'A broad education in the arts helps give children a better understanding of their world…
We need students who are culturally literate as well as math and science literate.'
- Paul Ostergard, Vice President, Citicorp
Visual Arts Overview
Wollongong High School of the Performing Arts has an exciting and dynamic Visual Arts faculty that has a strong focus on both practical and theoretical content. Students have access to the teaching experience of Visual Arts staff who have deep content area knowledge and are also practising and exhibiting artists themselves. The Visual Arts curriculum promotes innovative, conceptual learners, who have access to both traditional and contemporary resources for both practical and theoretical components of their learning.
Students are encouraged to push pass personal boundaries and build the skills necessary to be independent and creative 21st century learners. The importance of Visual and Performing Arts in education cannot be understated. Co-founder of Microsoft, Paul G. Allen outlined, "I have seen the critical role that the arts play in stimulating creativity and in developing vital communities….the arts have a crucial impact on our economy and are an important catalyst for learning, discovery, and achievement in our country." Students are offered the opportunity to exhibit in a range of exhibitions, including ‘Young Masters', and the graduation ‘Collective Class' exhibition which is held at a local gallery each year.
This provides students with the opportunity to not only exhibit their works in a professional space, but also develop their curatorial and team building skills. A range of excursions are offered each year, with students able to visit the New South Wales Art Gallery and Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, Arthur Boyd's Bundanon, and a variety of local area exhibitions. The Visual Arts department also runs an annual Photography Prize and the Golden Gongs Film Night. Both prizes have been extremely successful in the past, with students from all backgrounds and age levels entering.