Friday 15 November, 2019
More than 200 student artworks adorn the walls of the magnificent Sacred Heart Cathedral each year as part of the MacKillop Art Exhibition.
Colourful paintings, pastels, mosaics, sculptures, photographs and ceramics are submitted by Sandhurst schools from right across the diocese, representing artists from Foundation to Year 12.
The launch for the exhibition took place on Friday November 15 at 6pm. Artists, families and guests attended the event, which celebrates the artistic talents of the diocesan students and acknowledges the art teachers who nurture this creative talent in our schools. The exhibition was inaugurated in 2010 to celebrate the canonisation of St Mary MacKillop and her inspiration to countless generations of Australians. Now in its tenth year, the exhibition continues to grow in size and quality each year.
Major awards were presented at the exhibition launch along with a number of highly commended entries in each section. This year there were joint winners for the senior Spiritual Art award with Phoeby Chapman from St Joseph’s College, Echuca and Taeah Brown from Marist College Bendigo sharing the prize.
Junior winners in the Spiritual Art Award were Kai McKenzie from Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Elmore for his mosaic titled, Baptism and Addison Nugent from Sacred Heart, Corryong for his painting, ‘Face of Emotions’.
Zak Rovers from Catherine McAuley College, Bendigo, won the MacKillop Art prize for a VCE or VCAL artwork. Zac’s artwork, titled, ‘Knock on Wood’ was created from manipulated plywood, which was covered in ink, then transferred onto raw printmaking paper.
The Primary Art prize was awarded to Grade 6 student, Ava Tadich from St Therese’s, Kennington. Ava’s watercolour, titled, “The abandoned Shack’ captured the beauty of a derelict house set among the Australian landscape. The Junior Secondary Award was won by Year 8 student, Gargayee Satish-Gowda from St Augustine’s College, Kyabram for her photograph, ‘Lines in Nature’. The photograph highlights the colour and lines of leaves which create a naturally occurring aesthetic.
The Intermediate Secondary prize was awarded to Year 10 student, Cameryn McWilliam from FCJ College, Benalla. Cameryn’s created a pastel artwork in the style of Australian Artist, Charles Blackman, simply titled, ‘Homage to Charles Blackman’. The artwork caught the attention of the judges for the bold use of colour and the execution of the artwork, which captures the childlike quality of Blackman’s art.
The MacKillop Art Exhibition is held at Sacred Heart Cathedral, Bendigo over a two-week period in Term 4 each year and is open to the public following the official launch. Congratulations to all the artists and their teachers for such a wonderful exhibition, the quality of the artwork makes this event a calendar highlight each year.
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