Bondi has been brought to Batlow.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
In a normal year, the students at Batlow Technology School and neighbouring All Saints School in Tumbarumba would be more than 400 km away from the annual Sculptures by the Sea showcase.
But, when it was cancelled due to COVID-19 gathering restrictions the exhibition team took the show on the road.
"Usually there would be 110 sculptures from all over the world put up in Bondi during October and November, but that's been postponed," said Meghan Rauch, school education program manager for Sculptures by the Sea.
In other news:
Following the trauma of this year's black summer bushfires, and knowing how much students have missed out on this year due to the uncertainties of the pandemic, Ms Rauch joined artist Katie Stewart on the first Sculptors to your School road trip.
"We wanted to especially bring it to the kids who don't have many opportunities to get to the beach to see it," Ms Stewart said.
Across the state by the end of the school year, the team will have travelled to up to 20 schools, including the two in the Snowy Valleys.
"We've managed to reach out to schools that we may never have done before [if COVID-19 didn't happen]," Ms Stewart said.
"They're [the students] are thrilled to learn about conceptual art, they ask great questions, [and] their minds open a little that these things are even possible."
Herself a touring artist, Ms Stewart's fascination with the creative industries began when she was a child walking among the 2km of sculptures lining the sea at Bondi.
"I went to Sculptures by the Sea when I was in year 2 and I wanted to be an artist from then," she said.
"I wanted to be in Sculptures by the Sea, that became my goal."
That childhood dream was realised in 2019 when Ms Stewart's work, Split Imprint was first exhibited in the event.
Now, she is hoping to inspire the next generation of conceptual sculptures to make their mark on the nation's art scene.
"Art can be anything, imagination doesn't have to be locked to a screen," she said.
"[In this program] we take what we've made and put it outside in a mini-exhibition, then we talk about it like the students are the artists in the Sculptures by the Sea."