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Peter Wootten, Visual Arts Teacher
Dulwich High School of Visual Arts and Design
The program ARTside-in! provided a powerful impetus to the art education of our students. The day spent at the Art Gallery of NSW opened up students' eyes to a gamut of activities that comprise the workings of a major art institution. Students were engaged in activities that not only exposed them to an array of ideas and concepts as revealed in artworks exhibited on the Gallery walls, but also the huge amount of work that goes on beyond the Gallery walls in areas like conservation and registration.

In looking at artworks, students travelled through time as Jonathan Cooper opened their world to 19th-century Australian painting and then into 20th-century abstraction. Tony Bond continued the journey into the 21st century via the Sydney Biennale. In a tangential sidetrip, students travelled to another culture spanning many hundreds of years in the works displayed in the Asian gallery. Here, Ann MacArthur entertained students and exposed them to the ideas of Buddhism and its role in Asian art.

The NSW Visual Arts syllabus explores art through the Conceptual Framework and ARTside-in! was an amazing and unique opportunity for our students to actually experience all components of the Framework. Artwork-artist-world-audience all became a 'lived experience' for the students as they were engaged with art historians/curators, technicians, administrators, artist (Simryn Gill) and performer (the Yiribana Bat).

A highlight for many of the students was taking on the role of artist in the life- drawing class held in the Old Courts. This experience alone, in such historically rich surroundings and on public view, elevated their self-confidence and empowered their 'status' as artists.

ARTside-in! provided our students with an invaluable 'lived experience' of the art world, making their connection to it more accessible and real - beyond the classroom and textbooks. The excursion will long pay dividends to these students as they can relate much of what they study in Visual Arts to their experience on this day, providing greater depth to their art education and art-making activities. A delightful spin-off of the day is to see the Gallery as a place the students feel comfortable about visiting and their desire to return and explore other areas of the Gallery they didn't get to see on this particular visit.

We are indebted to Sherryl Ryan and Tristan Sharp for their professionalism in organising the day and guiding the students through this enriching program.

Nami, Year 11 student
Dulwich High School of Visual Arts and Design
This program has been really informative and has inspired me in art. All the speakers were great in talking about art and the Gallery and how the Gallery works. Special thanks for all the speakers and Tristan who guided the Year 11 group and a big thank you to Sherryl Ryan for organising this program for Dulwich High.

Akira, Year 11 student
Dulwich High School of Visual Arts and Design
It was great to have the day. It is going to be precious time for our future. I really enjoyed the life drawing because that was the first time and Jenny taught us to draw which was new for me and very interesting to draw body shape and shade muscles too. I only expected that someone would explain artwork but that wasn't all and we could see how the Art Gallery works which was very good to know because now I feel the Gallery closer than before. I would like to thank the people who made that day for us and I really had good experience. I hope they will keep this program in the future.

Year 11 and 12 students
Airds High School, Campbelltown
Throughout the day I learnt that if you stick at something you most probably can achieve it.

Tony Bond made a great speech. I learnt that everything he had to say did not only apply to art but life itself.

ARTside-in! is a great opportunity for students out there to get involved in and experience something you will never be able to do again.

I'm inspired to work within the Art Gallery, starting by taking opportunities around me, just like so many people here have.

Anthony Bond, Head Curator, International Art
Art Gallery of New South Wales
I have greatly enjoyed taking part in the Artside-In! program. My role has been to meet and greet students at the start of the day, make them feel comfortable and encourage their active participation, then I end the day with a quick debrief and an award of certificates.

This format has given me a great opportunity to see the transformation of the students through the day. They come in interested but reticent, they are not sure what is going to happen and who all these professionals are or what they do. Basically it is still the big, anonymous institution. By the end of the day they are tired but still very animated. They are much more open and forthcoming and their body language indicates a sense of familiarity, even belonging.

As a museum curator I am primarily concerned with the experience of a spectator when they meet an artwork. On a day-to-day basis my main focus is on the art itself and the artist, so it is actually a matter of discipline to keep bringing the attention back to this experiential moment for our general public. Part of this process is to try and educate our audiences to become more at ease and more confident to look, make their own judgements and also to feel free to ask. This program is taking a small but significant future audience and showing just how this can be achieved.