Textiles ECA

Working just under an hour each week, middle school students spent the Autumn 2019 semester making Matisse-inspired collages and applying textile fundamentals to design and produce textile cushions. Like Matisse, they used scissors rather than a paintbrush to construct abstract and colourful decorative images with cut paper. Using their collages as full-scale references, they began cutting felt for their cushions, adhered the pieces using Bondaweb, learned how to sew buttons, and stitched the panels of their cushions together with a running stitch.

Art ECA

For Art ECA during the Autumn 2018 semester, middle school students looked at the work of Yinka Shonibare, who uses wax print heavily in his work, drawing on their popularity as “authentically African” fabrics. Each middle school student worked on a disc, painting designs seen in waxprint fabrics, then embellished with odds and ends such as corks, bottle tops, felt tip marker caps, and popsicle sticks. They then worked together painting the background to mobilise their discs in a kaleidoscopic arrangement of lines, shapes and patterns, titled Roman Candles.

A weekly after-school ceramics club was held for earthenware enthusiasts Year 7 and up. It was open and accessible to students at every skill level, including those who had never worked with ceramics before.

The club provided students with an opportunity to learn, practice, and perfect their skills in hand-building, sculpture, decoration, and firing. Open-ended project briefs were set and more experienced students were encouraged to pursue their own projects.