The gallery’s youth program, Emergence, has kicked off with a session presented by program coordinator Josh Thomason to more than 400 students at Collie Senior High School last month.
The presentation aimed to allow students the opportunity to have an input into the direction the Emergence project will take.
The topics covered DIY filmmaking, mindfulness techniques, live music and time for the students to fill in survey forms.
Feedback from the students was the live music trumped the lot, with a very close second to the filmmaking.
A survey tracked the mood of the students from their arrival to after the session. The results where astoundingly positive, with many reporting they arrived bored and angry and left inspired and curious.
These results reinforce the idea that personal change can happen, if presented with the right mix of topics in a meaningful and relevant way. The essence of the Emergence project.
One of the challenges identified through this process was that while more than 80 Collie students that expressed interest in being involved with the project, many were too busy juggling work, after-school classes, homework and sporting commitments.
Joshua will now be based at the school as an artist in residence, conducting daily workshops and interacting with students on a much more personal level, bringing in specialists such as local drone pilot Tyron Massara from Sky Viz Aerial Photography and Bridgetown-based african drummer Sean Mahoney from Djembemoves for workshops.
To find out more about Emergence, contact program coordinator Joshua Thomason on 0458 720 104, or head to the Facebook page at Emergence Collie.
Emergence is sponsored by nib Foundation
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