The PLC Sydney Bundanon Art Camp immersion program has been a highlight for Year 11 artists since the Glen Murcutt designed Arthur & Yvonne Boyd Education Centre, on the Shoalhaven River, opened in 2000.
Amelia Rand with former Head of Visual Arts and current Artist-in-Residence, Mr Keith Fyfe.
One of the most rewarding experiences for the girls is the opportunity to spend time engaged in their artmaking alongside an Artist-in-Residence who shares their knowledge and demonstrates their skills during the camp and for four weeks in The Croydon art studios. Our accompanying artist, Mr Keith Fyfe, our much loved former Head of Visual Arts turned professional artist, was a welcome, familiar and engaging member of the program in 2022.
This year we were also treated with encountering the newly completed facility ‘The Bridge’, soon to be award winning design by Kerstin Thompson Architects, with its cutting edge detailing and commanding structure that spans across the valley akin to a train or aqueduct-like form. This imposing and significant landmark on the Australian landscape site became the essential subject for student canvas works commenced en plein air during the camp.
In addition, the girls experimented with a wide range of styles and techniques encouraged by Keith and demonstrated through experimental mark-making and monoprinting techniques produced with brushes and artmaking tools created by hand with recycled scraps and natural forms collected from the surrounding environment. Through trial and error, success and failure, the girls were led to find their own individuality as artists, and build confidence within their practice in anticipation of their HSC year ahead.
Emylene Kuoch painting en plein air next to The Bridge.
In addition, the girls experimented with a wide range of styles and techniques encouraged by Keith and demonstrated through experimental mark-making and monoprinting techniques produced with brushes and artmaking tools created by hand with recycled scraps and natural forms collected from the surrounding environment. Through trial and error, success and failure, the girls were led to find their own individuality as artists, and build confidence within their practice in anticipation of their HSC year ahead.
It was wonderful for The Croydon and PLC Sydney staff to welcome Keith’s return as an inspiring Artist-in-Residence this year. His history as an educator and his unique practice as a landscape artist has seen him as a finalist in many prestigious exhibitions, including the Wynne Prize, being an invaluable resource for us all.
The camp and the resulting Bundanon Dreaming exhibition in the Adelaide Perry Gallery during May, was yet again a successful collaboration and we congratulate all of our Year 11 artists on the outstanding bodies of work they produced during this program.
Ms Jo Knight, Head of Visual Arts