Professor Ryan Daniel

What an amazing semester and indeed year we have had. Staff and students have been extraordinarily active, with more events, exhibitions and activities occurring than I can remember from recent years. The eMerge Media Space has its own identity and will continue to develop a reputation for presenting cutting edge new media works. The Gallery’s presentation of “Screengrab” was just sensational, with works from across the globe. We also received wonderful coverage of this event in a recent edition of Real Time. There have been Honours exhibitions, visiting international photographic work as well as many other exhibitions on the way for next year.

Other major events this semester have included our Symposium on indigenous art issues, held in partnership with Arts Queensland and as part of the first ever “Cairns Indigenous Art Fair”. It was held in Cairns at the Centre for Contemporary Arts and was attended by over 150 people during the day. With keynote speakers Nicolas Rothwell and Judy Watson, along with a range of panel and individual presentations, it was a remarkable day and significant opportunity for stakeholders to debate the issues. Stay tuned for the release of the Symposium Proceedings which will contain all papers presented during the day, keynotes as well as panel presentations.

 Staff in the School continue to be very active and work hard on behalf of the University. Clive Hutchison completed a very successful marketing tour of Scandinavia and met with our friends at NKF, in Sweden and Denmark. Katja Fleischmann is off to Europe at the end of November to deliver a conference paper and visit a number of key institutions for the purposes of developing new links and gathering data towards our “curriculum refresh” project. In January in Hawaii, Katja also delivers a conference paper that she and Clive authored around the concept of “creative exchange”. We welcome a new staff member in Cairns, Jacquelene Drinkall, who will commence with us on the 16^th November. One of Jacque’s first tasks will be to present a conference paper in Europe and gather data for curriculum refresh – well done Jacque and welcome to the SoCA! Next year will also see a new staff member in Townsville so stay tuned for that big announcement.

 It has been another proud year in the history of the School of Creative Arts since it was totally reformed in 2006. Next year promises to be an even bigger year so I look forward to communicating with all of you then!

 Best wishes,  Ryan.

Fresh face for the Cairns Creative Arts team

The  School of Creative Arts, Cairns campus is very excited to have a fresh new talent joining the team! 

Dr Jacquelene Drinkall will be relocating from Sydney to Far North Qld to begin teaching Visual Arts at JCU next year.

 Here is a (sort of) short bio highlighting her amazing background: Jacque  is a practicing and exhibiting Visual Artist, Art Theorist and Historian. Her hybrid PhD thesis Telepathy in Contemporary, Conceptual and Performance Art was graduated in 2006 from the University of New South Wales, College of Fine Arts, School of Art History and Theory, and included both substantial production of exhibited artwork and an 85 000 word dissertation. Jacque also has a Master of Arts, Visual Arts (by Research) from Australian National University, where she also completed a four-year Undergraduate/Honours degree that was awarded the ANU’s University Medal in Painting. Leading directly into her honours thesis was an eight-month Independent Research Unit undertaken at École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris, funded by a Telecom Travelling Art Scholarship, where she studied with renowned performance artist Marina Abramoviç and renowned cyber/public-space artist and theorist Kzrysztof Wodicszko.

Jacque has received numerous other awards and prizes, including the Marten Bequest Travelling Art Scholarship, Australian Postgraduate Award, Janet Johnson Award, College of Fine Arts Student Association Prize, two awards from the Art Gallery of New South Wales. In 2008 she was awarded an eight-month Artspace Residency and a NAVA grant. Jacque has exhibited widely in Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Bathurst, Newcastle as well as Auckland, Paris, Moscow, Miami and London, and she is also represented in a number of public and private collections, nationally and internationally. Jacque has lectured at College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales; Canberra School of Art, (National) Institute for the Arts, Australian National University; and Digital Design Lab at the Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning at University of Sydney.

In October, this year Jacque participated in the This is Not Art (TINA) Festival, presenting both her artwork, Weatherman UFOlogy (a long term project centered around the construction and performance of a large UFO sculpture that science fictionalises Weather Underground countercultural narrative) and presentation of ideas central to both this artwork and her paper Social and Political Aesthetics of Telepathy in Fluxus Art in a TINA Critical Animals conference panel discussion. She will also present a peer reviewed conference publication paper for the International Conference on Digital Storytelling (ICIDS 2009) in Guimarães Portugal, thanks to generous funding from her future employer.

We look forward to having Jacque on board at SoCA next year and wish her all the best!

From big things, bigger things grow

This year Dr David Salisbury has had his PhD published as a book. The title of the book is Tali nan Bapilin Tigo (three strings entwined): A study of the West Sumatran Minangkabau Talempong tradition. The aim of the book is to identify structures in the talempong musical tradition that correspond with structures in the Minangkabau cultural tradition of the Payakumbuh region in West Sumatra, Indonesia. 

A good image goes a long way

Congratualtions goes to Letitia Thirapthi, who won the Strand Ephemera Photographic competition recently.

Letitia is a 1st year New Media Arts student at the SoCA in Townsville. Her photograph was selected the best out of 232 submitted images, from entrants of all ages.  The judges said “more of a snapshot, the woman at the table striking a similar pose to the sculpture really embodies something about the nature of the exhibition that was not captured in any other image and that is the interface of the public with the art.” Letitia won a $250 gift voucher from Doug Kemp’s Camera House for her creation.

The Strand Ephemera ran from 9 - 11 Sept this year.

Taste testing the arts

Are you a senior high school student who has a passion for the arts and who wants to learn more about what the Cairns campus SoCA can offer you in terms of innovative creative opportunities?

Then sign up to experience an exciting 1 day workshop on campus at the School of Creative Arts, James Cook University, Cairns to taste test some areas of the Bachelor of Creative Industries. This degree is unique for northern Australia. It combines three streams – Media Design, Performance and Visual Arts and lets students customise their own study plans to incorporate subjects from all streams to create a diverse, creative skill sets. Creative Arts Day will give you an introduction to this degree.

Creative Arts Day is on Thurs 12 Nov 2009, 9:30am – 3pm at the Smithfiled JCU campus in Cairns.

There is no charge for this workshop and a BBQ lunch will be provided, however you are responsible for your own transport to and from JCU.

As there is a limited capacity of 40x students for this workshop, applications will be determined by JCU. RSVP by Fri 30 Oct, 2009.

For more information, or to reserve a place, contact elly.murrell@jcu.edu.au or ph 07) 4781 3142

The best year 12 artworks in Qld on display at SoCA

The 2009 Creative Generation Excellence Awards in Visual Art and Design invites the community to experience artworks by some of Queensland’s outstanding senior visual arts students.

The 2009 touring exhibition showcases the artwork of 40 senior students from both state and non-state schools in every region of the state. The Awards encourage students to achieve high standards and promote the study of visual arts practice in schools and to the wider community. They also demonstrate the degree of sophistication in concepts, diversity of artforms and media, and the high standard of arts programs in Queensland secondary schools.

 The selected works will be exhibited at the Queensland Art Gallery and tour throughout regional Queensland from mid 2009 until mid 2010. The touring exhibition provides students with an opportunity to present their works to the community in a professional exhibition context.

“This is a wonderful chance to see what can be achieved in visual art and design at this level,” said Ms Elly Murrell, the Community Engagement Coordinator at the School of Creative Arts. “We hope that many local secondary students, teachers and parents, as well as the general community take this opportunity to visit the show whilst in Townsville. “

 “The exhibition has and will be touring many regional venues in Queensland, including Atherton, Gladstone, Chinchilla after it was launched at the Queensland Art Gallery in Brisbane earlier this year,” said Ms Murrell. “The caliber of these works is outstanding, so we thought it would be good to show the community Creative Gen 2009 as well as having our own student exhibitions in the University’s gallery over the year.”

