Our Year 8 PLHS Aboriginal Art Program class invited Year 7 students to attend a workshop-style transition session earlier today – the aim was to share and discuss their experiences and the work that they have produced this year. Nineteen Aboriginal Year 7 students from Lincoln Gardens, Poonindie, Port Lincoln and Kirton Point Primary Schools accepted the invitation to commence a collaborative painting that they can complete when they return to PLHS in 2019.
Port Lincoln High School offers a unique Aboriginal Art Program to students who are interested in the Visual Arts. Participating students develop their own artist profiles and portfolios. The artworks they produce explore connections with culture, identity, family and place, and now form collections in most states of Australia, plus Japan, China, Belgium, Africa and New Zealand.
The program celebrates local culture and has been successful in fostering positive relationships with young Aboriginal people as mentors and positive role models. Exhibitions of student artworks aim to build an awareness of Aboriginal culture through the depiction of artist’s personal experiences and knowledge.
Engagement, re-engagement and empowerment are key factors in the continuation of the program. Messages including healthy lifestyles, protective behaviours, genealogy, local environment and enterprise are embedded into the sessions. The program aims to be sustainable.
~ Ms Wanda Jarvis (PLHS Aboriginal Art Program teacher)
