Senior Years Arts & Design Excursion to Heide Museum of Modern Art
On Tuesday 7 February 66 art and design students visited the Heide Museum of Modern Art to view the Barbara Hepworth exhibition and visit gallery interior and exterior spaces as part of their VCE course work. It was a wonderful opportunity for students to engage with the staff at Heide to discuss the Hepworth exhibition and to learn about the history of Heide’s architecture.
Our Visual Arts Captains share their reflections:
Our excursion to the Heidi Gallery on Tuesday 7 February was both fascinating and inspirational. The story of Barbara Hepworth’s life, told passionately by the volunteers who had given their time for us, was an example to all the would-be artists present. The Gallery’s modernist architecture, beautifully curated exhibitions and symbiosis with the lush gardens that enclose it, created an atmosphere where one can feel the definitive weight of Australia’s unique artistic history. Heidi’s portrayal of the art of Barbara Hepworth infused me with so many possibilities and ideas, and I feel that this sentiment was also felt within the vast majority of my peers, some of whom could barely contain their good-natured curiosity in the structural integrity of the exhibition. In summary, the excursion to the Heidi was enlightening, it is more than a shame that we did not get longer to explore its intricacies and I would like to thank both the Heidi gallery and its volunteers for their gracious hospitality. Alongside the gallant efforts of our teachers to enrich our learning by granting us this experience.
Harry Adamson
During our VCD experience, we all heard, saw, and learnt about the ‘Heide Museum of Modern Art’, which we had only ever learnt about on the internet and through photos, but we never actually got the full experience of what it provided. On 7 February 2023, collectively, the Art and VCD students all got to visit this astounding museum in person and were finally able to see all the amazing works that Barbara Hepworth had created and presented in her exhibition called ‘In equilibrium’.
One of my favourite artworks that I came across at the museum was her “Sculpture with colour and strings” in 1939/1961, done in bronze. It represented the modernistic approach that she was famous for in the 20th century, as well as there being great intrigue around the artwork, myself believing that it was a potentially disguised tribute to her deceased son. The sculpture was inspired by the time that her son was undergoing surgery when she sat in the room and sketched details about the operation. This was obvious in creating the stitches lining the side of the sculpture. “Sculpture with colour and strings”, inspired me to see that what you see around you in everyday life, can create amazing symbols to add and depict in various ways in artworks.
Seeing Hepworth’s artworks in person was an experience I will truly never forget. The atmosphere and environment in which it was portrayed, seen by our intelligent guides to explain the depth in which these artworks impacted her life, has been imbedded into my brain for not only artworks I may make but lessons I may learn in the future.
Caitlyn Shaw