The exhibition is on show from Monday 12 October – Friday 13 November 2009.

To get a better understanding of our creative arts courses for Townsville and Cairns download new SoCA brochure here.

Creative Exchange:  Preparing students for the realities of their future workplace

Creative Exchange – the capstone subject of the Bachelor of New Media Arts degree at the School of Creative Arts was taught for the first time this semester. Whether students majored in Digital Imaging, Digital Sound, Digital Media Design, Digital Visual Arts or Performance they all participated in multidisciplinary collaborative teams. This innovative concept became even more cutting-edge through students from the School of Business, Discipline IT being an integral part of the learning environment. In near future students from Journalism and Business will also participate.

This semester saw 13 groups, with a minimum of 3 members from different disciplines, having devised projects that intersect with new media, technology and the wider community. Each team approached their project within a project management framework. This process was managed separately through a team advisor (Prof. Ryan Daniel). During the execution of the project all teams had access to wide range of creative arts expertise provided by all SoCA staff. In addition industry professionals from the region, Brisbane and Germany were invited to give feedback to students so that they could benchmark their projects against industry standards and expectations.

The subject developers Clive Hutchison and Katja Fleischmann are confident that this subject gives students a competitive edge: student learning and graduate outcomes are aligned to industry expectations and it prepares students for the shift to an increasingly global economy.

It is pleasing to see that 3rd year students embraced the concept: “I think everyone is excited to be producing such a large-scale project in the community and we will all be determined to give this subject and project everything we’ve learnt and everything we’ve got to make sure we produce the best projects we can and so we can go out of this course as the first wave of New Media Arts graduates with a bang!” (3rd year BNMA student, SP2 2009).

Final presentations of the outcomes will be held at SoCA on Mon 9 Nov 2009.

Photography students enhancing their image

On a hazy Friday in mid October, 24 photography students along with lecturer Kirsten Heritage from SoCA at JCU spent a full day with digital imaging and colour management expert, Les Walkling from Melbourne.  Students learned how to maximize the quality of their images for printing and output through a series of workshops and discussions from one of the internationally recognized leaders in the field.  To the rhythmic tapping of the computer keyboard, the perils of Adobe Photoshop were exposed and solutions learned, taking the student’s knowledge in this specialist field to a high level over the course of the day.  Tricks of the trade were shared freely and many myths of digital processing technologies were exposed.

All students who attended were thoroughly rewarded by the experience and in the early evening, an exhausted but inspired group ventured home ready to apply what they learned in order to put the “wow” into their photographs.

 For more details about how SoCA connects with the community see here                                                          

Culture in the Mix – JCU Graduate Student Exhibition 

This is a very busy time for uni students with end of semester assessment and preparing for exams. However, it is also an exciting time for the 3^rd year creative arts students at James Cook University as 2009 sees its first graduates of the Bachelor of New Media Arts.

Culture in the Mix the title of the graduate exhibition, at the Perc Tucker Regional Gallery in November, perfectly sums up the diverse range of skills and artistic output that the New Media Art students have achieved within their 3 year degree.

This exhibition is an opportunity to see a cutting edge display of screen, print and web based media, combining the best of the degree’s five fresh new media disciplines:  digital visual arts, photography, media design, digital sound and multimedia performance.

An example of work that will be on show includes Skye Millard’s video art piece ‘Light’. The Media Design student used Final Cut Pro to create a short 60 second video within the theme of “Journey”.  The assessment was designed to explore non-linearity and the spoiling of time and space through the layering of moving image and non-sequential construction of narrative.  As a stand alone piece of image construction, this work imbues meaning through the suggestion of the dominant theme and its underlying subtext – change, perception and time.

Another work includes Tali Dunnage’s photographs, visually documenting local life in the FNQ town of Tully, home to many different cultural groups. ‘William’s Hands’ portrays one man’s life story. Tali explains “to me this type of art epitomises the art of capture; a person and or moment that is pure, not staged.” 

So come along and see the latest generation of digital arts practitioners as they challenge the traditions of gallery exposition and lay the foundation for future North Queensland new media artists.

Everyone is welcome to the opening event on Friday 13 November 7pm at the Perc Tucker Regional Gallery.

The exhibition is on show from Friday 13 to Sunday 22 November 2009.

Exhibition:  Creative Generation

Mon 12 Oct - Fri 13 Nov 2009 (Mon – Fri 8:30am-4:30pm)

The 2009 Creative Generation Excellence Awards in Visual Art and Design invites the community to experience artworks by some of Queensland’s outstanding senior secondary students. This touring exhibition showcases the artwork of 40 students from both state and non-state schools in every region of the state.

OPENING EVENT  Thurs 22 Oct, 4:30pm, everyone is welcome.

eMerge Media Space
School of Creative Arts Complex
Building DA300
Douglas Campus, JCU
Townsville

Cost: free

For information: contact gallery@jcu.edu.au or phone 4781 3142

Performance:  Tug of War & Show Us What Ya Got! 

 Both performances Mon 26 Oct 2009, 7:00pm SHARP

Two performances in one night, by our 2nd year Performance students:

Tug of War explores a young woman’s struggle to find her identity. Jane’s journey is experienced with surreal dark characters from her subconscious Peanut and Jelly that taunt her to discover the issues affecting her identity struggle. To set herself free Jane has to come to terms with moral issues associated with friendship, bullying and harassment to consider the real reason for Peanut and Jelly’s existence.

Show Us What Ya Got! Interacts with the audience in a new talent show ‘On Tour’ that enables young men and women from regional Australia to enter without audition.
Contestants have an opportunity to perform live by ballot and provide a short multimedia biography outlining part of their life journey. Not only do the contestants perform a prepared song but also improvise in any medium determined by the audience.

Limited bookings are available!

Cowshed Theatre
Western Campus
Building DG243
Douglas Campus, JCU
Townsville

Cost: free

For information or to RSVP a seat: contact debra.thomas@jcu.edu.au or phone 4781 4905

  Performance:  Pennies before the Holidays

 Thurs 5, Fri 6 & Sat 7 Nov 2009, 7:00pm SHARP

Be entertained by our 3^rd year performance students in a play directed by Debra Thomas.

A young woman Elizabeth 21 played by Anita Whyte confronts old age as she spends time each week with her grandfather, Chas 86 played by Tristan Savage, two grand mothers, Daisy 84 and Iris 82 played by Sherrie Houston and Rachel Rogers respectively and Megan Bennett in the role of the 75 year old great aunt. Their difficult relationships are played out in a series of increasingly bizarre, poignant and funny scenes. This is a quirky black comedy that swings between naturalism and surrealism. The aged roles of the cast are written to perform by actors of any age providing challenging characters for the actors.

Cowshed Theatre
Western Campus
Building DG243
Douglas Campus, JCU
Townsville

Cost: free

For information: contact soca.events@jcu.edu.au or phone 4781 3142

Screening:  Northern Lights Film Festival

Fri 6 Nov 2009, 4pm SHARP 

Be a part of this exciting inaugural short film festival at JCU. Great prizes for the best Open Documentary, Open Fiction and High School categories! Brought to you by the SoCA and the Townsville Cinema Group. See poster here.

