Bringing art to the students
Published on 06 September 2021
Bringing art to the students
When Rockhampton Art Gallery closed to the public – first due to COVID and then in preparation for the move to Rockhampton Museum of Art – school students were unable to visit the building and its nationally significant collection of artworks.
That’s when it was decided that if the students couldn’t come to the Gallery, then the gallery would come to the students, in the form of specially-created educational resource kits.
The self-managed kits, which centre around the gallery’s nationally significant art collection, comprise activities focused on contemporary Australian painters such as Arthur Boyd, Russell Drysdale and Margaret Olley. The kits are designed to be taught by teachers who may not have extensive art knowledge, with students ranging from early years to high school.
So far there have been more than 80 requests for kits from schools throughout the region, including St Peter’s Catholic Primary School in Allenstown.
Various classes at St Peter’s have been using the resource kits during literacy rotations. Miss Choice, Year 4 teacher, said, “The pictures are an excellent resource for generating good conversation and new ideas to help the students with their creative writing. They are images the students don’t see everyday and this helps them think more laterally and expand their literacy skills.”
Rockhampton Regional Council Communities and Heritage portfolio spokesperson Cr Drew Wickerson said that the gallery had been receiving several school group visits each week in the lead up to its closure in March last year.
“It makes sense to keep up the momentum of these school visits and interest in the gallery even when the building is closed,” he said
“These kits align with the curriculum so they contribute educational outcomes and also provide opportunities for creative expression for the students,” Cr Wickerson said.
“The kits will be an ongoing part of Rockhampton Museum of Art’s educational commitment,” he said.
Rockhampton Museum of Art is funded by the Australian Government through the Building Better Regions Fund; the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland and the Building our Regions program; and Rockhampton Regional Council.
PICTURED: Students from St Peter's Catholic Primary School with the kits.
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