Visual Arts

The Visual Arts are unique, expressive, creative and communicative forms that engage students in critical and creative thinking and help them understand themselves and the world. In every society the Arts play a pivotal role socially, economically and culturally.

The Arts encourage the development of skills and the exploration of technologies, forms and processes through single and multimodal forms.  For students, interaction through the Arts brings contact with the Indigenous cultures of Australia and the cultures of our nearest neighbours.

At Olinda Primary School all students attend one hour of Visual Art a week in our Visual Arts Centre.  We create and present visual art by exploring painting, drawing, using threads and making textiles, construction and modelling. For us, Visual Art is a fully integrated Inquiry subject where students learn principles and/or conventions, skills, techniques and processes in art (colour, line, shape, texture, cutting, blending, shading, forming, and design) through self and teacher directed activities.

 We often use a literary text as a springboard to stimulate student ideas. For example Eric Carle’s ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’, sparked amazing curiosity and the creation of layered crepe paper paintings of mini beasts and other animals. Students’ works are displayed throughout our school, on the walls and on the television in our foyer, to promote a sense of purpose for, and celebration of, their creativity.

Please read our website blog posts to keep you updated on projects, work in progress for exhibitions, community involvement and more. We work hard to present an Art Show every two years, in conjunction with the school performance.  This way, diversity is showcased!  From claymation (like Wallace and Gromit) and other ‘visual texts’ to three-dimensional works, all students contribute and feel a strong sense of pride in their achievements.