Archive for September, 2009

While those who couldn’t attend watched on YouTube, more than 300 school students and art-lovers from across the State gathered in Armidale last Friday evening for the award ceremony of the fifth annual University of New England School Acquisitive Art Prize (UNESAP).

The Art Prize is an educational outreach initiative of UNE’s Faculty of The Professions, and engages with schools in regional and remote areas to encourage and nurture young artists. This year, the University received more than 600 entries. The award ceremony took place at the New England Regional Art Museum (NERAM), and accompanied the opening of an exhibition of the finalists’ works titled “Let’s Hang It!”. The prize-winning entries are incorporated permanently into the UNE Art Collection.

UNE’s Vice-Chancellor and CEO, Professor Alan Pettigrew, spoke at the exhibition’s opening about the “evident talent of young people” living in regional and rural Australia, and praised the 600 young contributors for the “absolute quality and true ingenuity” of their works. He spoke of the importance of nurturing the talents of young people - particularly in rural and regional areas - and thanked all University staff for their efforts in that regard.

Professor Pettigrew also praised Dr Frances Alter, the founder of the exhibition, for the project’s continued success.

This year’s Art Prize winners were selected by a panel of experts led by the guest judge - local artist Kerry Gulliver. “This was my first experience of judging the UNE school acquisitive art prize,” Ms Gulliver said, “and I was very honoured to be asked. Many wonderful works were submitted, and of course it was very hard to choose eight winners in the end.”

Mrs Ann Pettigrew presented Certificates of Distinction to the finalists, and cheques to each of the eight prize winners, including Duval High School Year 12 student Anne De La Motte for her photo from the Series Journey, and NEGS Year 9 student Jessica Serov for her painting titled “Introspection”.

The Chancellor of UNE, Dr Richard Torbay, addressing the crowd, commended the young artists, and reemphasised the importance of nurturing the talents and skills of young people in rural and regional areas.

“The people in the community responsible for young people - including teachers and families - play a critical role in promoting the talents of young rural people and the future of our society,” Dr Torbay said. “This exhibition is important because it provides young people with the opportunity to showcase their artistic talents and creativity on a larger scale, reaching beyond their immediate homes, schools, and local communities.

“That we have seen an extension in the geographic reach of all the schools who submitted art entries - from the northern fringes of Sydney to the border of Queensland, and from Newcastle to Moree - is demonstrative of the project’s success. This is great work.”

Dr Alter thanked the organising team at UNE, including Dr Terrence Hays, Michelle Arens, Sue Johns, and Dr Lynn Everett. She praised NERAM for “getting the exhibition hung so beautifully”, and expressed her gratitude on behalf of UNE to university art supplier S&S Creativity Unlimited for their generous sponsorship and financial support.

In particular, Dr Alter thanked the Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of the Faculty of The Professions, Professor Victor Minichiello, for “assisting enormously in getting this event into the public spotlight,” suggesting the competition was reliant on the “support of the Dean’s initiative fund”.

“I think the growth in outreach and art entries every year, as well as the increasing quality of works submitted, testifies to the enormous success of the UNE School Art Prize,” Dr Alter said.

UNE continues to use technology to bring education to the community. In the spirit of educational outreach, for those who did not attend, this event can be viewed online on YouTube at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WozyPsuHes.

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here, showing Elanor Beck with her prize-winning painting, expands to show Elanor with her father Rowan Webb and the Chancellor, Dr Richard Torbay.

Kerry Gulliver’s comments on the winning entries are below.

Section 1

First: “Flowers”, by Matisse Morrissey (KG at Gillwinga Public)

“I loved the freshness and spontaneity of this work. The lines are executed with vigour, and the colours breathe and glow with a life of their own, capturing that wonderful sense of elation one feels when looking at fresh flowers. The work shows that lack of self-consciousness small children have when creating art, acting with pure instinct and passion.”

Second: “Walkabout”, by Daniel Clark (Yr 2 Woodford Dale Public)

“It shows wonderful rhythm and patterning, pulsating and buzzing with life energy. I particularly loved the chalice-like depiction of the trees, the branches cradling and almost throwing their leaves skyward.”

Section 2

First: “Still Life”, by Anthony Maccauley (Year 4 Woodford Dale)

“What really caught my eye was the use of complementary colours, a device that is under-utilised to a large extent in painting. It can create a great impact visually, as the colours react vibrantly when placed next to each other on the canvas. The darkness of the purple recedes into the background, while the brilliance of the yellow comes forward. The work has almost become abstract, as the forms have been broken down to fairly basic geometric shapes, which give it a rather charming naive quality.”

Second: “Mosaic face”, by Freya Weston (Yr6 Martins Gully Public)

“This work is strongly reminiscent of an early Roman mosaic, which I think was the intention - not only because of the mosaicing technique but also the demeanour of the subject. Instead of tiles, the artist has used torn paper to great effect, cleverly using photos of actual hair and skin.”

Section 3

First: “Introspection”, by Jessica Serov (Yr 9 NEGS)

“This reminds me of a Lin Onus work and was most likely influenced by this artist. Artists, at whatever stage of their career, can learn a great deal about technique by copying the artists they like. The floating leaves take on a more formal patterning effect as they move to the top of the work, which creates a lovely sense of perspective. The large water droplet on the leaf in the foreground draws the eye as it reflects fish and lotuses - creating a sense of intrigue as it is a bit ambiguous. The work also makes use of complementaries red and green, with the red going toward the more earthy tones, exaggerating the purity to the greens.”

