By Callum Ludwig
The talented artists and technicians of Upper Yarra Secondary College were celebrated on Wednesday 20 November in the school’s annual Tech and Art Exhibition.
The exhibition featured the works of students in VCE Art, Product Design & Tech, Media, Drama and Food Studies as well as in Years 7-10 Art, 3D Art, VCD, Food Studies and Photography.
UYSC Visual Arts Teacher Grace Bariola organised the exhibition and said the local community is welcome to visit the annual exhibition each year, so please join them at the end of 2025 to see what the students of UYSC have created.
“Students benefit from exhibiting their artworks as they are given the opportunity to display their hard work and dedication to their art and tech class from throughout the year,” she said.
“It also provides them with the chance to express their feelings and thoughts that went into their artworks, students have known about the exhibition, therefore it gave many of them a goal to work towards in order to submit their work in time to be displayed and celebrated.”
“So much hard work and dedication goes into these pieces [particularly] from the senior students, so it is a privilege to celebrate them at the end of the year and share their work with families and the wider community.”
The artworks on display were; Year 7 Art self-portraits and landscape collages; Year 8 3D Art ceramic pinch pots and ocarinas; Year 8 Visual Communication and Design mixed media playground sculptures; Year 9 and 10 Art final artworks; Year 9 and 10 3D Art pinch, slab and coil pots, ceramic busts and final 3D artworks; Year 9 and 10 Photography, demonstrating techniques in depth of field, portraiture, lighting, and responding to a theme; Year 9 and 10 Food Studies photographs of final dishes; VCE Art Making and Exhibiting Unit 2 and 4 final artworks and accompanying folios; VCE Art Creative Practice Unit 4 final artworks; VCE Product Design and Technologies Year 11 storage units and outdoor games, Year 12 innovative products; Media Unit 2 and 4 videos available to watch, alongside their accompanying folios and other pre-production materials, such as storyboards; VCE Drama recordings of solo performances were played, featuring students from Unit 2 and 4 Drama; the 2024 school production of Puffs was also being played with seating space available to enjoy.
The creative can start early at UYSC, and Ms Bariola said junior and middle school art classes build their knowledge and skills in the design process including research, planning, experimentation, development of a final and then reflection which prepares them to follow pathways into VCE art and technology subjects.
“Year 12 Media studies produce a media product of their choice, empowering students with the agency to make their own decisions in terms of the creative direction of their production allows them to showcase their strengths, skills and culture. When Media students graduate school, they are equipped with a portfolio of their work and their own media production which can immediately be used to demonstrate their ability to work in a team scenario and organise a media production,” she said.
“Students in the Let’s Bake electives have developed their skills in design and presentation of the foods they have made. Decoration techniques including piping icing and chocolate, making pastry and a range of yeast goods and working as a team saw them display enthusiasm and creativity,”
“The Cafe Cuisine elective students experienced working in the college hospitality kitchen and using a wider range of equipment to produce foods that are commonly found on a cafe menu. Their skills and expertise developed over the semester to demonstrate competence in working in a commercial kitchen setting. Working with food offers opportunities for students to produce individual creative products.”
There was also a special display of ‘My Body’s Story – Empowering Futures’ which was created as part of a program run for mainly Year 9 girls presented by Body of Wellbeing Ltd. Local artists Sioux Dollman and Monika Poray asked the girls who participated to focus on a part of their body they wished to celebrate or thank, or a part they would like to send more love and acceptance to and they put together a body of work celebrating this theme during a Creative Mentor Day on Wednesday 13 November.
Ms Bariola continued giving insight as to what senior students learnt and developed in their classes throughout the year.
Year 11 product design and technologies projects were based around solving an individual storage problem for themselves for unit 1 as well as designing an outdoor game for UYSC students. Year 12 projects were the result of research into current markets to identify a need or opportunity to design and produce a unique and innovative product,” she said.
“During the year, VCE Art Making and Exhibiting students learn about ways to display artworks in exhibition spaces. To further develop their knowledge, they also complete a critique presentation about the display of their artwork, the ability to display their finals in our annual exhibition consolidates this knowledge and understanding of the display of artwork.”
