Wellington school wins global art prize

<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">Samuel Marsden Collegiate School’s artwork &OpenCurlyQuote;Matariki – M&amacr;ori New Year’ has won the prestigious 2017 Saatchi Gallery &lpar;London&rpar; Art Prize for Schools&comma; one of the most significant student art awards globally&period;<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">The Wellington school’s creation&comma; paint-pen drawings on see through panels of vinyl&comma; celebrates Matariki with Manu Aute or God kite forms giving tribute to past ancestors as they meet with them in the heavens&period; It was chosen from more than 24&comma;000 entries across 66 countries&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">The collaborative work was created by year six to eight pupils in the school’s specialist arts programme led by renowned Kiwi artist Michel Tuffery&period; He says the process of making the work collaboratively is a way of celebrating Matariki&colon; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Working together enhanced the awareness of the &OpenCurlyQuote;many’&comma; gave us the chance to talk&comma; laugh&comma; interact and learn as we created together&period; The process is as important as the finished work&period; The students came away feeling empowered&period; They left with &lpar;artistic&rpar; skills&comma; knowledge about Matariki&comma; how to work together and an overall feeling of well-being&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; justify&semi;">The school’s head of visual arts&comma; Kaz Bartsch&comma; says the school brings in a working artist each year to extend and inspire students&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;This artwork is a true credit to all students involved&comma; Michel Tuffery&comma; and John Denton&comma; our previous head of visual arts who brought many exciting initiatives to the school&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;