Local schools celebrate water win!

The Year 6s at West Busselton Primary School and Year 11 Visual Arts students from Busselton Senior High School have taken out the Busselton Water National Water Week ‘Canvas your Culture’ art competition, each winning $500 each for their schools.

Busselton Senior High School took out the high school category with 317 votes, 126 ahead of second place Georgiana Molloy Anglican School while West Busselton Primary School won the primary school category with 282 votes, 82 ahead of second place Vasse Primary School.

The competition, and subsequent exhibition at Railway House (Busselton Visitor Centre), was held to mark 2017 National Water Week. Class groups from seven primary and five high schools created artworks inspired by this year’s theme ‘Water – the Heart of our Culture’.

Busselton Water Chair Helen Shervington congratulated both schools on their win and for producing incredible artworks with a canvas and an art supplies voucher supplied by Busselton Water.

“It was amazing to see the phenomenal art produced by all the different year groups. I’m so pleased to see the different way each school interpreted the National Water Week theme,” Mrs Shervington said.

“The theme this year encouraged young people to explore how water shapes our everyday lives through recreational activities, the natural world and our community values and you can really see how they’ve applied this to the art.”

The Busselton Senior High School artwork, ‘Liquid Life…We are Water’, was designed and painted by Year 11 ATAR Visual Arts students Portia Mann, Ronan Bleach, April Miller and Savinna Paterson.

BSHS Head of Art Cam Snow said their work was inspired by how we can’t live without fresh water yet just three percent of Earth’s water is fresh and only one percent is readily available for human use.

“The students realised we all have a responsibility to value, protect and create structured future plans to not only conserve freshwater, but to increase its availability to an ever growing global community. The artwork image simply depicts a woman immersed in the freshwater she requires every day of her life,” Cam said.

West Busselton Year 6 teacher Leah Reitinger said their entry was inspired by the beach and the hours students spend enjoying what it has to offer – swimming, fishing, watching the sunset and family time.

“This year we’ve focused much of our learning in Science and Humanities around the impact humans can have on our waterways. Over the term, students have gained a real appreciation for the importance of looking after our ocean and what they can do as an individual to take care of such a valuable resource,” Leah said.

The winner of the art competition was decided by popular vote via Busselton Water’s Facebook page. The public can still view the artworks online at www.facebook.com/BusseltonWater or by visiting the exhibition at Railway House before 20 October

‘Canvas your Culture’ art exhibition

WHAT: Busselton Water ‘Canvas your Culture’ school art exhibition
WHERE: Railway House (Busselton Visitor Centre), corner Foreshore Parade and Jetty Way
FROM: Friday 25 September to Friday 20 October
TIME: 9am to 5pm, seven days a week

About National Water Week

National Water Week encourages individuals, communities and organisations around Australia to think about our pressing water issues, particularly the pressures of a growing population and drying climate.

It is also a time to celebrate the innovations and achievements in water management that underpin Australia’s sustainability and economic prosperity and to encourage innovative thinking about water sourcing solutions.