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cheif-exec-intro-2012

More than ‘art for art's sake'

There is plenty of academic evidence to show why the arts are important in educating young minds, starting students on a life-long journey that will lead them to contribute to the world around them.

The research shows that arts education can enhance skills to support learning outcomes in all areas of the curriculum and help develop social competencies through self-expression and team building.

Or, as a Secretary of Education from the United States of America puts it: ‘the arts teach young people how to learn by giving them the first step: the desire to learn.’1 We have all encouraged infants with their first efforts to draw and then watched how they have rapidly improved, without knowing what academic, professional or business achievements might eventuate.

There is good news for student artists showing their work in this year’s exhibition. The Review of the Australia Council2, published last May, said:

Student artwork of the moon
Student artwork of a landscape with autumn trees

‘Australia now punches far above its weight on the international arts stage, it fosters great innovation and creativity and there are real and sustainable career paths in Australia for artists working at the highest level of achievement across all art forms.’

The Review is confident about the future, saying that it ‘is safe to assume that the sector will continue to evolve at an ever-increasing rate over the next four decades’.

Noting that the mining boom has insulated the economy and helped create the longest period of economic growth in Australia’s history, the Review said that all areas of industry and endeavour will require creativity and innovation to remain viable.

The arts sector contributes to Australia’s productivity by adding more than $30 billion towards Gross Domestic Product every year, exceeding that of the agriculture, forestry and fishing industries.

In this, our seventh annual exhibition, we are seeing 130 artworks from 12 Member Schools in metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria.

We congratulate the students and applaud their teachers and schools. We welcome the opportunity to encourage the young artists to achieve their aspirations. In the meantime, we can all enjoy and admire their creativity.

You can view the Annual Student Art Exhibition 2012 here. 

MG-Pic-2022

Michelle Green
Chief Executive
Independent Schools Victoria

1 Richard Riley, U.S. Secretary of Education, Champions of Change: the impact of the arts on learning. https://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/champions/pdfs/ChampsReport.pdf

2 https://culture.arts.gov.au/sites/default/files/australia-council-review/australia-council-review-report.pdf

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