Visual arts
At Norfolk Island Central School, students are taught to understand the complexity and beauty of Art as a distinct language within the human spirit. They experience enjoyment and develop valid artistic practice by making and appreciating art through a range of increasingly rich experiences.
Visual Arts is a mandatory subject in Years 7-8 during which students are encouraged to break from the concrete phase of visual development into the many spheres of representation. Students may choose to study elective Visual Arts or Elective Visual Design in Years 9-10 where they will encounter notions of the Postmodern as practice; Installation, Film and Digital Media, as well as exploring the more traditional forms and perspectives.
The Preliminary Visual Arts course in Year 11 and Higher School Certificate Visual Arts in Year 12 offer the opportunity for students to fully engage in their own personal material and conceptual practice.
Students are taught technical skills in a broad range of 2 and 3 and 4 dimensional media including drawing, design, painting, printmaking, digital media, photography, ceramics and sculpture and are then encouraged to develop this expertise to a high degree of refinement.
Because art making can be inspired by understanding the practice of other artists from different times and places, historical and critical study of interesting and relevant artworks is a feature of the Visual Arts courses in all years. Students participate in excursions to the extraordinary locations that only Norfolk can offer.
Students are able through site and gallery studies to engage with original works of art which stimulate the analysis and creation of expressive artworks.
Structured class activities which foster student confidence are followed by more self directed learning when students can pursue their own interests in both art making and art analysis. All the Visual Arts courses develop students' visual literacy, creative problem solving, lateral thinking and personal expression.
Norfolk Island has many imaginative and talented visual arts students. The Higher School Certificate Examination is characterised by outstanding achievement by our Creative Arts students.