Photographic success!
Year10 Fast Track Photography student Tom Bevan and Year 9 Fast Track Photography student Ellie Soden have achieved success in the Norwich HEART Photography competition. Tom’s photographic composition was shortlisted in the Under 25 category whilst Ellie’s photograph was runner-up in the Under 25 section. Tom and Ellie’s photographs are currently part of the exhibition in the Forum, Norwich. Well done Tom and Ellie!
Tom Bevan
Ellis Soden
East Anglian Schools Portrait Prize 2011
Jessica Stratton, Year 13, was judged the winner of the third East Anglian Schools Portrait Prize. Jessica won the prize from 22 shortlisted students which also included 7 other students from Year 13 – Lucia Vettese, Rachel Stringer, Kirstie Orford, Megan Hodgson, Jasmine Hall, Charlotte Haistead and Jodhie McCourt.
Lucia Vettese and Charlotte Haistead’s portraits were highly recommended and will be on display at Anteros Arts Foundation at the King of Hearts in Norwich. Jessica will now be awarded with a framed portrait of herself, worth £800 painted by professional artist and Anteros Artist-in-Residence Will Teather. Jessica’s winning portrait and the work of all students will be on show in the Anteros Arts Foundation at the King of Hearts in Fye Bridge Street, Norwich until 30th October.
More Success in Art
The Art Department have been informed that two students - Mike McShane (Ex-Year 11) and Katherine Waldron (Ex - Year 13) have been successful in the SAA 2011 Young Artist of the Year Award. Both students have been selected in the final 62 entries to exhibit their work in a show entitled ''Its all about Art'' at the Business Design Centre in Islington, London.
The SAA report that 'the standard of entries has been extremely high this year and we are pleased to inform you and your school that Michael and Katherine have been judged as commended finalists.
Mike and Katherine's achievement is all the more amazing considering that over 6000 young artists entered the competition in October. Both paintings will now be exhibited to the public from the 21st to the 23rd July.
Congratulations and well done to Mike and Katherine.
Regional success for 2 students
On Wednesday 11th May the Art Department was informed of the amazing news that 2 Wymondham High students have been selected as winners for the Elements Extra competition organised by The Forum and Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts (UEA). The organisers would also like to feature work from 21 other Wymondham High students in the exhibition. The two winners are Zoe Pullinger, Year 10 and Ellie Sharp, Year 11.
Elements: Material Worlds is a significant open art exhibition for the Eastern Region to be held at The Forum in Norwich for two weeks in July 2011 (follow this link to see more: http://www.theforumnorwich.co.uk/events/elements-material-worlds/elements-extra)
The Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, UEA, was involved in choosing artwork to be exhibited and the 6 overall winners will spend a day with a local artist to develop their work. Students were asked to develop work which shows their response to landscapes and habitats, the environment, or the interaction between the material and man-made worlds.
The Forum would also like to feature the work of the following students:
YEAR 10: Carlie Thompson; Danielle Leaver; Emma Askham; Harrison Cheal-Ferris; Jessica Meades; Joseph Bush; Katie Marriot; Katie Willoughby; Lauren Pincher; Leah Howells; Sophie Collins. YEAR 11: Abigail Martins; Benjamin Annis; Bradley Watkins; Hayden Godley; Laura Booty; Laura Freedman. YEAR 12: David Webb; Jamie Knights; Jordan Holmes; Nicole Rance.
More details in the May/June newsletter
Visual Dialogues
The results of the prestigious four-month project entitled ‘Visual Dialogues’ at Norwich Castle Museum and Tate Britain are now on show at Norwich Castle. This is the 2nd year that Norwich Castle has taken part in the Visual Dialogues project. Visual Dialogues brings young people aged 16-18 and professional artists together to interpret art, and enables regional museums and art galleries to work in partnership with Tate Britain.
