Professor Ryan Daniel
Best wishes to all of our e-newsletter subscribers! The semester has been a very successful one and our returning and new students in Cairns and Townsville have been working feverishly on a number of exciting projects.
New this semester have been formal collaborations between our design students and students from the School of IT. I’m looking forward to seeing and learning of the outcomes of these very innovative learning approaches.
This year represents an exciting chapter in the School’s history. It will be the first time we have delivered the third year of our New Media Arts degree, and therefore by December this year we will see the first graduates of this award! It will be a fantastic outcome for the students who have worked very hard towards this goal and for the staff in the School who have worked tirelessly to make this new program a success. There is a great cohort of third year students who I’m sure will do us proud.
The rest of this year will see a range of stimulating events, seminars, workshops and opportunities for the community to engage with us and explore what we do. As always, I welcome your involvement in what we do and encourage you to keep in touch with us to learn about the School’s activities and events.
Katja awarded for her teaching
Digital Media Design lecturer, Katja Fleischmann, is a recipient of the 2009 Faculty Citation Award for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning for the Faculty of Law, Business and the Creative Arts.
These citations are awarded annually to staff who demonstrate they have influenced student learning, student engagement or the overall student experience over a sustained period of time, and have gained recognition from fellow staff, the institution, and/or the broader community.
Katja was awarded this for the implementation of a new learning and teaching model for higher education digital media design students in order to enhance real-world learning and graduate employability.
Our professor gets book published
Founding Head of School for SoCA, Professor Ryan Daniel has had his book published and is now available at Amazon.
The book is titled Group Piano Teaching: An Alternative Strategy for the Tertiary Teaching of Piano.
Overview: This thesis outlines the rationale for and development of a small group piano teaching model for application in the Australian higher education environment.
Initially, the history and development of the piano learning and teaching profession is investigated, prior to a synthesis of the research literature and perceptions of piano pedagogies in action. The first phase methodology involves the investigation of piano pedagogies in action, via reflections obtained during in-depth interviews with committed learners and post tertiary individuals, analysis of video footage of piano teaching, and an examination of models of advanced student group teaching obtained via questionnaires. The emerging principles from this first phase feed into the second phase methodology and development of the small group model and learning environment for higher education piano students.
The resultant four-year trial of a small-group model is then outlined and evaluated via participant questionnaires, teacher reflections, video analysis of interaction, and student self-reflective data. The findings propose a number of implications and possible directions for instrumental teaching at the tertiary level.
Cheryl Robertson
What are you studying ?
I am enrolled in a Grad. Dip. Creative Arts. (I graduated from JCU with a BA in 1986).
Why did you choose the direction of Creative Arts?
I have always been passionate about photography as an art form, and always wanted to go from photography as a leisure activity to a profession and I feel that a JCU/SoCA qualification will be very useful on my resumé.
Why did you choose to study at the SoCA / JCU?
I have been working at JCU and was very much aware of the great success of photography and new media courses here. In addition the lecturers in photography and related subjects have excellent reputations, especially Clive Hutchison and Kirsten Heritage.
Did you have experience in the Creative Arts before you began studying it?
Years ago I studied art for four years of high school and loved it and I dabbled in water-colour painting and pencil sketching. I am working part-time as a photographer while studying part-time. Before digital photography I used to develop, enlarge and print my own photographs, including underwater shots, just for fun and I went digital in 2005.
What are the highlights of studying Creative Arts at JCU so far?
Actually I have only done two subjects so far, as I only have time for one subject per semester, but I have enjoyed the teaching style and the practical sessions, as well as really interesting assignments. Contact with younger students with great ideas, and who have grown up in the digital era, is also very satisfying and stimulating. Although the course involves a lot of work, it feels more like fun.
What aspects of your degree have you found most valuable so far?
The knowledge and expertise of the lecturers is a great resource, not only directly through classes but their recommendations of other sources of relevant information.
What plans do you have for the future?
To succeed as a photographer, both in the business sense and artistically, get my own website up and running commercially, and spend as much time as possible with a camera in my hand.
Who or what inspires you to be creative and why?
Many great photographers and artists past and present are inspirational, but I think the main impetus is simply the great beauty to be found all around us, whether that is people, things, or nature. It goes beyond simply taking a photo; there is much more to making a picture than pointing a camera and when I see things around me I find myself wanting to make an image that says something artistically about the subject and not just record it. The age of digital photography and post-processing is also inspirational as it makes creative photography so much easier than in the days of dark-rooms and smelly chemicals.
Opportunity for “gifted” Students
The “Gifted and Talented” program provides current senior High School students with the opportunity to enrol for study in the School of Creative Arts at JCU as part of their senior High School Certificate. For those selected, it is an exciting opportunity to undertake tertiary level studies while still at high school and in doing so, access the fantastic facilities and equipment available to students enrolled in the School of Creative Arts in Townsville, and which now features a specialist 10 million dollar building.
Accepted students will be in the same class as current first year University students and therefore will be able to engage with a number of students who share a similar passion for creativity and innovation in the arts.
This program is strictly limited to those students who demonstrate a passion for creativity and whom experts in the School of Creative Arts assess as “Gifted and Talented”.
This would normally mean that the student is obtaining the grade of Very High Achievement in school-based arts subjects, and/or who has a folio of work that is of a very high standard.
Application and enrolment procedure.