Second: “T Pot Time”, by Elanor Beck (Yr 9 Duval)

“This is a whimsical and quirky piece. The colours stand out strongly on the black background. The viewer could spend some time discovering the many small, oddly placed cups and saucers while pondering the meanings behind the images, or the story it may be relating, as it has a strongly illustrative quality.”

Section 4

First: Photo from the series Journeys, by Anne De La Motte (Yr 12 Duval)

“I was really attracted to the subtle, pearlescent colours, very understated and beautiful. While the darkness of the model’s hair and features stand out, they don’t dominate the photographic image. There is a dream-like quality to the photograph and the model appears very distant, and largely insulated from the viewer.”

Second: “Dumaresq Dam”, by Jessica Hunt (Yr 11 Armidale High)

“This shows a very skilled use of textured brushwork. The modelling of the features through use of strong light and shade contrasts creates a striking image. The long shadows effectively draw the eye through to the sunlit shore in the background. This student shows lots of promise, and it would be interesting to see how they develop as a painter if they choose this path in life.”

This article was was written by UNE’s Marketing and Public Affairs and reproduced here with their permission.

Dr Maree Puxty (pictured) has been appointed Clinical Dean of the Tablelands Clinical School at the University of New England.

The Tablelands Clinical School is one of five clinical schools that are part of the Joint Medical Program (JMP) offered by UNE in partnership with the University of Newcastle, Hunter New England Health and Northern Sydney Central Coast Health.

Prof Victor Minichiello, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of the Faculty of The Professions at UNE, said the establishment of the Tablelands Clinical School and the appointment of its Clinical Dean was an important milestone in the development of UNE’s School of Rural Medicine.

“This program places medical students in a range of clinical rural environments to ensure that they have the competencies and high-level skills to be effective practitioners,” Prof Minichiello said. “For this reason the appointment of a Clinical Dean who understands clinical practice, and particularly rural medicine, is critical.”

The appointment is supported by Hunter New England Health who has made office space available in the Armidale Rural Referral Hospital to house this important position.

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alan Pettigrew, welcomed this appointment, adding Dr Maree Puxty will play a critical role in the further establishment of links with practitioners and the Area Health Services as the University and JMP implements its strategic plans for the Tableland Clinical School.

“UNE’s focus on the provision of rural-based courses is founded on the evidence that rural-trained graduates are more likely to take up careers in rural settings and is central to the University’s mission.”

“The appointment of Dr Maree Puxty will be of immeasurable benefit to medical students seeking professional placement in the region,” Prof Pettigrew said.

Prof John Fraser, Head of the School of Rural Medicine at UNE, said he was delighted about Dr Puxty’s appointment.

“The Clinical School model — in which Dr Puxty will play a crucial role — of developing a centre of excellence in clinical education and service to the community will be vital in increasing the recruitment and retention of medical professionals working in rural Australia,” Prof Fraser said.

Dr Maree Puxty was raised in Cessnock in the Hunter Valley and went to school in Cessnock and Maitland. She studied medicine at the University of Newcastle and worked as a clinician in Sydney and the United Kingdom. After a stint in the city, Dr Puxty and her husband (who is also a doctor) went to Moree as part of their GP training. They liked it so much they spent the next 10 years working as GPs in Moree, before moving to Armidale.

Dr Puxty said she was excited to be taking up her appointment at UNE’s School of Rural Medicine.

“The JMP is aiming to train high standard medical doctors equipped with a mix of rural, regional and metropolitan experience for the global community. The Tablelands Clinical School at the University of New England will be an important part of this process.

“This means making sure we produce the best doctors we can, who will hopefully want to practice medicine in rural areas because they realise country living is so good.”

On July 8-12, 2009, the SIFE (Students In Free Enterprise) team from the University of New England travelled to Sydney to compete at the National SIFE Competition, where they performed strongly, proceeding to the final, championship round.

The National competition and conference was facilitated by SIFE Australia and saw the arrival of more than 20 university teams from throughout the country, along with high profile executives from some of Australia’s top corporations.

The program involved career development seminars, individual topic presentations and main round presentations, where each university vied for the championship title and the opportunity compete at the SIFE International conference in Berlin, Germany.

The team from SIFE UNE presented a project they are working on with the Minimbah Aboriginal Corporation Preschool & Primary School in the HSBC Financial Literacy competition. Their performance was praised by both judges and peers for its “ethical responsibility and innovation”, according to Jo Vickery, business lecturer and SIFE organiser at UNE.

Another feature of the conference was the Top to Future Top’s seminar where individuals from SIFE teams were able to sit down with company executives from corporate heavyweights such as Woolworths and HSBC to discuss issues such as climate change and the global financial crisis.

In the Main Round of competition, SIFE UNE presented their Minimbah, Armidale Profile, Farming for the Future and Wool Expo projects. SIFE UNE received accolades from judges, SIFE officials and competing university teams, and progressed first to the Semi-Final round and later to the Championship Round, where they were considered in the top four SIFE teams in the nation.

“This achievement is a testament to the dedication and hard work of all involved in the SIFE UNE team,” Ms Vickery said.

(This article was written by UNE’s Marketing and Public Affairs and reproduced here with their permission.)