Reddford House Northcliff hosted their seventh annual art exhibition under the theme of ocean conservation.
Toni Powell-Venter, the school’s visual arts teacher and faculty head of the arts department, explained the art featured on the night were from learners of the school ranging from their nest classes, which has children as young as three months old, right up to their matrics.
The theme was meant to challenge each child to create an art work based on a recycled item and through this the school took the opportunity to educate the learners on how to recycle all the various materials found.
The opportunity to help foster a love of art within the school’s youngest members was one not wasted on Powell-Venter. When asked why it was important for them to feature art from their nest class, she described how often children who come to the school aged seven and above, have a demoralised approach to the arts as they might have been told they cannot do art. “We focus on making a leaner know that the more they practise art, the better they become. It was just as important to feature the art done by our matrics so the younger ones have something to aspire towards.”
Powell -Venter shared that along with individual pieces of work, there were also collaborative pieces down per class. These artworks were auctioned off to the attendees and brought in an awesome amount of money towards the school.
Among the many fun elements the night had, was the opportunity to take home some personalised items. Should a guest have found a piece of art appealing, all they had to do was take a picture of it and soon they have that art piece printed on a wine bottle or recycled tote bag. “This is the fifth year we are doing wine bottles and it is a hit with the parents as they like to buy cases for families as Christmas gifts.”
The visual arts teacher was really very proud of all the artists at the school. She shared they always work hard in the lead-up to the exhibition, especially the senior artists who put in the work even in the middle of art exams that take hours to complete.
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