pm SATURDAY

Dr Jane NaylorNorth Sydney Girls High SchoolA background on how contemporary art practice has reconfigured the relationship between artists and audiences.

Some contemporary artists use the public to complete the artwork. Such participatory practices are often referred to as falling under the concepts of relational aesthetics but may also be conceived and explored as neo Fluxus practices. Not often included in histories of art, Fluxus, while very contradictory and reductive, can be a very empowering concept to teach students, unraveling the history and the challenge of everyone being an artist. Jane will explain how she teaches Fluxus to year 10 at NSGHS as a means of connecting participatory contemporary practices to historical avant-garde concerns. Students appreci-ate the weight a historical precedent can give a challenging contemporary practice

SESSION 3continued

40 Participants

Meet at seminar room,

1st Floor, Building 24

Louise HeilpernEmmanuel SchoolPots That Tell Stories – Contemporary Ceramics for Stages 3 and 4

Pots that Tell Stories is a unit based on the Hermannsburg Potting group located 120 km outside Alice Springs. The unit combines the teaching of skills in ceramic pot making,sculpting and glazing. The pots are decorated with depictions of social justice issues, contemporary life in Australia and the raising of environmental awareness. The unit is also well grounded in the study of contemporary Aboriginal art, largely thanks to the excellent online resource http://hermannsburgpotters.com.au/. This allows the opportunity to discuss issues of copyright, authorship and appropriations with younger students. The notions of sharing ideas in a creative way while still acknowledging the challenges related to ownership and the creative process. This course was originally designed for Stage 3 students but could easily be adapted for students in Stage 4. It is integrated into the Stage 3 History Syllabus topic, Australia as a Nation.

Karen KingCaroline Chisholm CollegeAccess Artists: Working with artists in Western Sydney

Access Artists is a pilot program run by the Visual Arts network of teachers, Catholic Education Parramatta Diocese and regional galleries and agencies in Western Sydney. It aims to give Visual Arts faculties a small grant to enable them to engage an artist working in Western Sydney to work with students on a project that the faculty has devised. Teachers at Caroline Chisholm College have piloted one of these projects to develop a series of print works that tell the stories of the refugee Lofa community from Liberia who work with Mamre House, St Mary's to run a farm plot growing traditional foods and to be a centre for their community. Artist Mehwish Iqbal is working with the students to explore ways that the stories of women and their community can be told through images and layers in their printmaking works. This project culminates in an exhibition in late May at Penrith Regional Gallery.

11.30- 1.30pm SATURDAY

SESSION 4 Kathrine KyriacouUniveristy of NSW, School of Education and VADEA NSW Co_PresidentPoster Design to Change the world- An online Visual Arts collaboration with OXFAM Australia

Kathrine Kyriacou will share the new online education resource she has created in collaboration with Oxfam Australia: 'Poster Design to Change the World'. This resource includes online learning activities for art making, art history and criticism and includes a film documenting the practice of illustrator and designer Steph Hughes. This education resource has been created to support the teaching of Oxfam’s ‘six goals to change the world’ and to enrich understandings of the role of the practice of the graphic designer/ artist,the design process, the audience and the world.

SESSION 4continued

11.30- 1.30pm SATURDAY

Lisa CahillDirector of the Australian Design CentreEducational opportunities in the Australian Design Centre's creative programs Lisa Cahill will share information about the Australian Design Centre's upcoming creative program and the education offerings available. Lisa will also introduce the ADC's Design Emergency program and the new Ian Potter Learning Centre at the Gallery in William Street, Darlinghurst

Jess McCarthyMosman High SchoolAre ceramics art or design?

This unit of work poses this rhetorical question and challenges the students to consider the form and function of ceramic objects in the world around them. Jess will outline the unit and share her post modern approach to ceramic design that teaches students both hand building and digital techniques to create innovative and contemporary pieces to be used as a dinner set.

Xanthe WarrenBurwood Girls High SchoolWearable Art: Exploring the body as a site for art making

From Egypt to Alexander McQueen, this unit is all about students taking inspiration art, design and culture to create an outrageously eye catching wearable art form. Students research it, design it, construct it, parade it, display it and document it.

This unit is taught over 2 terms in Year 10 Visual Design at Burwood Girls HS with students working in small groups. Students also design hair and make up and do a catwalk in front of peers, a fashion shoot and a magazine spread. For the past 4 years this successful unit of work has resulted in an exhibition in partnership with Burwood Westfield as a contributor to the School Spectacular exhibition.