Creative Arts

Key Learning Area Coordinator: Jackie Knowles

Visual Arts at St Dominic’s College provides students with the skills and experience to navigate an increasingly multi-sensory world. Students are encouraged to investigate and manage multiple modes of learning through immersive and sustained experiences in conceiving and making artworks, looking, thinking, interpreting and analysing. This assists students to be not just consumers of culture, but critical consumers and, moreover, critical producers of culture as well.

The concepts of teacher directed, problem based learning are an important part of our programs. This approach gives students a rationale, method and sequence for producing quality work upon which motivation and innovation is fostered. The nature of what is taught by the Visual Arts Department means that students are personally and creatively extended by class work, assignment work and the Bodies of Work undertaken. They are continually challenged to, and supported towards, reaching their creative potential. Students are provided with numerous opportunities to showcase their work via short-term exhibitions, publications, competitions, collaborative projects, College Exhibitions and the Year 12 Major Works Showcase. Students are also given opportunities via excursions, workshops and joint projects to experience a range of art events.

Courses

Visual Arts in Years 9-12 offers students an exciting opportunity to continue experiencing and mastering a wide variety of art forms such as; printmaking, architectural design, photography, sculpture, installation, ceramics, drawing, painting, graphic design, animation and film. Visual Arts develops a student’s creativity, intellectual and practical autonomy, reflective action, empathy, critical judgement and understanding. It offers a wide range of opportunities for students to develop their own interests, to be self-motivated and active learners who can take responsibility for and continue their own learning in school and post-school settings. It is vital for students to develop a sensory awareness, powers of visual expression and communication, an understanding of visual traditions and the potential to think and act creatively and be innovative. Visual Arts provides a valuable background for all students contemplating any career where acute observation, critical analysis, brain-hand-eye co-ordination/dexterity and creative problem-solving are necessary.
The skills and knowledge taught, and the values formed in Visual Arts will benefit those seeking a future in art and design-related industries and will also prepare students for vocational fields such as journalism, sociology, law, medicine and dentistry, by providing opportunities to develop their social and cultural awareness, observation skills and empathy and mental/manual dexterity. Students with a background in Visual Arts may have an advantage in other curriculum areas such as History and English.

Facilities

The Visual Arts studios are located in D block. The interconnecting environment foster collaboration, allowing students to engage in their own sustained studio practice and field of expertise. The Brother Tracey Centre is our Gallery space which is used for the Year 12 Showcase and Full College exhibitions.

Spaces include:

• Three practical learning environments • Dedicated Photography and Digital Media Studio • Ceramics and Sculpture Studio

DRAMA

Drama has been judged as the most productive of the key competencies to equip an individual for life after school. These include; • confident self-expression • willingness to explore ideas • working as a group member collaboratively and creatively to solve problems • and developing both empathy through imagination.

Drama provides experiences in video production, theatrical light and sound, design, scriptwriting and a range of production and staging skills that can be applied to many post-school occupations in the theatre, television and film production, video, graphics and animation fields.

A lot of what happens in the drama classroom requires students to think on their feet, encouraging flexibility and reflexive practice, skills which they will require in their further study and workplace. Through improvisation activities, students learn to be spontaneous and creative. Group work requires cooperation and collaboration. As students actively explore characters and situations of their own imagining, and in written scripts, they build on their ability to empathise and understand. These benefits have an impact on their work in other subject areas. Probably the most evident benefit drama provides, however, is a confidence to perform in front of others and to express ideas confidently.

Students study the practices of Making, Performing and Critically Studying in Drama. Students engage with these components through collaborative and individual experiences.

Courses

Preliminary course:

Content comprises an interaction between the components of Improvisation, Playbuilding and Acting, Elements of Production in Performance and Theatrical Traditions and Performance Styles. Learning is experiential in these areas.

HSC Course content:

Australian Drama and Theatre and Studies in Drama and Theatre involves the theoretical study through practical exploration of themes, issues, styles and movements of traditions of theatre exploring relevant acting techniques, performance styles and spaces.
The Group Performance of between 3 and 6 students, involves creating a piece of original theatre (8 to 12 minutes duration). It provides opportunity for each student to demonstrate his or her performance skills.

Individual Project:

For students to demonstrate their expertise in a particular area, they choose one project from Critical Analysis or Design or Performance or Script-writing or Video Drama.