Students of Visual Arts are given the opportunity to be involved in a variety of artmaking experiences including; painting, drawing, printmaking, photography, sculpture, ceramics and digital media. Students study artworks that support the genre they are exploring and to complement their artmaking.
Students of Visual Arts are provided with the opportunity to make 4D artworks. Stage 4 students are taught skills in the use of software; Photoshop, Premier and Moviemaker while Stage 5 and 6 students extend their skills in these programs, they are also given the opportunity to make artworks using other Adobe software.
Each year a series of excursions are organised so that students have the opportunity to visit galleries and experience locations that provide motivation for artmaking ideas.
Every year the Visual Arts faculty curate, with the assistance of the boys, the Annual Visual Arts Exhibition. This is an opportunity to highlight the excellence of the students artworks and to share their work with family and friends. One of the key features of the exhibition are the Body of Works by our Higher School Certificate students. Asquith Boys High School has a rich history of success in the Higher School Certificate with boys achieving Artexpress selection and achieving excellent results. Two of our students have achieved places in the Top 10 Visual Arts results in the Higher School Certificate; Lachlan Anthony came 1st in the state in 2002 and Craig Cosier came 6th in the state in 2006. In 2005 Dane Amor was the recipient of the Chromacryl painting prize. In recent times Gordon Broom's work was exhibited at The Art Gallery of NSW and Tom Calladine's work was displayed at Hazelhurst Gallery and the Maitland Regional Gallery. Our students are motivated to do their personal best and are proud of the achievements of their peers.
In 2008, Asquith Boys High School had a Retrospective Exhibition at Hornsby TAFE highlighting band 5 and 6 HSC artworks. After the success of this event, we plan to showcase HSC excellence in the future. Students work has also been entered in the Hornsby Art Society "Youth Exhibition". Over the years many of our boys have been the recipients of prizes in their specific age group. In 2010 Asquith Boys High School staff and students were invited to assist with the curitorial processes involved in the set up of the exhibition. They were praised for their skills and teamwork. The first junior exhibition was set up for the school's Community Day and received accolades. We look forward to exhibiting at future community events.
Gifted and Talented students in Visual Arts have the opportunity to apply for Creative and Performing Arts scholarships at both stage 5 and stage 6 levels. Applications are made available in August each year.
Visual Arts courses have been designed to accommodate laptops that have been introduced to Year 9 students. Students are provided with critical and historical studies where they use their laptops to research and present their work. Students are also implementing specialist software in the development of art making in Visual Arts and Photography Digital Media. Stage 4 students are also introduced to computers in their art making with access to computer labs in the school.
The Visual Arts staff are constantly "broadening their horizons" with in house workshop afternoons and attendance at various courses run through; professional association, TAFE and universities. We believe that while we are learning our boys will benefit with their learning. We are currently working on developing closer links with our primary school colleagues.
The emphasis in Visual Arts is "personal best" and the staff are constantly excited by our boys achievements.