Mooroolbark College Newsletter – May 2024

It has been a very busy and productive start to Term 2 in The Arts. Recently the College held its very successful Open Night for the year. Open Night was a huge success for the department, as curious parents and future students explored the possibilities we offer. Parents and students alike enjoyed participating in musical performances, ceramics, photography, painting and drawing. The Arts’ rooms looked fantastic! Our Performing Arts department was also full of energy on the night with our talented Instrumental Music and Production students showcasing their talents in A-Block. The energy and colour were wonderful and we are very grateful for the contribution from all of our students and staff.

In the classroom, The Arts is a hive of activity: 

• Year 10 Media students have just completed their Movie Mash-Up Posters which look incredible. Students were tasked with combining at least 2 film ideas into the one poster. Their creativity and expert skills in the use of Photoshop has created some fantastic work. Students are now planning for their Film Production; a short suspense film. We can’t wait to see how they turn out. 

• Year 12 Media students are at that stage of the Semester where their focus turns to their School-assessed Task (SAT) where they plan for major productions for the year. Students have largely chosen to make short films, whilst other students are creating a graphic novel, magazine, animation or a series of photographs. 
• Year 7 Art students have just completed their ceramic sculpture, and are now beginning their final CAT. Students will explore the work of Koori artists and incorporate elements of Koori design techniques into their own compositions. They will use oil pastels as a base with fabric printing ink applied over the top. The sgraffito technique will be incorporated to scrape through the surface in various linear patters to expose the colours beneath. 
• Year 9 Art students have just completed their Media unit where they analysed the film, Ready Player One, whilst also making a short 1 minute film in groups. They turned out so well and were a big hit when screened to the class. They are now beginning their last CAT for the semester, an Opposites drawing task where they can create an artwork using any medium and materials or their choice.
• Year 9 Ceramics students have just completed their first CAT, a utilitarian coil construct with sculptural detail. They are now working on their next piece, which requires them to design and sculpt a creature. They will then incise deep linear patterns into the soft clay, and once dry, fill them with a manganese oxide. This will create a bold contrast and increase the overall interest and appeal of their work. 
• Year 10 Art: Ceramics & Printmaking students are currently completing their Intaglio Print, where the lower levels of an acetate plate are printed on heavy weight paper and then rolled through the printing press. They are also working on their final CAT, which is a reduction lino print. This requires students to carefully plan and strategically carve away, subsequent layers of lino using increasingly darker colours of block inks.

• Year 10 Art: Painting and Drawing students are finishing their art movement inspired landscape artworks. They have been creating a set of three differently inspired pieces and are beginning to collage them together into their final pieces. 
• Year 10 Photography: Students are studying Camera and Photoshop techniques including High Dynamic Range and Tilt Shift Photography. Students are then photographing their own images and applying these techniques to their own photographs. 
• Year 9 Digital Discovery. Students are creating images in Adobe Illustrator, learning how to use the program by re-creating weekly tasks utilising different elements of the program. Students are also working on an essay detailing the ethical limitations of using programs like Photoshop to manipulate images. 
• Year 12 Art: Creative Practice students are working on developing their body of work in preparation for the creation of their final piece of work. They are exploring different mediums and finding artists of inspiration.
• Year 8 VCD students are currently working on creating their own individual Coat of Arms, inspired by their own personal interests. Students will use the elements and principles of design to construct a balanced composition which addresses all the historical requirements of a traditional coat of arms but focusing instead on the student’s individual interests as the foundation. 
• Year 9 VCD students have just begun the creation of their own original skateboard designs. This task teaches students about creating striking visual imagery while also working within specific space limitations. Students use the design process to explore, develop and create their unique imagery which will culminate in the creation of a mock-up skateboard deck showing their completed board designs 
• Year 10 VCD students have started creating their own toy designs using isometric and third angle orthogonal projections. These technical drawing conventions teach students valuable industry design skills while the toy based design of the task allows students individual expression and a chance to showcase their creativity.? 
• Year 11 VCD students are currently exploring cultural design by creating three dimensional technical drawings of an original cultural artifact, specifically a hammer design. Students have chosen a culture from history and are exploring the textures, patterns ,colours, imagery and iconography associated with that culture, then applying those findings to object drawings constructed using third angle orthogonal and isometric projections; with the final aim being the creation a unique cultural artifact. 

• Year 12 VCD students have completed their SAT folio briefs and are hard at work on using their primary and secondary research to start sketching and generating the first round of visual concepts. Students are hard at work filling pages of development with annotated drawings of their ideas; defining and developing their concepts so they can identify potential finals for their folios. 
• Year 7 Music students have begun learning about the guitar, playing some riffs and chords. They have finished up their Keyboard unit where they learned and performed some classic songs, learned how to read notes and how rhythm works. 
• Year 10 and 11 Music students have complete their technical presentations where they shared with the class strategies for learning their instrument and performing. They have been completing compositions for their folio and building their aural skills through listening activities. Their big performance assessment is coming later in the term; we are looking forward it! 

Matt Neil-Holland

THE ARTS KEY LEARNING HEAD