In 2009, students have the opportunity to apply for enrolment in subjects within the following broad areas of creativity:
- Digital Sound and Music
- Digital Imaging and Photography
- Digital Visual Arts and Drawing
- Performance Arts
Nicole snaps up JCU opportunity
As part of the new program for exceptional and gifted secondary students, Ryan Catholic College Year 11 student, Nicole Zicchino, has been accepted by SoCA to study Effective Photography this semester. Nicole is the first student to be accepted to undertake this program.
Professor Ryan Daniel, Foundation Head of School, said that he was very excited to have Nicole attend the University as part of this program. “Nicole is obviously a very talented student and had to undergo a very rigorous application process to gain entrance into the progam.”
Vicki Darlington, Ryan’s Careers and Alternate Pathways Coordinator said, “Nicole will be studying with other first year univeristy students as well as completing her other regular year 11 studies at Ryan. This university subject will still contribute to Nicole’s QCE.”
Creative Industries student joins the JUTE team
Congratulations goes to Elisha Oatley, a third year student completing the Bachelor of Creative Industries at JCU’s Cairns campus. Elisha was chosen from an initial group of 17 final applicants to gain employment by JUTE as a full time Production Co-Ordinator.
JUTE, Just Us Theatre Ensemble, is an award-winning theatre company based in Cairns producing bold seasons of contemporary theatre from the evocative North.
Suellen Maunder, JUTE’s Artistic Director and Adjunct lecturer in Theatre at JCU said, “Elisha was a stand-out applicant and made our decision very easy. I feel that this is an excellent outcome of JUTE’s relationship with JCU”.
Cairns Indigenous Art Fair – Symposium
James Cook University is calling for submissions to the first indigenous art symposium to be held in August.
The symposium is being held as part of the inaugural Cairns Indigenous Arts Fair, an initiative of Arts Queensland.
Submissions for the symposium will need to address one of three topics:
- Indigenous Art or Artists Who Are Indigenous
- Historical Continuity & Contemporary Innovation
- Indigenous Art from Production to Market
Symposium Convenor Russell Milledge from JCU’s School of Creative Arts, said the forum will be addressed by two keynote speakers, well known indigenous visual artist Judy Watson and Nicolas Rothwell, The Australian newspaper’s north Australian correspondent.
“This is the first symposium focussed on indigenous art. It will aim to inform stakeholders about the potential for indigenous art to be a viable commercial industry in Queensland,” Mr Milledge said.
“Queensland indigenous artists are exploring different forms of visual art from the traditional dot paintings. The artists come from a variety of cultures including the Torres Strait and Cape York, but there are also a lot of urban artists who are using visual art to explore their identity.”
“Whilst the stereotype is for most Aboriginal art to be landscapes, Queensland artists are using all kinds of visual representations including portraits, though most of their art is inherently spiritual,” Mr Milledge said.
Initial submissions will only need to be an abstract (250 words) of the full paper and interested people should show some expertise in the relevant field of study. A panel will assess the abstracts and choose who will present their full submission at the symposium.
Deadline for abstracts is Fri 5 June, 2009
The Cairns Indigenous Arts Fair will be held from 21-23 August and will include an exhibition of Queensland’s indigenous artists.
Abstracts should be sent to russell.milledge@jcu.edu.au and be accompanied by a biography (150 word).
Top Prize for Creative Arts School
JCU’s School of Creative Arts has taken out the top prize in the Australian Institute of Architects’ 2009 North Queensland Regional Architecture Awards. Designed by BVN Architecture, it is now in the running for the Queensland Architecture Awards to be announced on July 17.
In awarding the prize of Building of the Year, jury director Justin O’Neill said it was a “well tuned creative arts building that offers inspiration and freedom of expression to its users.”
Designed to serve both the student body and the wider Townsville community, the School was officially opened by the Governor of Queensland, Her Excellency Ms Penelope Wensley, on October 8 last year.
The School groups its four primary functions around a central landscaped spine. Pre-cast panels form a walled court that encloses both internal and external spaces. The roof is stepped to accommodate the different scales of teaching, admin and outdoor living.
“These external spaces cater for both intimate and large gatherings, providing a new, arts based meeting zone within the University,” Mr O’Neill said.
Call for entries – New Media Arts Award
Screengrab : Intervention
Place | Identity | Space | Community
Increasingly we live in a world which is marked by boundaries and difference. Our actions are categorised and labelled for reference, sign posting and evaluation.
Intervention is the new catchcry of these troubled times and no one is immune whether it be remote indigenous communities, Wall St bankers, tropical forests, the built environment, economies of the state, small gatherings in shopping malls, subliminal advertising, ISPs, online discussion forums or pop cultural sites like YouTube and the Sopranos.
Screengrab’s inaugural exhibition and new media arts prize invite digital practitioners working in screen based media to submit works on the theme of Intervention.
All forms of screen based media are encouraged including multi-channel video, digital illustration, audio sculpture, photography, generative media, 2D & 3D animation.
2009 Screengrab Awards
Open Prize: School of Creative Arts New Media Arts Award: AUS $2000
Tertiary Prize: Focal Press New Media Arts Award: AUS $1000 Focal Press voucher
Deadline: Fri 13 July, 2009
Exhibition Opening & Awards Announcement: Friday July 31 2009
Guidelines and Application form
Download and print a Screengrab 2009 Poster
The exhibition is sponsored by Focal Press and the School of Creative Arts at James Cook University, QLD, Australia.
All enquiries can be addressed to screengrab@jcu.edu.au
SoCA facebook
The School of Creative Arts is now on facebook…we couldn’t resist.
To find us search for sOca!
