Hobart Current Education Program

Students from around Tasmania have been busy working throughout the COVID-19 pandemic on an innovative online art education program alongside artists from an upcoming Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) exhibition.

Hobart Current: Liberty will be presented at TMAG in March 2021, as part of a long-term partnership between TMAG and the City of Hobart, and some of the artists involved in the exhibition have engaged with high school students in a series of online creative exchanges.

Students at Mount Carmel College, Bayview Secondary College, Huonville High School, Mackillop College and Lilydale District School have taken part in the program, which aims to make contemporary artists and their processes accessible and available to students.

The artists involved have generously invited students to come along for the journey, as they develop their artworks for Hobart Current: Liberty at TMAG.

“As the artists have been developing their work, they've also been working with the students through a series of creative exchanges,” Hobart Current Education Coordinator Claire Pendrigh Elliott said.

“They’ve invited the students to look into their creative practice and processes to find out more about what being an artist is all about.

“The students have been researching and creating their own projects, and these connect with the same themes and ideas that their artist is exploring.”

Claire says the project has been a great opportunity for students to connect with practicing artists in Tasmania.

“Students have told me that this program has been really different to what they normally do in school,” Claire said.

“From the outset, the program was designed to take place online, facilitated through an online portal, so it was able to continue, despite COVID-19.

“There have been challenges — we've had to extend the timeline to accommodate for students working at home, and all this uncertainty has been very stressful for many young people, [but] we've tried to keep the program responsive and adaptable.”

Visitors will be able to see what the students have created as part of the education program when Hobart Current: Liberty opens at TMAG in March 2021.

To find out more about Hobart Current, and the artists involved, visit the website: www.hobartcurrent.com

Image details: (top) Book installation artwork created by Mount Carmel College students.
(below) Hobart Current artist Jacob Leary talking to students at Mount Carmel College.