Five students from Wymondham High were selected, through a rigorous selection process, to take part. These were Rebecca Doonan (Year 13), Emma Traynor (Year 13), Lydia Silver (Year 13), Vicky Elliot (Year 12) and Jess Stratton (Year 12). Along with 5 other students from local high schools and colleges across Norfolk, our students worked together with artists to interpret contemporary and historical works from Norwich Castle's fine art collection.
The project re-imagines 'high art' works through 'low art' process, and introduces students to the creative processes used to produce visual narratives. Visual Dialogues is jointly funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Children, Schools and Families.
The Artist's Statement
Our early ideas for this project drew on the themes of the work of the Norwich School of Painters, at Norwich Castle Museum. Like them, we began to explore architecture within Norwich, particularly the combination of old with new, as used in the painting A View of Norwich (anon.) which shows a view of the city framed by a crumbling ruin. Ged Quinn also mixes elements of old and new, juxtaposing modern objects or buildings in classic style landscapes and we were keen to develop this ‘out of place’ idea in our own project.
Whilst visiting Norwich University College of the Arts library, we discovered the significance of the textile trade to the history of Norwich; it was widely known for its textile industry, particularly the Norwich Shawls and a highly sought after shade of dye named Norwich Red. Our work brings together our city of Norwich with its history of textiles in the form of a cupboard filled with old textile related objects sourced from around Norwich, a map of the city centre and two books. Each element is linked through the use of red thread, referring to the Norwich Red dye. The old street map is marked with a trail highlighting certain places connected with the historical industry. We have documented our journey on the trail through the first of the books, the other book containing references to the different textile industries and associated objects. Some of these objects are contained within the cupboard, some genuinely old, others aged and distressed, challenging the concept of value with age. The cupboard was inspired by the work of Joseph Cornell, the idea of containment as a city is contained within its walls. Through the placing of a modern clothes tag of foreign origin within the cupboard, we have returned to the ‘out of place’ idea, contrasting industries of the past and present. Through our work we explore just one historical aspect of our city, our collection of artefacts providing a glimpse into the past.
Rebecca Doonan, Emma Traynor and Vicky Elliot
East Anglian Schools Portrait Prize
Ex Year 11 student Mike McShane, was recently judged the joint runner up in the 2nd East Anglian Schools Portrait Prize held at the Anteros Art Centre in Bergh Apton. Mike's GCSE exam final piece which was a portrait of his neighbours (below) was highly commended along side entries from Norwich School, Greshams and Norwich High School for Girls.
Current Year 11 student Laura McDonald's portrait of her sister (below) was commended in a highly contested field. Professional artist and Anteros Artist-in-Residence Will Teather who has completed many prestigious commissions and previously featured in International art prizes, said that he believed 'Wymondham High School students displayed exceptional talent with their entries.' Mike's and Laura's portraits will go on show in the reception and in the display window near the school’s main entrance after the Christmas holiday.
This is yet another success for the Art students and Art Department of Wymondham High School in gaining regional recognition for their talents, as last year ex-Yr.13 student Katharine Waldron won the coveted £800 prize from 25 shortlisted students.
Summer 2010 Results
The Art Department are very pleased to publicise another record year for results.
At GCSE Fine Art results increased by 4% to 87% A*–C from the 2009 results of 82%; 44% of students achieved either an A* or A grade.(This included 7 A* and 10 A’s. These were again the best results since records began in 1988.
At AS level, Fine Art students achieved a 100% A–C pass rate and the Art Textiles students achieved an 88% A–C pass rate. The brand new Art Multimedia course achieved an impressive 90% A–C pass rate in its inaugural m* year. Out of 27 AS students, 93% obtained an A–C grade. These were the best results since records began in 1998.
At A2 level, Fine Art results increased by 20% to 100% A*–C from the 2009 results of 80%. In Art Textiles, students results increased by 38% to 88% A*–C. Out of a total of 21 A2 students, 95% obtained an A*–C grade. This included 9 A*, 5 A’s, 4 B’s, 2 C’s and 1 ). These were the best results since records began in 1998.
Edexcel Moderator reports for GCSE and A Level were both highly complementary, with a principal moderator noting ‘exemplary working practice and very accurate assessment.’
