Despite the frosty weather this year’s Arts Camp was another roaring success. Students were taken into Melbourne over two jam packed days to experience Arts based activities in the CBD in the areas of Art, Design, Drama and Music. The aim of this camp is to teach students the broader application of their Arts subjects in the Arts Industry within Melbourne. The Arts offer a diverse range of employment opportunities for creative people and encouragingly, the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects a growth rate of 11 percent for arts-related occupations over the next seven years.
Venues visited on our fabulous camp included the Arts Centre, National Gallery of Victoria, Australian Centre for Contemporary Arts, VCA Music department, Billy Blue Design Studio and Melbourne Theatre Company among others. Students participated in specialised workshops designed to cater to their subject preferences and the camp highlight was seeing the stage production, ‘Aladdin’. Students were able to see the influence of design studies in the billboards, posters and merchandise, the influence of art studies in the sets, costumes and make up, the influence of music studies in the live orchestra in the pit and the influence of drama studies in the actual performances and stage management. It was an excellent opportunity to show our students how the Arts collaborate to create exciting cultural experiences.
Our students were a pleasure to be with over the two days and as a teacher it was very rewarding to see how engaged they were with each experience and how amazed they were watching Aladdin. We were incredibly proud of the mature way they represented Epping Secondary College. Also a big thank you to our amazing Art teachers who volunteered time organising, fundraising and attending this camp. It was a great experience for all.
Kerry Kaskamanidis
Creative Arts Coordinator