St Andrew's Cathedral School - IBDP Visual Arts Exhibition

The SACS IBDP Visual Arts Exhibition showcases the culmination of nearly two years of studio practice and theoretical investigations by students who have undertaken the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme course in Visual Arts at St Andrew’s Cathedral School from 2023 – 2024.

The studio work going on display is grounded in the aims of the IBDP Visual Arts Programme where students are encouraged to challenge their own creative and cultural expectations and boundaries. Students devise their work by developing analytical skills in problem-solving and divergent thinking whilst working towards technical proficiency and confidence as art-makers.

The work exhibited seeks to answer the challenge to actively explore the visual arts within and across a variety of local, regional, national and international and intercultural contexts. Through inquiry, investigation, reflection and creative application, the students have developed an appreciation for the expressive and aesthetic diversity in the world around them becoming critically informed makers and consumers of visual culture. The outcomes of this process will be on exhibition for the audience to both be challenged and to enjoy.

GAFFA may glean benefit from introducing these students into the art-world by being one of the first galleries in the CBD who are playing an active role in advocating emerging artists from the context of schools. In connecting with student networks, their parents, families and thus the broader community that St Andrew’s Cathedral School offers, GAFFA can gain unique access to future patrons who have a vested interest and commitment to the arts. The gallery will feature in the various media releases connected to this exhibition and will be mentioned as part of the annual report for Visual Arts in the school’s yearbook.

Students have enjoyed the unique opportunity to be involved in the planning of their own exhibition directly with a real-world gallery space that will allow their work to be shared with the general public. This meets a specific need in the course for students to understand and explore the issues and theories surrounding notions of display, curatorial practice and to understand how the various agencies of the art world function.