School of Creative Arts Complex
Building DA300
Douglas Campus, JCU
Townsville

Cost: free

For information: contact soca.events@jcu.edu.au or phone 4781 3142

Exhibition:  Culture in the Mix

Fri 13 Nov - Sun 22 Nov 2009 (Mon – Fri 10am-5pm, Sat – Sun 10am – 2pm)

The School of Creative Arts, JCU invites you to experience the work of its first graduating year of Bachelor of New Media Arts students. A cutting edge display of screen, print and web based media will be on show, combining the best of the degree’s five fresh new media disciplines:  digital visual arts, digital photography, new media design, digital sound and multimedia performance.

Come along and see the latest generation of digital arts practitioners as they challenge the traditions of gallery exposition and lay the foundation for future North Queensland new media artists.

OPENING EVENT  Fri 13 Nov, 7pm, everyone is welcome.

Perc Tucker Regional Gallery
Cnr Denham St & Flinders Mall
Townsville

Cost: free

For information: contact gallery@jcu.edu.au or phone 4781 3142

Performance:  The Shining Path

Fri 13 Nov - Wed 18 Nov 2009

A play written by Victoria Carless, Performance Lecturer at the School of Creative Arts, Cairns campus.

Meet Len. He works in middle level bureaucracy – Consumer Complaints Division. His special talent is answering phones. But when Len’s old mate Dale barges back into his life, our hero is taken waaaaay out of his comfort zone. Len and Dale share a past, one that briefly features a stint with South American revolutionaries. After the pair is separated in a terrorist attack gone wrong, they return to Australia to make new lives for themselves, alone.

When Dale bursts back into Len’s life, some twenty years later and minus a leg, the pair embarks on a madcap, unwieldy train trip around Queensland, where the past and the present collide. With the help of a host of storytelling Queenslanders they meet along the way, including a nun, a miner and a slightly sinister Mr. Whippy, will Len and Dale find the shining path back to friendship?

The Shining Path follows two map-less blokes on a buoyant, somewhat random train journey around Queensland.

Quirky, sometimes sad, and often hilarious, the play visits the iconic, familiar, as well as the out of the way places that are unique to this great state.

With universal themes of friendship, betrayal and redemption, the play celebrates all that is broken, beautiful and bizarre about Queensland towns and the characters that populate them.

 JUTE Theatre
Centre of Contemporary Arts
96 Abbott St
Cairns

For session times, costs or to make a booking : visit JUTE or phone 07 4050 9444

Exhibition:  If I Could Forget…

Mon 14 – Fri 18 Sept 2009 (Mon – Fri 8:30am-4:30pm)

Honours student Jak Henson’s video work is open to the public for 1 week only. This exhibit is fullfils a component of the Bachelor of Visual Arts Honours degree.

The opening event is on Thurs 17 Sept, 6pm and everyone is welcome.

eMerge Media Space
School of Creative Arts Complex
Building DA300
Douglas Campus, JCU
Townsville

Cost: free

For information: contact gallery@jcu.edu.au or phone 4781 3142

Exhibition:  V8 Supercars & Supermen – a ‘true blue’ race

Fri 25 Sept - Thurs 8 Oct 2009 (viewing daily 10:00am-10:00pm)

Honours student Rose Morton invites you to her exhibition of paintings.  This exhibit is fullfils a component of the Bachelor of Visual Arts Honours degree.

The opening event is on Fri 25 Sept, 6:30pm and everyone is welcome.

Monsoons
194 Flinders St East
Townsville City

Cost: free

For information: contact gallery@jcu.edu.au or phone 4781 3142

Exhibition:  International Travelling Photography

Mon 28 Sept - Fri 2 Oct 2009 (Mon – Fri 8:30am-4:30pm)

No other student photo competition is seen by as many people on four continents.

The Photo Imaging Education Association (PIEA) hosts an annual competition with chosen works from over 6,000 entries touring 54 venues  around the world. Countries include Canada, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States and Australia.

Some of the entrants come from countries such as China, Costa Rica, Guatemala, India, Iran, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States and Australia. Don’t miss this show, it is in Townsville for 1 week only!!! 

eMerge Media Space
School of Creative Arts Complex
Building DA300
Douglas Campus, JCU
Townsville

Cost: free

For information: contact gallery@jcu.edu.au or phone 4781 3142

Symposium:  What Killed the ‘Queenslander’?

Sat 19 Sept 2009 (9:30am-5:00pm)

Architects, builders and local government representatives discuss the history of  the Queenslander and the future of Architecture in North Queensland. As part of the Art of Building in North Queensland Q150 funded show at Pinnacles. Supported by the School of Creative Arts, JCU.

Pinnacles Gallery
Riverway Arts Centre
20 Village Boulevard
Thuringowa

Cost: free

See program below. For more information ph 4773 8871 or email Pinnacles.

 Professor Ryan Daniel

We are in another phase of exciting development here at SoCA, with the School recently awarded a $70,000 grant from JCU to undertake a “refresh” of the curriculum. The “refresh” is occurring across the University and for SoCA, it enables us to inject new and exciting aspects into the curriculum, be this in terms of such areas of focus as learning technologies, work integrated learning, indigenous perspectives and industry/research linkages.

We have recently welcomed a new group of students to the School this semester, and overall we are about 10% above our student numbers at the same time last year. New students have joined us from Norway as a part of our articulation with NKF (Norges Kreative Fagskole) and this student cohort is sure to grow over the next few years. The School continues to expand on both the Cairns and Townsville campuses and by 2011, postgraduate coursework offerings will be available.

Finally, 2010 will see two new staff in the School of Creative Arts. One will join us on each campus and we are in the process of appointing for each position. There were in fact 65 applications for the Cairns position, which shows how much interest there is in our new School and the direction it is taking.  It will be very exciting to welcome these two new staff in early 2010.

Best wishes,  Ryan.

SoCA staff and students featured in collaborative Q150 show

It can be hard enough getting staff and students together in the same room due to their busy lives, let alone exhibit in the same show. But the current Q150 exhibition at Umbrella Studios in Townsville  features many members of our  talented School of Creative Arts staff and students (past and present) including James Brown, Anne Lord, Ron Mc Burnie and Clive Hutchison. Also included are Anneke Silver, Robert Preston, Alison McDonald and ex-students such as Angela Hughes, Jenny Mulcay and other regional artists including Jan Hynes, Marion Gaemers, Aicey Zaro,  RUN artist collective,  Gail Mabo and Gavin Ryan.

These artists have based their works on other artworks originating in this region over the past 150 years.

You can see the exhibition Now & Then: 150 years of art making in North Qld  until 4 Oct 2009.

For information visit Umbrella or ph 47727109

Building on from the Q150 

In association with James Cook University, SoCA staff Dr. Stephen Naylor has curated the latest exhibition at Pinnacles Gallery as part of a Q150 funded project.

The Art of building in North Queensland is an interactive exhibition that explores the domestic architecture of the North over the last 150 years. A rich tapestry of photographs and paintings by prominent regional artists tell the stories of homes, gardens and lifestyles. The exhibition also addresses issues of environmental sustainability and the role that contemporary architecture and building processes have in providing efficient ‘signature buildings’ for future populations in tropical North Queensland.
 

The Art of Building in North Queensland is also showing until 4 Oct 2009.

For information email Pinnacles or ph 4773 8875

Don’t miss the symposium in conjunction with this exhibition on Sat 19 Sept, 9:30am – 5pm, see the What’s On section for more information.

ADTL @ FLBCA

A congratulations goes to Dr. Stephen Naylor for gaining his new role as the Associate Director of Teaching & Learning for the Faculty of Law, Buisness and Creative Arts. Stephen has made huge contributions in his numerous positions within the School of Creative Arts and will be missed when he finishes his teaching commitments at SoCA at the end of this semester.

