ARTISTS and teachers have called for more funding to develop regional students who’ve fallen behind their city counterparts.
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A group of Tamworth students, from three high schools, recently had a workshop with former local artist Annie Everingham who shared tips on creativity and crafting a career out of it.
The artist came to town following a request from her former high school teacher, Tina Poder, who said more funding should be available to develop art students in the bush.
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“It is extremely difficult to get this sort of opportunity,” Ms Poder told The Leader.
“Us art teachers, we know the value of them, we’ve worked in Sydney schools and Melbourne schools, we know how important these experiences are for these kids.
“We’d love more funding for these kinds of projects.”
Ms Poder said it was hard for regional art students to compete against their city-based counterparts who might have more opportunities close to home.
“We’ve seen that in the HSC, regional students doing visual arts, the results aren’t there,” she said.
“They are really are just missing out on so much of that interaction with the real art world city kids get that allow them to see the potential for a career and a pathway that they can pursue.
“A lot of our kids sort of think there’s no future in art if they want to stay near their family.”
She said art often provided an outlet for kids who might not be able to afford other creative pursuits.
“If you’re a creative student and you can’t afford dance lessons or music lessons, a pen, a pencil and a piece of paper and you can be a creative person.”
Miss Everingham, now based in Newcastle, said her art was “nurtured” through high school but admitted a creative career seemed out of reach after finishing the HSC.
“It was a big step for me leaving school and looking at it as an industry I could pursue,” she said.
“It almost felt unreachable, just because we weren’t as exposed to the opportunities that were around and available working in creative industries after school.”
She hoped more programs would become available for art students.
“I think it’s really important for schools in regional areas to keep facilitating these sort of opportunities and programs,” she said.
“It just gives these guys a chance to really delve into their creativity and take it outside of the school setting and see it in the real world.”