End of YearSHOWCASE #2 exhibition
The Art department recently held its second student artwork exhibition, this year at Wymondham Arts Centre. The exhibition was a huge success and proved to be very popular with the general public, with much praise in the Centre's visitor book. Over the summer break we will be uploading pictures from the exhibition.
Year 10 Environment and
Natural Form exhibition
The Art Department are delighted to report on the private view of the second Year 10 ‘Environment and Natural Form’ exhibition entitled ‘New Beginnings 2’. The exhibition was held in the north entrance foyer on Thursday 13th May. The quality of the students’ work this year displayed a real sense of maturity and originality. Students have said it was ‘really amazing to see our work displayed to the whole school’ and ‘hear the positive thoughts’ directed at their final pieces by younger and older students.
The exhibition presented in a gallery setting, consisted of oil and watercolour paintings, graphite drawings, dry-point etchings and a large range of students’ A3 sketchbooks. The evening involved an address by guest speaker Clarissa Upchurch who is a local and established artist based in Wymondham. Light refreshments were served to all guests and there was an opportunity for parents to meet staff, the students and view the excellent work based on the Environment and Natural form project and inspired by students’ trip to Wells-next-the-Sea and Holkham beach in October.
Katherine Waldron (pictured far left), Year 13, was judged the winner of the inaugural East Anglian Schools Portrait Prize. Katherine won the prize from 25 shortlisted students and was recently awarded a framed portrait of herself, worth £800 painted by professional artist and Anteros Artist-in-Residence Will Teather. See below for more details...
We won the photography competition
Last term, we reported on the 6 Year 9 Art Fast-Track Photography students who had their digital photographs shortlisted in The EDP and Pensthorpe NatureWatch photography competition. I am please to say that the six Year 9 Art Fast-Track Photography students have won the schools competition.
Reporter Sarah Brealey from the EDP said that ‘when we launched our NatureWatch campaign our aim was simple – to encourage more people to step outside and explore the wonderful natural world around them – especially youngsters... this is definitely what Wymondham High have done!’
Congratulations go to the following students which include: Leah Howells, Jake Miller, Zoe Read, Katrina Taylor, Emily Marshall-Nicholls and Lauren Pincher. Special mention also goes to Miss Bowman who was runner-up in the adult category. The award was presented at the Pensthorpe Nature Reserve, near Fakenham, on Thursday March 25th.
The Venice Carnival
Over half term Mrs Francis travelled to Venice to take part in the Venice Carnival considered one of the best events in the world. This is where all participants dress up in amazing costumes and ‘dive into the past to live the magic of an opulent time’. The Venice Carnival is the most internationally known festival celebrated in Venice, Italy, as well as being one of the oldest. This congregation of masked people, called Venice Carnival, began in the 15th century, but the tradition can be traced back to the beginning of the 14th Century. Using her experience as a costumier, Mrs Francis made some parts of the Venetian rat costumes that her group dressed up in. We are delighted to report that Mrs Francis and her group were successful and won the carnival! This is a huge accolade for Mrs Francis and I am sure all staff and students will join me in congratulating her!
Katherine Waldron, Year 13, was judged the winner of the inaugural East Anglian Schools Portrait Prize. Katherine won the prize from 25 shortlisted students (which also included 6 students from Year 13 - Ella Crouch, Melissa Gunn, Ellie Wall, Rachel Stringer and Adam Land) from schools across the Eastern region, whose work was on display at Anteros Arts Centre in Bergh Apton.
Katherine will now be awarded with a framed portrait of herself, worth £800 painted by professional artist and Anteros Artist-in-Residence Will Teather. Will Teather, who has completed many prestigious commissions and previously featured in International art prizes, said that he believed “Katherine has an exceptional talent, and hopes that this is the first step in a blossoming artistic career for her.” Katherine’s winning portrait of herself and her sister and the work of the 6 shortlisted students will be on show in the display cabinet opposite the reception and in the display window near the school’s main entrance.