Visual Arts at ABHS
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.
What we do in Visual Arts
Students of Visual Arts learn to paint, sculpt, construct, draw, photograph, and print and are provided with the opportunity to make 4D artworks. Stage 4 students are taught skills in the use of software; Canva and Photopea, while Stage 5 and 6 students extend their skills in these programs and are also given the opportunity to make artworks using other industry-based programs available in the Adobe software suite.
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. Along with this, students of High Potential are invited to attend HPGE Visual Arts workshops with visiting artists. Recently, the students enjoyed a landscape painting workshop.
The Visual Arts faculty curate, with the assistance of the stduents 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 proud history of success in the Higher School Certificate with boys achieving ArtExpress selection over numerous years and consistently achieving excellent results. In 2024, three out of seven of our HSC students were nominated for Art Express, with two of the boys selected for Art Express: Connor Phillip and Charlie Maher. We have had students achieve places in the Top 10 for Visual Arts results in the HSC, and have had students' work exhibited at the Art Gallery of NSW, Hazelhurst Gallery and Maitland Regional Gallery. Our students are motivated to do their personal best and are proud of the achievements of their peers.
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.
The emphasis in Visual Arts is "personal best" and the staff are constantly excited by our boys achievements.
Possible Careers and Pathways in Visual Arts
Visual artists can find employment opportunities in diverse sectors such as art galleries, museums, government agencies, design firms, media companies, photography studios, architecture firms, theaters, production companies, schools and universities. TAFE and Universities offer a myriad of courses connected to Visual Arts. They include Animation, Graphic Art, Visual Design, Architecture, Advertising, Teaching Visual Arts to name a few.