Creative Arts and Journalism students get intensely into their photography

While most uni students are enjoying their mid year semester break, a class of  2nd year creative arts and journalism students take part in the block mode subject known as Photojournalism: Documentation and Communication.

Conducted at the School of Creative Arts, the subject aims to provide students with a range of intensive quasi real-world experiences in working to a supplied brief, and working to deadlines, within the genre of photojournalism. Commencing on June 30th, all students initially attended four days of lectures and tutorials covering aspects of documentary photography and journalism. All students were individually supplied with a brief based on an issue of environmental concern in North Queensland.  Students were required to research the topic, identify the key issues and players, develop an action plan and then complete fieldwork involving photography and interviews, based on the action plan.

On the basis of this fieldwork students then produced a magazine article (with a minimum of six photographs), a cover (some examples below), and a newspaper article from the information and images gathered. The magazine Habitat is a fictitious publishing vehicle used to present this material. A journal of activities tracked project process and reflected on outcomes.

SoCA was the most fashionable place to be on Open Day

This year’s Open Day event at JCU was action packed with interesting and informative activities around the whole campus available to prospective students, their parents and the general public.

The Creative Arts complex in Townsville had a range of exciting demonstrations throughout the day from all study areas including: lino printing for visual arts, t/shirt design displays for media design, examples of music recordings for digital sound, monologues and movement for performance and the highlight of activities being a fashion photo-shoot for digital imaging.
Regular tours and presentations gave people an insight about SoCA’s facilities and study options.

If you missed Open Day but would like to see the facilities at the School of Creative Arts complex during office hours Mon – Fri 8:30am – 4:30pm and or ask questions about our courses on offer please contact the Community Engagement and Events Officer by email elly.murrell@jcu.edu.au or ph 4781 3142

 A growing interest in the Cairns’ Creative Industries

The SoCA’s Cairns campus is centre-stage to a growing host of creative professionals, aspiring actors,screenwriters, directors, curators and digital artists, with the expansion of the Bachelor of Creative Industries.

The updated degree encompasses media and performance in addition to the existing strands in visual arts. “Who knows what stars of the future we will launch,” says Russell Milledge, course coordinator andlecturer in the School of Creative Arts. “This is a creative region,” Russell said. “It has the facilities, the resources, the people and the creative talent. And now we have an internationally recognised degree program that brings together all this knowledge, know how and energy.”

The new strands of the course cover diverse topics, from improvisation and acting techniques to digital imaging and writing for live performance. “We’re not catering just for writers or actors, but the whole workings of a production,” Russell said. “As well as developing their own area of expertise and gaining a professional qualification, students will be able to ‘put on a show’. When they graduate they will be fully equipped to enter the wider arts industry.”

With digital media continually evolving, and the creative arts industry being quick to embrace change, the challenge has been for degree programs to keep up. “This is a highly flexible course. There is a framework of core subjects and electives, lectures and practical sessions, but we really want to allow the students to find their own way, whether it be as an actor, gallery curator or VJ at festivals.”

Some parts of the course will take place off campus at local arts venues. “The Cairns region has a well connected arts community. We have excellent theatrical spaces and companies where students will undertake placements. They
will work behind the scenes and with their peers, in the theatre, at convention venues, in the film and events environment, or in art spaces.”

Originally from Cairns, Russell Milledge graduated from Sydney’s National Arts School and completed a Masters at QUT. His creative career of more than 20 years began in museum and gallery practices, specialising in Indigenous and traditional visual arts. He is Artistic Director of the new media performance group Bonemap, and the annual On Edge contemporary media and performance festival. As a founding director of Kick Arts Contemporary Arts in Cairns in 1992, he has always held great vision and hope for the creative industries in his home town.

“Far north Queensland has always held a great allure for artists. We need to rejuvenate that enthusiasm. In all the changes that are constantly going on around us, art allows us to say what is unique about Cairns and our region – and
we have so much to say.”

To get a better understanding of our creative arts courses for Townsville and Cairns download new SoCA brochure here.

Life’s a beach for some…

For the eleventh consecutive year SoCA students have made their annual pilgrimage to beautiful Orpheus Island in The Palm Island Group of the Great Barrier Reef. The island is almost uninhabited with the exception of James Cook University’s research station (OIRS) where tropical marine science research is conducted, and an exclusive holiday resort in the adjacent bay.  The island is only a twenty-minute boat trip from Taylors Beach. During the trip all eyes are on the lookout for dolphins and whales that are often active in the area at this time of year, however there was no luck with whale spotting on this occasion.

This trip is a great opportunity for creative arts students to get to know a little about our unique tropical marine environment, refine their photography skills, and make new friends. Whilst on the island all students participated in a range of exciting activities such as snorkeling on the inshore reef, bush walking to the far side of the island or travelling by boat to nearby Pioneer Bay to investigate the remnants of an old pearl farmer’s hut and to walk to the grassy plateau that tops this area of the island.  Snorkeling the reef a rich cross section of marine fishes can be observed at close range including Triggerfish, Wrasse, Parrotfish and Damsels.

Accompanied by SoCA staff members, Clive Hutchison and Kirsten Heritage, all participants enjoyed a memorable trip.  Kirsten claimed ORIS master chef  title many years ago and once again turned a memorable cuisine setting up the evenings for long chats and laughter.

 CIAF Symposium brings deadly Indigenous artists and researchers together

 Thousands of people recently attended the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF) at various venues around the city of Cairns with organisers declaring the inaugural event a huge success.

A major event within the CIAF program was a full day Symposium organised by the School of Creative Arts, JCU in partnership with Arts Queensland.

The CIAF event attracted some of Queensland’s leading Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists to Cairns and the Symposium was an opportunity for the public to hear the current issues and find out about the state of Indigenous arts.

Seventeen speakers, including people like Richard Bell, from the urban artists collective proppaNOW based in Brisbane and Jeremy Geia, Director of the Laura Aboriginal Dance and Cultural Festival, came from all over Australia to take part in the event, each bringing with them a contribution to the bigger picture on Indigenous art issues in this country.

Some of the highlight presentations included keynote speaker Judy Watson, who recounted the seminal milestones of her career as she spoke about her journey as one of Queensland’s most successful artists. As well as Nicolas Rothwell, who for many years has been investigating northern Australia as a correspondent for the Australian Newspaper. Nicolas offered an insight and anecdote to the contradictions of success for remote Indigenous artists during his keynote speech.

 To view the CIAF Symposium via webcast visit here.

 Screengrab – JCU’s inaugural New Media Arts Award

The gallery at the School of Creative Arts came to life last month as it was given a new name – the eMerge Media Space – as well as hosted one of the best new media art exhibitions Townsville has ever seen, titled Screengrab.  

New media artists from across the globe who entered the inaugural Screengrab exhibition provided the SoCA curatorial team with an eclectic mix of digital works from as far afield as New York, Tokyo, Birmingham and Berlin. Local emerging artists from Sydney, Perth and the Gold Coast also feature in the final design of the exhibition.

The theme of this year’s Screengrab was Intervention, which presented the artist’s with the opportunity to explore this very contemporary – and at times, controversial – cultural condition.  Screen based media pieces explored technological, political, social and pop-cultural intervention featured heavily in the collection.  The works took a variety of exciting new media art forms – animation, a web based game, digital video, surveillance video and even a “digital harmonograph”.

The Screengrab exhibit represented the short list for the SoCA New Media Arts award, of which the winner was Deborah Kelly from Sydney for her amazing work Tank Man Tango: a Tienanmen Memorial. The Focal Press New Media Arts tertiary prize went to Hye Yeon Nam (born in Korea, now studying in Atlanta USA) for her piece Wonderland.

