iServi News | 17 September 2021 | Term 3, Week 9
Visual Arts Showcase
This week the College launched its annual Visual Arts Showcase in celebration of the artistic talents of our students. The Showcase provides a wonderful platform for students to share their art works with an authentic and engaging audience. We were thrilled to have so many families, friends, students and staff present at the College for the formal exhibition opening on Tuesday in the Alexis Research Centre. We were also pleased to welcome Servite Friars Chris Ross and Myles Lynch to the evening, both of whom have been terrific supporters of the Arts across the years.
The Arts have been an integral part of the Servite story for centuries. The Friars were patrons of the Arts for years following the establishment of the Annunziata Priory in Florence Italy. Imbued in the Servite spirit, our College has a core focus on the continued development of the Arts to provide genuinely creative learning pathways for students.
We are privileged to have a very dedicated team of Visual Arts specialists at the school to support student learning. We acknowledge the wonderful efforts of Visual Arts Coordinator Mrs Leanne Lombardi, Ms Patti Howells and Mr Augie Lobet, for ensuring that Visual Arts at Servite continues to thrive.
Under the tutelage of our Visual Arts team, students develop their artistic talents and knowledge across the years to produce imaginative and meaningful art works. Art provides an excellent vehicle for students to express their individuality and creativity and allows them to share their considerable gifts with others.
At Servite we promote a vision that supports the personalisation of learning and the provision of pathways to cater for the individualised needs of our students. We also aim to assist students to become creative, communicative and collaborative learners who can problem solve and think critically. The Arts therefore is an essential element of our learning strategy as it provides opportunity for students to achieve these important learning attributes and skills.
The Australian Council for Educational Research, in a report entitled ‘The Arts and Australian Education: Realising potential’, highlights the importance of the role of the Arts:
“While it must be remembered that the most important role that the Arts play in enhancing learning is in enabling enjoyment and fostering imagination and creative activities through participating in arts programs and processes, it is also true that by engaging in the Arts we become more cognisant of the broad spectrum of human experience. Learning horizons and life trajectories are enhanced. The role that the Arts collectively can play in transforming students’ learning more broadly, should also be realised and celebrated.”
Meanwhile an Australia’s National Education and the Arts Statement, jointly released by the Ministerial Council for Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) and the Cultural Ministers Council, asserts that:
“An education rich in creative arts maximises opportunities for learners to engage with innovative thinkers and leaders, and to experience the arts both as audience members and as artists. Such an education is vital to students’ success as individuals and as members of society, emphasising not only creativity and imagination, but also the values of cultural understanding and social harmony that the arts can engender.”
We are very passionate at our school in providing a rich array of learning and growth opportunities for students in the Arts. We acknowledge the efforts of our students who proudly displayed their artistic works at our Visual Arts Showcase in what was an excellent celebration of the gifts and talents of our students.
Mr Jeff Allen
Principal