Professor Ryan Daniel
It’s hard to believe but we are now into our second semester of teaching, art-making and research activities in both Cairns and Townsville. This semester we have welcomed many new students to the School, with about 50 starting mid-year across Cairns and Townsville in the Diploma, Degrees and Honours programs. We’ve also welcomed some new Masters and PhD students to the School.
In recent months we have hosted and presented some fantastic events and activities, with “Artiz” one I am particularly proud of, given it is the first time it has been held outside of Brisbane and there were more high school students applying for this intensive art-making program than we could cater for! You can read more about Artiz in this newsletter but it was certainly a very exciting time for approximately 40 high school art students from the North Queensland region.
There are some other exciting activities developing in the School as well, and in particular, we are planning towards our first “Winterschool” on the Cairns campus in June/July 2012. Over a 6-week period, we will be running six intensive subjects, including Printmaking, Photoshop, Performance Writing, Photography and in a very exciting initiative our first ever offering of “Nature Photography”, led by the world famous photographer Jürgen Freund. If you’ve not seen any of Jürgen’s work, please visit his website at http://jurgenfreund.com and I’m sure you’ll be blown away by the images. The “Winterschool” will be open to JCU students, high school students in the “gifted and talented” program, as well as community members interested in taking a short course of study. For more details, please contact me directly at Ryan.Daniel@jcu.edu.au.
Finally, we have also planned for our first Alumni event to be held on the Townsville campus in late September and next year we plan to host an event on the Cairns campus. We’ve emailed and snail mailed all of our Alumni about this event, so if you haven’t yet received your correspondence, do get in touch with us as it may be your details in our system need updating. It’s very exciting to meet our Alumni and did you know the School has over 1400 graduates and counting?
Best wishes for the second half of 2011 and I look forward to seeing you at one of our upcoming events.
Regards,
Professor Ryan Daniel
Research Award
Congratulations to our own Head of School Professor Ryan Daniel who was recently awarded the Research Award for the best article by an Australian author published in the Australian Journal of Career Development in 2010.
The article was published in volume 12(2) and was entitled “Career development and creative arts students: An investigation into the effectiveness of career theory and WIL (work integrated learning) experience on practice”.
Citation Award
Another congratulations goes to Mitch Goodwin, Course Coordinator of the Bachelor of New Media Arts as a recent recipient of the 2011 FLBCA Citation Award. There are only 3 awards given to the faculty each year. Mitch was given this award for his outstanding contributions to student learning by implementing programs and initiatives which engender community engagement and industry relevant assessment outcomes and learning experience for NMA students.
A glimpse of China
In September 2010 SoCA visual arts lecturer Dr Anne Lord, along with local artists Sylvia Ditchburn and Barbara Pierce, were invited by the Cultural Department of Foshan (Townsville’s Sister City in Guangzhou Province, China) to participate in the annual Quise Autumn Festival in their city.
The two week trip included visits to the Foshan University and the Foshan Art Institute, meeting the Chinese artists/lecturers to observe their work and studios.
“The people in Foshan went out of their way to welcome us and share their culture. When I asked what we could do in exchange they said let people know about Foshan,” said Lord.
This lead to the exhibition titled Glimpse of China: Townsville artists celebrate Foshan Autumn Festival currently showing at Perc Tucker Regional Gallery.
The exhibition showcases artworks by the three artists, reflecting on their individual experiences in China.
On display at the Access Gallery, Perc Tucker Regional Gallery until Wednesday 10 August.
Award winning photos
SoCA honours student Ann Vardanega came home with 3 silver medals (2 in the fine art category) at the latest Australian Professional Photography Awards one of the country’s largest professional photo competitions. Ann is an active member of the AIPP (Australian Institute of Professional Photography). Keep an eye out for her award winning photos!
A Step Beyond
A JCU Master of Creative Arts graduate and renowned local artist Alison Annesley has her latest watercolour creations highlighted in a stunning exhibition at Pinnacles Gallery.
Born in China to Missionary parents, interned in Japanese POW camps for 3 years, and repatriated with just the things she wore has had a profound influence on how the Alison Annesley pursues her art. A Step Beyond is, in effect, an expression of her art journey: a passion to see the beauty all around her in the simple things, to capture the essence of the subject, and to continually learn how best to express that essence through the medium of Watercolour.
Take a step beyond and visit Pinnacles Gallery while this exhibition is on display. Ends Sunday 21 August.
See here for some examples of SoCA student’s artworks.
Artiz Review
40 senior high school students from across Queensland, some travelling as far Toowoomba and Mt Isa converged at JCU’s School of Creative Arts, Townsville campus, in late June this year for the Artiz – Young Artist Development Program.