The concurrent launch of Screengrab and the eMerge Media Space presented an exciting opportunity for the School of Creative Arts to throw open its doors to the local arts industry and the general public and demonstrate its new media arts credentials in this exciting new field of contemporary arts practice.

Check out the ABC Radio review about Screengrab here.

 Professor Ryan Daniel

What a semester! It has been a fantastic year so far and which recently culminated in two significant public events. The first was the launch of the “BOSS”, the “Best of Student Show” exhibition, and which displayed in the new building and gallery the very best student work from both the Cairns and Townsville student bodies. The launch was a tremendous night with great art work on display, lots of food, many excited people and excellent entertainment. Congratulations to all those involved, and especially those students whose work was selected for display!

We also recently presented a concert in the outdoor performance area to raise funds for the Cancer Council and $2000 was raised for this very important charity.

We in the School are now working feverishly towards the new semester, and where we will welcome a cohort of new students on both the Cairns and Townsville campuses. Our numbers continue to grow indeed our mid year enrolment will increase about 15% on last year. I look forward to welcoming back our current students as well as all new students as they embark on their creative journey.

Finally, it is with a tinge of sadness that we farewell Associate Professor Michael Beresford, who leaves us at the end of the year to commence a new position at the University of Tasmania. Michael’s contribution to the community and the University over the last 17 years in Townsville initially and then Cairns has been extraordinary. He has now built a strong Performance program in Cairns, laid a wonderful foundation for growth, and established himself as a leading playwright and inspirational academic. On behalf of the School, I wish him every success in his new adventure, and look forward to continuing to work with Michael as he takes up an Adjunct position with the School early next year.

To all of our community and newsletter readers, I wish you well and hope to see you on campus at some point during the next semester.

Dr Salisbury’s music premiered at AFCM Launch     

School of Creative Arts lecturer in music, Dr David Salisbury will show off two of his compositions at the launch of the Australia Festival of Chamber Music early next month. 

The musical pieces include an original composition Magnetic Reflections scored for Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Viola, Cello, Marimba and Didgeridoo. As well as Suite Brolga which is a composition inspired by a traditional Aboriginal story of how the Brolga came to be. Printmaker Shirley Collin, a Pitta-Pitta woman will narrate the story. Both were composed for William Barton on didgeridoo. There are improvised sections integrated into the score, in which some of the instruments interpret characters in the story musically.

This will be a free concert on Sunday 2 Aug, 2pm at Umbrella Studio.
For information visit Umbrella or ph 47727109

 McBurnie’s exhibition a must see     

JCU’s Artist-in-Residence, Ron McBurnie has reason to celebrate. His current exhibition at the Perc Tucker Regional Gallery Metal as Anything showcases diverse and intricate etchings that he has created over the past thirty years!

McBurnie’s etchings are inspired by whatever he is exposed to at the time, “If I am marvelling at an old print, then that inspires me. If I hear an idiotic story about a corrupt politician then that story will inspire me. If I am playing a piece of music that takes me to an extraordinary place, then that is my inspiration. To me, inspiration for my work comes from a variety of different sources. Sometimes ideas and inspiration come from the weirdest of sources.”

The diversity of events, both large and small, that inspire McBurnie’s artworks are telling of the artist’s greatest strength – his ability to highlight the weird and wonderful events that occur in our ‘mundane’ suburban environment. It is so easy for these fleeting, humorous moments to be lost, buried underneath the drudgery and commitments of our daily grind. McBurnie, unlike most, captures these moments in his own life and ensures they are not misplaced.

A must see: Metal As Anything, showing until Sun 16 Aug, Perc Tucker Regional Gallery.

A mentor who will be missed by all

 Associate Professor Michael Beresford bids his farewells to JCU and takes on new adventures in the cooler surroundings of Tassy later this year. As mentioned above, Michael has been teaching at the SoCA for 17 years at both campuses and has had much success as a playwright, including his performance Tiptoe at the Jute Theatre last year.             

He will be missed, not only by staff and students but by the whole performing arts community in Far North Queensland.

Good luck Michael, the University of Tasmania is lucky to have such a great mentor!

New Student Association to Brings Life to Campus

The School of Creative Arts has been working with the students recently to improve campus life and bolster a sense of belonging and on-campus culture.  The results of these discussions have proved very fruitful : a microwave and fridge have been supplied to the students to heat up those midnight snacks when the pressure is really on; a coordinated approach to communications between the school and the student body via email and Facebook; the establishment of a fund so students can organise their own events, bbqs and performances on campus; and most importantly of all, the establishment of the Creative Arts Student Association (CASA).

This association has already been very active in helping the school iron out any problems the students have been experiencing in the day-to-day running of the school; the efficient use of facilities and innovations related to subject delivery.  Already on the cards are lunch time DJ sessions, BBQ fundraisers, studio exhibitions and peer to peer skills networking sessions.

This is a great move forward for both the school and SoCA campus life. All students who have participated in the process so far should be commended.  Watch this space!

 p.s/ CASA are also on facebook…

Students linked to LiNQ via the web

Students from subjects Web Authoring I (SoCA) and Multimedia Web Design (IT) created websites for LiNQ, one of the oldest North Queensland Literary Journals, as part of an assessable project last semester.  This project was the first time a multidisciplinary collaborative learning and teaching environment was introduced between the two schools and the website outcomes exceeded the expectations of the LiNQ editors.

The winning team consists of the following students:  2nd year Bachelor of New Media Arts, Digital Media Design students Rachel Britton and Josh Dykgraaf, 2nd year Bachelor of IT student Ashley Sexton and 1st year Master of IT students Raghuveer Indla and Sree Ganesh Porselvam.

Visit here and click on the links for examples of the website creations.

Students wowed during SoCA visits

Bus loads of local and regional secondary school groups have come through the School of Creative Arts complex and been amazed by the facilities. Here is a word from Ange Venardos, Arts Coordinator of Ingham State High School:

“We wish to express our sincere appreciation for the tour for the Grade 10’s on June 18, 2009. The students were really impressed and I am sure it opened their eyes to possible career choices through the Arts….It is gratifying that three students actually came forward of their own accord, excited about the presentation, and stated their intention to pursue JCU as a career path even though it had not occurred to them before. I’m sure many more felt the same though not as vocal.”

If your senior secondary school students would like to do a workshop or tour of the SoCA please contact elly.murrell@jcu.edu.au or phone 4781 3142. 

Uni Experience, Careers Expo and Open Day

It’s that time of the year again:

Townsville Uni Experience – Thurs 16 & Fri 17 July

Townsville Careers Expo – Mon 10 Aug, 10am – 1:30pm & 4pm – 7pm

Townsville Open Day –  Sun 30 Aug, 10am – 2:30pm   
Cairns Open Day – Sun 23 Aug, 10am – 2:30pm

For more information email openday@jcu.edu.au or phone 1800 246 446

Charity Concert A Success

A wonderful evening of entertainment was had by all that attended the Winter Music Compilation, a fundraising event that took place in the middle of last month.

Almost 100 guests were seated in the SoCA Outdoor Performance Space to be treated by the musical talents of local musicians including the wonderful girl’s choir from St Margaret Mary’s College, the Townsville Guitar Orchestra, the funky jazz sounds of Captain Nemo and highly accomplished piano performances by SoCA Masters of Music student Julia Bowden, special guest Richard Auvil and our Head of School, Professor Ryan Daniel.

From the event $2,000 was raised and given to the Cancer Council Queensland.

