Tamworth, Warialda students hear HSC, creative and career tips from gallery staff, teacher, artist

A workshop in Tamworth has given them tips on doing well in visual arts in their HSC – and what they could aim for in life after school.

About 30 Year 11 and 12 visual arts students took part in a two-day workshop designed to help them ace their subject and start planning further education and a career.

Organiser Tina Poder, a Tamworth High School art teacher, said visual arts was an ATAR subject and “a very vigorous one” at that, which was why she’d sought funding for the workshop.

It covered what and who makes a gallery tick; career options and pathways involving art and design; and a session on writing about visual arts.

Ms Poder said rural and regional students needed opportunities like these to make the most of resources that were more commonplace in metropolitan areas.

“There are dance camps and music camps but nothing for visual arts,” she said.

“The students have just sponged it up.”

Ms Poder said an important component had been a session on writing about art, delivered by Dr Kate Bricknell-McCrohon, a secondary English teacher from this region with decades of experience.

“Art making and art writing each make up 50 per cent of the students’ marks,” Ms Poder said.

“Apart from the practical component, there’s also a one-and-a-half-hour exam where they have three previously unseen images they have to respond to – maybe from a cultural perspective, or a post-modern perspective [for example]. They use course concepts to respond to the plates.”

The students also toured Tamworth Regional Gallery, where education officer Kate Armstrong took them through the current Russell Mills Collection exhibition of photography, gave them a tour of the gallery’s back room and described the tasks and roles the gallery incorporated.

Sandra McMahon spoke about her career and others in the art world, from her experience as Weswal Gallery owner and co-director, former Tamworth Regional Gallery director, and former Western Plains Cultural Centre curator, among other positions.

And lastly, on Wednesday at The Loft art studio, the students received a presentation and class by ex-Tamworth woman Annie Everingham.

A former student of Ms Poder, Miss Everingham went on to study textiles, design and fashion at University of Technology Sydney.

She now lives in Newcastle, doing freelance commercial art and design, as well as retailing her own line of products such as stationery, prints and textiles.

“Everyone’s been incredibly enthusiastic and willing to participate – especially considering the heat,” Miss Everingham said.

“It’s been great to see how open-minded they are. I grew up here, so it’s great to come back to connect with the regional kids.”

Ms Poder said there were plenty of career options for art lovers to pursue – some mentioned during the workshop included copyright law and interior design – and it wasn’t a matter of just choosing between “being an artist or being an art teacher”.

Nor, according to Miss Everingham, did young people have to move to a major city to carve out their niche.

“I think there’s a real sense of creative community in country towns,” she said.

“My business has been really well-nurtured by the fact I know people here and they support my work.”

The workshop was funded by the Department of Education’s arts unit.