This is the first time the initiative has been taken out of Brisbane and the success of going regional was proven in the record registration numbers.
The four-day intensive program was aimed at students interested in developing their portfolio for a career in the creative industries. Activities included print making, multi-media, film production, photography, felting, street art, guest lectures by prominent arts representatives and some theory to assist with issues such as documenting and presenting artwork.
Artiz is presented by Flying Arts (in conjunction with SoCA) and is the brainchild of Mervyn Moriarty, who started Flying Arts in 1970 with the aim of taking contemporary art to isolated parts of Australia.
“Mervyn learnt to fly so he could take art to the outback,” said SoCA visual arts lecturer and one of the key workshop presenters Dr Anne Lord.
Anne was one of Flying Arts’ first students in 1971. She took drawing and painting workshops with Mervyn and said the experience helped her understand the basic fundamentals of visual arts. She’s since been involved in many Flying Arts exhibitions and said viewing the work of budding artists is a particular privilege.
One of the highlights of the program was the excursion day where the group visited local galleries and art run initiatives such as Sylvia Ditchburn’s Fine Art Gallery, Perc Tucker, Umbrella, Studio 2, Katelyn Aslett Couture, Brush and Press Studio and Cereal Box. The students were given an insight into variety of arts operations and types of arts.
Artiz was also a great experience for the numerous SoCA staff and students who assisted as interns or volunteers.
Artiz is serious fun and it is hoped to become an annual part of SoCA’s program for high school students.
JCU Mackay High School Art Competition
As a lead up to Artiz, JCU held an art competition for Mackay secondary school students with the prize being an all expenses paid trip (including the registration) to participate in the Artiz program at Townsville’s SoCA.
The winning artwork is prominently displayed at JCU’s Education and Research Centre at the Mackay Base Hospital for a year.
This is the first year this initiative has been organised by JCU with the theme being ‘healthy living in the tropics’.
The chosen winner was year 12 student Chloe O’Shea from the Mackay North State High School for her work titled ‘Freedom’; a photograph taken of Chloe’s friend swinging mid air into the Ross River.
“ Artiz was an amazing experience. The program allowed me to work with a range of artists and staff from the School of Creative Arts (SoCA) which helped to develop my understanding of the arts. I was able to meet new people from around Queensland who, like me, would like to use their artistic abilities in a creative career. The program allowed us to talk to those who had successfully made a career involving the arts.”
“By attending the program I have made a decision for my own future that may result in studying at SoCA after seeing what is on offer for me. Overall, it was an amazing experience and I can’t wait to be a part of what Flying Arts have install next.” Chloe O’Shea, 2011.
The runners up award for the competition went to student Kate Neal, who also had her Artiz registration fee waived, courtesy of JCU.
Open Day
Open Day is the perfect opportunity to get a good insight into university life at JCU as it opens its doors to the public.
Don’t miss visiting the state-of-the-art School of Creative Arts facilities where you will learn more about the study options in this area, see demonstrations and displays of student’s work and talk to staff and graduates one-on-one.
Cairns Open Day is Sunday 21 August 10am-2pm
Townsville Open Day is Sunday 28 August 10am-2pm
For more information contact the Community Engagement & Events Officer or ph 4781 3142
Europe Study Tour
Students from the School of Creative Arts at James Cook University and students from Queensland College of the Arts at Griffith University have just returned from a three-week, action packed study tour in Europe. This study tour is the third in a series run by the School of Creative Arts, previous tours have visited the Netherlands, France, Spain, Germany and Italy. On this tour there was intentional focus on looking at art and culture in central Europe focusing on formal study at the University of Applied Sciences Wurzburg FHWS. Here students undertook short courses in German Culture, Geography and Economy: 03 (GCGE) & Design Project Photography: 06 (GPAFO) which they will use for credit transfer to the equivalent of one 3 credit point subject in their degree.
10 students from both Townsville and Cairns participated in the study tour along with some members from the local community and past students. The Queensland College of the Arts had 20 students who have a strong interest in museum studies and came from a range of disciplines including painting, jewellery, sculpture, drawing and interior design. This cross institutional collaboration proved very effective with students from both universities sharing ideas and experiences. This Students were immersed in a European cultural exchange through visiting art galleries, museums and key architectural features as well as undertaking a ‘street art tour’ in Berlin and spending a full week at the Venice Biennale. Students were also able to squeeze some shopping in Milan and enjoy the cultural experience of Prague with its extraordinary architecture and regional cultural history.