A word from the Fundraising Coordinator of the Cancer Council Qld, Heather Martin:

“Thank you to all associated with the Charity Concert held at the School of Creative Arts on June 12th 2009. Money raised from the evening will go towards the world class treatment facilities for cancer patients, research, support and assistance for patients and their families and funding for our educational programs for the prevention and early detection of cancer….  Thank you for your support and thoughtfulness in helping us with our cause. Cancer Council Queensland is a charity organisation that receives no government funding and relies solely on Queenslanders and organisations such as School of Creative Arts, JCU to support our vital anti cancer programs.”

BoSS Launch Reviewed

A huge turn out of staff and students celebrated the end of first semester in style at the launch of the BoSS – Best of Student Show in the SoCA Gallery. The BoSS highlights some of our high calibre talent within the creative arts students from all year levels and study areas.

Everyone who attended were entertained by traditional Cook Island drum beats and dancing from Sunset Rhythm and later in the evening by funky local outfits AUX and Chinchy. First year performance student gave a good taste test of their creations that they have worked on all semester and film screenings created by students were enjoyed as well.

BoSS images above kindly supplied by Digital Imaging student John Sharples.

Student Performances Reviewed

Written by Us: Tales from the Cowshed 2009 featured 13 short performance texts as live performed readings over two evenings facilitated by Townsville’s Performance curriculum coordinator in Performance Debra Thomas. Texts were diverse and directed toward audiences as young as eight years of age intended for future animation through to texts for mature audiences for stage and screen.

Beckett and Beyond offered an entertaining and informative introduction to a number of playwrights and theatre practitioners whose theatrical praxis is essentially Imagist. Using a combination of live performance, video projection, lighting and sound, the five 3^rd year Performance students lead the audience on a journey through the theatrical landscape of the Imagists. Performance lecturer Brian Kneipp facilitated the first of many student productions in the Court House Theatre

Painting Workshop Review- Winter in the Tropics

The aim of this painting intensive was to acquire the fundamentals of painting, and in this process a lot of paint was mixed! Geoff Dupree presented a sequence of increasingly complex painting problems with a range of palettes that allowed different translations of light/dark, warm/cool and more/less intensity from observed subjects in a range of spatial contexts. Artists selected sections to paint from a 10 x 1 metre colourful, still life created from fabrics and painted objects. The emphasis was always to learn from observation, to use a systematic approach to colour mixing, and to paint the space not the individual parts. A measure of the commitment to this process was that after day one participants (and Geoff) arrived early and left late.                      

Geoff trained at the City and Guilds of London Art School and St Martin’s School of Art, London.  He is a well known representational painter, with a considerable reputation as a drawing and painting teacher. He designed a highly successful drawing program in the Faculty of Art and Design at Monash University and was until recently, an Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Fine Arts, supervising a number of Masters and Doctoral researchers who specialise in the drawing discipline. Geoff now devotes his time to painting and running workshops to provide others with the assistance and practical knowledge to improve their drawing and painting skills.

The workshop was well subscribed with artists from Cairns, Melbourne, Northern NSW, Sunshine Coast, and Orange participating, some of whom had previously attended Geoff’s drawing intensive at the Cairns campus of SoCA in 2008, and was organized by Laurel McKenzie, MCA candidate at JCU and Margaret Genever.

The artists acknowledge and appreciate the support of SoCA / JCU for the workshop.

 Last chance to apply for JCU’s inaugural NMA Award

The deadline is fast approaching to be in the chance to win up to $2,000!  Application deadline for the Screengrab New Media Arts Award, organised by the School of Creative Arts, JCU is Mon 13 July

If you want to be considered for this highly innovative screen-based exhibition and award please refer to the guidelines here  and send your application form here by the deadline.  Please ensure you address the theme of INTERVENTION in your artist statement.

For more information contact screengrab@jcu.edu.auor phone 4781 3142

FNQ’s best contemporary arts festival now on

 Russell Milledge, coordinator and lecturer of the Bachelor of Creative Industries at the SoCA Cairns campus has been busy co-producing the 5^th On Edge Festival.

On Edge Contemporary Media + Performance is an annual program of contemporary arts which strives to produce a Nationally and Internationally relevant program of independent new work, that traverses the various disciplines of performance, sound, screen, new media and installation.

Dr Steven Campbell , music lecturer at the SoCA Townsville Campus, has also been busy putting the digital sound together for one of the festival performances Whispering Limbs, where he has worked collaboratively with Russell Milledge and Bonemap.

The On Edge Festival runs from Fri 3 – Sat 18 July at various venues in Cairns. See here for program.

Tickets can be purchased at http://www.ticketlink.com.au/ or phone 4031 9555

 Opportunity to Exhibit in Cairns

Exhibition applications are now open to exhibit in Cell Art Space in 2010. Applications will be accepted from individual artists, art groups and curators living in North Queensland.

Cell art space encourages emerging visual artists to apply. Applicants are encouraged to visit Cell Art Space, 109 Lake St to see its full potential.

Applications are due by 5pm on the Wed 30 Sept 2009, for more information and to obtain an application please contact the Cell Art Space management committee members via email at  info@cellartspace.com or visit www.cellartspace.com

Exhibition:  BoSS -  Best of Student Show

Ends Fri 24 July 2009 (Mon – Fri 8:30am-4:30pm)

Showcasing the very best of student’s creations from semester 1 this year. Come and see what our students do from all year levels across the New Media Arts degree; from digital sound to web design, from visual arts to photo-imaging.

SoCA Gallery
School of Creative Arts Complex
Building DA300
Douglas Campus
Townsville

Cost: free

For information: contact elly.murrell@jcu.edu.au or phone 4781 3142

Exhibtion:  Screengrab – New Media Arts Award

Fri 31 July – 21 Aug 2009 (Mon – Fri 8:30am-4:30pm)

Opening event: Fri 7 Aug, 6pm

Screengrab’s inaugural exhibition and new media arts prize will present digital practitioners from across the globe working in screen based media.  This year’s Screengrab theme is intervention. Come and see an example of innovative works that will blow your mind!

SoCA Gallery
School of Creative Arts Complex
Building DA300
Douglas Campus
Townsville

Cost: free

For information: contact elly.murrell@jcu.edu.au or phone 4781 3142

Launch Event - Naming of the Gallery

Launch event: Fri 7 Aug, 6pm

The School of Creative Arts gallery is about to get the indentity is deserves! To conincide with the opening of the Screengrab exhibition, the gallery will officially be named the eMerge Media Space.  Join in on the exciting birth of this cutting edge space… 

Symposium: Conversations in Contemporary Indigenous Australian Art

Fri 21 Aug, 8:00am-5:30pm

The Cairns Indigenous Art Fair will include a dedicated symposium of national significance for the discussion and stimulation of new directions in contemporary Indigenous Australian Art.

The symposium is a core component of the Cairns Indigenous Arts Fair, a major initiative of the Queensland Government and Arts Queensland Backing Indigenous Arts strategy.

Keynote speakers Judy Watson and Nicholas Rothwell will lead discussion on issues challenging and invigorating the Indigenous art industry.Topics include: Indigenous art or artists who are Indigenous; historical continuity and contemporary innovation; and Indigenous art from production to market.

Co-hosted through a partnership with Arts Queensland and the James Cook University School of Creative Arts, the CIAF Symposium will bring together some of the nation’s leading thinkers on Indigenous art to discuss the issues challenging and invigorating the industry. The symposium will inform and inspire Indigenous artists, industry professionals, academics, activists, students, collectors and media.

