During the July school holidays, 18 of our Senior School Arts students and two staff embarked on the 2021 Visual Art Wheatbelt Tour! 

The 6-day tour was centred around the state’s biggest mural project: the large-scale FORM public mural art silo trail. The roundtrip showcased the West Australian narrative and gave students an opportunity to develop a body of work in response to the striking scenery â€“ â€˜outcomes-based making’ in site-specific locations.  

Locations visited included: Northam, Merredin, Hyden, Newdegate, Lake Grace, Pingrup, Katanning, Collie and Bunbury. 

In addition to touring various public art highlights, students immersed themselves in local country communities and a vast array of regional attractions, such as Wave Rock and Mulga Caves. Indigenous culture and art were also explored. The experiences were a boost for visual inspiration, helping students generate innovative ideas and form bases for research.  

Head of Arts Julie Pannell explained, â€˜The Art Tour provided a space away from the complications and noise of the everyday life. The students and teachers were able to reconnect with the quiet and space of the Western Australian landscape to find a new creative freedom.’ 

Students built on their skills in materials and techniques through hands-on experiences at regional centres, including: 

• Northam Aboriginal Culture Centre with Indigenous cooking workshops 

• Multiple En Plein Air (Open Air) drawing workshops at tourist and scenic landscapes 

• Bunbury Regional Art Gallery tour and skill building workshop 

The artwork, tests and sketches produced over the week were the equivalent to an additional month of art classes during the school term â€“ a valuable fast-tracking as the students create works for their art portfolios for submission towards ATAR, General Art Folio, and Certificate Folio Drawing Component. 

‘It was valuable being able to purely focus a whole week just to doing Art instead of other commitments,’ said Year 12 student Christian Blagaich. 

The pace of work set the tone and standard for those students considering tertiary study and/or a career in the professional Arts. 

With the tour proceeding after the lifting of Perth and Peel lockdown restrictions in Week 11, it was particularly relevant for students to also learn about the importance of regional tourism and celebrating our state’s identity.  

The College congratulates all involved on a highly successful tour and looks forward to all the student artworks to be produced this semester!