Teacher professional development

All schools that have participated in the ARTside-In! program are invited to nominate one visual arts teacher each year to attend the Gallery’s ongoing teacher professional development programs at no cost. Teachers will be able to attend the following programs each year:

• Focus fest
• ARTEXPRESS teachers day
• One teachers preview for a major exhibition

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."