Registration: 8.00am – 8.30am
Welcome to Country: 8.30am
Session: 9am – 5pm
Cost: $150 / $50 (Concession) Book at Ticketlink
Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF)

Centre of Contemporary Arts (CoCA)
96 Abbott St
Cairns
 
For information contact: russell.milledge@jcu.edu.au or phone 4042 1796

 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.”

 Nicole’s testimonial

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!

BoSS -  Best of Student Show

Fri 5 June – Fri 24 July 2009 (Mon – Fri 8:30am-4:30pm)

Showcasing the very best of student’s creations from semester 1 this year. Come and see what our students do from all year levels across the New Media Arts degree; from digital sound to web design, from visual arts to photo-imaging.

Launch event Fri 5 June 5-8pm, all welcome!

SoCA Gallery
School of Creative Arts Complex
Building DA300
Douglas Campus
Townsville

Cost: free

For information: contact elly.murrell@jcu.edu.au or phone 4781 3142

Performance: Beckett & Beyond

Mon 8 June, 6:00pm (one night only)

James Cook University School of Creative Arts students, in association with Tropic Sun Theatre present Beckett and Beyond at the Court Theatre.

Beckett and Beyond offers an entertaining and informative introduction to a number of playwrights and theatre practitioners whose theatrical praxis is essentially Imagist. Using a combination of live performance, video projection, lighting and sound, the five actors lead the audience on a journey through the theatrical landscape of the Imagists.
Including excerpts from the works of Samuel Beckett, Sarah Kane, Suzan – Lori Parks, and offering insights into the methodologies of many contemporary performers and directors, including Jan Fabre, Robert Wilson, Robert Le Page, Romeo Castelluci, Pina Bausch, Sankai Juku, DV8, Richard Foreman and others, Beckett and Beyond contains material that will shock and challenge its audience – and make them laugh at the same time!

Courthouse Theatre
Corner of Stokes and Sturt St
Townsville City

Cost: only $5 students, $10 adults (free tickets for the first 30 SoCA students at the door)

For more information or to book tickets visit www.tropicsun.com.au

A Winter Music Compilation – Charity Concert

Fri 12 June, 5.00pm for 5:30pm start – 7:30pm

Fundraising event for the Cancer Council

A wonderful evening of entertainment from a variety of performers including:
•Julia Bowden – Accomplished piano player and current School of Creative Arts masters student, Masters of Music.
•Richard Auvil – North American Doctoral student in piano accompaniment Studies at University of North Carolina, Exchange in Croatia.
•Professor Ryan Daniel – Foundation Head of School of Creative Arts at James Cook University with both an extensive and impressive musical background.
•Captain Nemo – JCU based funk, jazz, rock ensemble, directed by Dr David Salisbury and featuring vocalist Vicki Salisbury with a complement of horns and back up vocals.
•Townsville Guitar Orchestra – An ensemble of talented guitar players creating musical brilliance.
Also featuring Townsville identity Mr Richard Lane as MC.

SoCA Outdoor Performance Space
School of Creative Arts Complex
Building DA300
Douglas Campus, Angus Smith Drive
Townsville

Cost:  $30 per person (drinks and nibbles provided)

RSVP Tues 9 June

To RSVP and purchase tickets contact Haley at the Cancer Council Qld. 24 Warburton Street, North Ward
Phone 1300 6565 85 or 4721 1644 (8.30am–5.00pm, Mon – Fri) or email townsville@cancerqld.org.au

Tickets can also be purchased with the correct cash only at the SoCA Admin Office, address above, or phone 4781 3142, email elly.murrell@jcu.edu.au

Presented by the School of Creative Arts and the Cancer Council of Queensland.

Winter in the Tropics Painting Workshop

Sun 28 June – Sun 5 July, 9:00am-5:00pm

A week long intensive painting workshop, presented by the well known representational painter Geoff Dupree.

 Art Studio
Building A4, Room 026/027
James Cook University
Smithfield Campus, Macgregor Road
Cairns

For information contact: geoffdupree@vic.chariot.net.au phone 0434 833792 or genevers@live.com phone 4093 8835

Independent study program Europe 2009

29 June – 21 July 2009

The School of Creative Arts is conducting a formal study tour to Europe exploring contemporary Creative Arts in a global context which aligns with many of the undergraduate and post graduate programs run within the School.

Students will undertake field work in Europe concentrating on the Venice Biennale, one of the world’s most important international contemporary art exhibitions, making comparisons with many traditional European art forms held in Italy and Spain.

Itinerary and program

For information contact: stephen.naylor@jcu.edu.au or phone 4781 3162

Symposium: Conversations in Contemporary Indigenous Australian Art

Fri 21 Aug, 8:00am-5:30pm

Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF) Symposium, co-hosted through a partnership with Arts Qld and the School of Creative Arts, James Cook University

Centre of Contemporary Arts (CoCA)
96 Abbott St
Cairns
 
For information contact: russell.milledge@jcu.edu.au or phone 4042 1796

Professor Ryan Daniel

 November marks a turning point in the academic year. It is the time when classes have finished for the year but also the time when all assessment tasks are submitted, exam papers are in, and academics commence the huge task of marking, validating and presenting final subject grades. The work continues right up until the examiners meeting which is in early December. There is no rest for our fabulous teachers who work hard right up to the Christmas break.

November and December is in fact a very busy time in general for the School. On both campuses we are hosting a number of school groups in workshops.  Many of our staff continue to develop their skills by such activities as attending and presenting at conferences around the country. We are also spending a considerable amount of time planning for 2009, which includes the purchase of new equipment, preparation of new subjects for both campuses, and a continuing focus on attaining quality and excellence in all of our daily activities. We continue to strive to achieve the vision of an international reputation for excellence in the creative arts.

For students who may be leaving, I wish you well on behalf of the School. Stay in touch and keep us up to date with your creative futures. Good luck. Be brave and embrace the world and its wonderful opportunities.
Go to our web pages to see where our graduates are located – the world is an exciting place for people with passion and commitment to the arts!

Experiencing the Creative Arts in Cairns

On Tues 18 Nov about 40 secondary students from various schools around the Cairns region participated in an exciting day of workshops in the areas of Performance and Media Arts at the School of Creative Arts, Cairns campus. Students reported a great day, learning new skills and gaining experience in what the SoCA has to offer.

Girls in IT at JCU  

Approximately 90 year 8 students from across Townsville and surrounding schools spent a day at JCU partaking in a range of fun digital activities. The focus of the event was to encourage young females into the area of Information Technology.

Some of the activities that were enjoyed by the students included photoshop, action-script and animation between the School of Creative Arts and the School of Maths, Physics and IT.

To arrange a creative arts workshop or similar activity for your senior students in Townsville or Cairns, please contact elly.murrell@jcu.edu.au or phone 4781 3142. 

SoCA staff awarded with Inclusive Practice Award

Four  members of staff from the School of Creative Arts team inlcuding Clive Hutchison, Mitch Goodwin, Ben Van Houts and Kirsten Heritage were recognised and awarded for their efforts for  supporting students studying with a disability.

 Inclusive Practice Awards are presented annually to JCU staff members who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to assisting students studying with a disability. Inclusive practice is an objective of the University and acknowledges the support provided by staff to be flexible, consultative, proactive, and/or innovative in minimising the challenges for students’ studying with a disability. Staff are nominated by students registered with the Disability Resources Centre.

This year, in 2008, we have had the highest number of professional and academic staff members nominated by students. In Townsville there were 23 nominations and in Cairns there were 5 nominations.

Party time at SoCA   

Students and the general public recently celebrated the end of semester with a break up party in the outdoor performance space. Besides the chance for students to finally relax and enjoy some live bands, digital art displays, short film screenings and a free bbq, there was also a good turn out for a special guest lecture by film producer Louise Smith from the Sydney Travelling Film Festival. Louise is internationally recognised for her debut feature films including The Square, The Pitch and The Rage in Placid Lake to name a few. 