The tour began in Frankfurt moved to Wurzburg then on to Prague and Berlin, spending a week at the Venice Biennale with an open ticket for exhibition venues and endless rides on vaporettos (Venice’s water taxis). Apart from field work observing artworks and institutions the students were required to undertake a photographic project based around a conceptual premise and developing at least 50 images which are linked in some part of their travel. The lecturer, Waldemar Salesski had a follow-up meeting with the students in Berlin showing them some of the less educational parts of the city! He will travel to Australia for a review of their photographic projects in mid August. Hopefully we will be able to organise a guest lecture by Waldemar for staff and students at both the Cairns and Townsville campuses.
We also intend to produce a number of slideshows of work from the tour and will try to run the knees on display monitors throughout the School of Creative Arts. A big thank you to all of the JCU students who worked so well as a team throughout the tour.
Associate Professor Stephen Naylor
Tour leader for the 2011 European Study Tour.
Come see the Best
The annual Best of Student Show (BoSS) is an open invite (but for one night only) to see the very best of student’s creations from semester 1 this year.
See what the Bachelor of New Media Arts students at JCU do from all year levels across the degree; from digital sound to video production, visual arts to photo-imaging.
BoSS is on from 5-8pm Friday 29 July in the eMerge Media Space, SoCA (Townsville campus).
MUSIC BBQ PERFORMANCE SCREENINGS
Attracting international interest
The 2011 Screengrab New Media Arts Award and associated exhibition is a “call out” for challenging creative works by media artists who have a yearning for the past and seek to examine the future. Digital practitioners from around the world (including Germany, USA, Hong Kong, UK, Italy, France, Portugal, Taiwan, Canada, Spain, Sweden, Shanghai, Brazil, Netherlands, Romania, Tajikistan and Australia) working in screen based media submited works on the theme of the Nostalgia.
All forms of screen based media have been submitted including multi-channel video, digital illustration, audio sculpture, photography, generative media, 2D & 3D animation. Over 100 entries were submitted, however only a handful of these are shortlisted for the actual exhibition. There will only be one winner who recieves the AUD$2000 prize courtesy of SoCA, JCU.
Screengrab launches at 6pm on Friday 12 August in the eMerge Media Space, SoCA (Townsville campus). There’ll also be a special performance by local electronic outfit the Popli kids!
Taking photoshop to the next level
In May this year Umbrella Studios collaborated with SoCA, JCU to present a workshop on the Art of Blogging. This was such a success that we thought it’s time to run another workshop for the community.
Adam Brown, New Media Arts lecturer at SoCA will present a two hour workshop titled Photoshop as a Creative Tool to introduce you to creative ways of using Photoshop. Rather than working towards a fixed template, we will explore how to use this powerful software in ways which lead to unpredictable, inventive and process driven results. Combining elements of intermediate level technique with ideas drawn from fine art practice, you will experiment with image capture, manipulation and output. Examples will be given of potential directions which will allow you to extend your creative vocabulary as a maker of images.
Indicative Content:
- Capturing texture and surface using a rostrum camera
- Imaging basics refresher: layers, file formats, sizing and interpolation.
- The construction of an image which combines perspective renderings with trompe l’oeilelements using found, captured and sourced images.
- Using layers, blending, layer masks.
$25 for Umbrella members $35 for non-members
This workshop is aimed at an intermediate level of photoshop skills!
The workshop is from 6-8pm Wed 24 Aug, 2011 in the SoCA Mac Labs (DA301)
Spaces are limited, bookings are essential ph 4772 7109 or email here
Funding offered for travel to see art!!!!!!
Perc Tucker Regional Gallery trainee Matt Clark had booked his first trip to the Brisbane galleries and was saving for the 2011 Venice Biennale, when he tragically died in October 2009. To remember him, the Matt Clark Travelling Scholarship was established by donations given by the arts and broader community.
The aim of the scholarship is to benefit young artists, supporting them to travel to art events and exhibitions outside of Townsville broadening their experiences in the arts with the total scholarship funds being $1000.
The 2010 recipients of the inaugural Matt Clark Travelling Scholarship were:
Jordan Grant for $500 to attend the Sydney Biennale.
- Kyana Pike and John Bradshaw, a joint application receiving $250 each to assist with costs to attend the Canberra Print Symposium
Application deadline is 5pm Mon 3 Oct, 2011
For an application form or for more information contact ptrg@townsville.qld.gov.au or ph 472709011
Enrol 2012
If you are considering studying at the School of Creative Arts, James Cook University in 2012 then apply though QTAC.
The deadline is Fri 30 Sept, 2011.
If you require more information about our courses and study options you can download our latest brochure here otherwise visit our website here or contact the SoCA admin office here.
Creative Arts student’s thoughts about life, love and studying at SoCA
See here for their testimonial
And don’t forget to check out the What’s On section (under categories, top right corner of this eNews)…