Student photo shortlisted as possible winner  

Former JCU Creative Arts student Honey Atkinson has been shortlisted in the Canon Photo5 competition. If you like Honey’s photograph you can vote for it online. You can find the shot in the Professional: Ribbon section at www.canon.com.au/photo5/gallery/default.aspx

La Luna Youth Arts has new facelift thanks to SoCA students 

A group of 2nd year Design students completing the Bachelor of New Media Arts were given the task of completely re-designing a unique webpage for local community arts organisation La Luna Youth Arts.

This eight week project was an assessment piece, however students also gained valuable experience working in collaboration with “real-life” clients, including having a practical session by industry professional Michael Smith, Creative Art Director from OracleStudio in Townsville.

La Luna staff were very happy with the amazing talent from the students and found it difficult to choose a winning group.

Congratulations goes to the Ross Mason, Ashley Cooper, Skye Warren, Andrew Rankin and Meegan Chadwick for their fantastic web design. To see this webpage, go to  www.lalunanq.com 

Dick Desert rocking it up at JCU              

JCU staff and students were lucky to experience one of Brisbane’s best Country-Punk bands rocking it up on stage at the SoCA Outdoor Performance Space last month.

Dick Desert and the Shotgun Country Club, feature Bob Weatherall, an Aboriginal Elder from St George as drummer, Matt Muklewicz, a DJ and music archivalist with 4ZZZ Brisbane on harmonica, Dallas Gale guitarist and hired gunman from Melbourne and the notorious Dick Desert as bass guitarist and front gunslinger.

The band members had no time to rest whilst visiting sunny North Queensland. Straight after their rocking gig they were standing in front of a lecture hall full of Creative Arts students as guest lecturers explaining to students what it is like in the “real world” to work collaboratively as artists in all facets of the industry including web marketing, graphic design, producing animation film clips, merchandising and self promoting the band and their music.

A second gig was also enjoyed by the general public at a local pub and live music venue Molly Malones the following night. Keep your ears open as this won’t be the last live band to hit the stage at SoCA!

 Graduating student exhibition well received by community

Close to 4,000 visitors have came through the Perc Tucker Regional Gallery over the last few weeks to see the best of JCU’s Creative Art student’s works. The exhibition titled Top Shelf: Improved With Time showcases artwork from a collection of graduates of the Bachelor of Photography and Bachelor of Visual Arts from 2008.

The exhibition is on show until 2pm Sun 7 Dec. Don’t miss it!

 Artistic help required for festival in Cairns

Experience in putting together a community arts event is offered to any Creative Industries students or anyone else interested in assisting  with a Chinese New Year production at the end of this year in Cairns.

For more information phone 0419 817 248

Australian Concerto Vocal Competition for North Queensland

Sat 18 – Fri 24 July 2009

SOLOIST:
Open Section – Total prize money, five finalists $8,000 
1st prize – $4,000 PLUS additional performance opportunities
2nd prize – $2,000; 3rd rpize – $1,000

Australian Section (Aust composers); Vocal, Instrumental & Solo Sections will commence on Sun 19 July with school age section.

ENSEMBLES:                                                                                                                             

School ensembles (3-8 performers)                                                                                                            

Open ensembles (3-8 performers) – 1st $1,000; 2nd $600; 3rd $400                                                         

Both sections will be held Sat 18 July

Total prize money is over $18,000
Entries close 20 May 2009 – entry forms will be available from Jan 2009.

For details and entry forms visit www.nqconcerto.org or phone 4728 9223

The School of Creative Arts, JCU is proud to be a sponsor of this event.

Calling all photography students

Calling all photography students for a competition to create a unique exhibition highlighting global environmental issues…

James Cook University is one of 10 universities in Australasia chosen to compete in Student Focus, the Sony World Photography Awards’ university programme.  60 universities across six continents will be competing in the awards and James Cook University is one of the select few to have been chosen to take part in this prestigious international Awards programme.

The Sony World Photography Awards (WPA), now in its second year, has expanded its student initiative to create a truly global competition to find tomorrow’s photography professionals. With the environment as the central theme of the Sony World Photography Awards 2009, the brief for the students is to create an image which highlights an environmental issue specific to their country.

Universities will select 120 images, two from each university, for the WPA. A shortlist of two students from one university from each continent will then be selected by a prestigious judging panel from the photographic community.

The ten universities selected from Australasia are:

Griffith University, Queensland, Australia
Raffles, NSW, Australia
University of Technology Sydney, NSW, Australia
RMIT, Victoria, Australia
James Cook University, Queensland, Australia
The University of Auckland, New Zealand
University of Tasmania, Tasmania
Massey University, New Zealand
The University of Sydney, NSL, Australia
Murdoch University, Perth, Australia

The 12 shortlisted students, along with their tutors, win an expenses-paid trip to Cannes in April 2009. As part of the Festival at The Sony World Photography Awards, finalists will conduct their final assignment from which an overall University winner will be decided. They will also participate in a series of lectures including ‘Can Photography Make a Difference? with Tom Ang, a range of masterclasses, and portfolio sessions with leading industry experts. 

The overall student winner will be announced, along with the winners of the professional and amateur categories, at the Sony World Photography Awards ceremony at the Palais des Festival on 16 April 2009. The Student Focus prize is over 45,000 Euros’ worth of photography equipment for the winning university, courtesy of the sponsor, Sony.

A highlight of the festival in Cannes will be a showcase of photographs selected from the student submissions from all of the 60 participating universities. When presented together, the photographs are expected to create an international collective view of our planet as seen by a new generation of photographers.

Jim O’Brien at James Cook University comments “we are delighted JCU has been chosen to compete for such an esteemed award.  We hope to make the most of this wonderful opportunity.”

For more details about this competition visit: www.worldphotographyawards.org

New Media Award Exhibition at GoMA

Don’t miss this opportunity to see the finalists involved the  Premier of Queensland’s New Media Awards now showing at the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) in Brisbane until 8 Feb 2009. 

Premier Bligh presented Mr Alwast with the $75,000 prize at a special event held at GoMA last month.

Mr Alwast was one of nine finalists short-listed for this prestigious national art award, the most significant prize for new media in the country.  His winning entry Everything 2008 is an extraordinary three-channel video installation that explores new shifts in video based practice. 

Premier of Queensland’s National New Media Art Award   

1 Nov 08 – 8 Feb 09 

Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA)
Stanley Place,
Cultural Centre
South Bank, Brisbane
 
Free admission
 

For further information visit GoMA

Top Shelf: an exhibition of distinction

until Sun 7 Dec (M-F 10am – 5pm, Sat-Sun 10am – 2pm)

An exhibiiton of distinction of third year graduates of the Bachelor of Photography and Bachelor of Visual Arts from the School of Creative Arts, JCU. 

Perc Tucker Regional Gallery
Cnr Denham St & Flinders Mall
Townsville City

Cost: free

For information: contact  elly.murrell@jcu.edu.au or ph 4781 3142

Exhibition: Blak Roots

Opens 6pm Fri 28 Nov, on display until Sat 21 Feb 2009 (Tues – Sat 10am – 5pm)

An Indigenous Survey exhibition commemorating 20 Years of Wet Tropics World Heritage, in collaboration with the School of Creative Arts, JCU. 

KickArts Contemporary Arts
96 Abbott St
Cairns

Cost: free

For information: visit  www.kickarts.org.au or ph 4050 9494