Moreton Bay students shine at Visual Art Awards

Published 6:00am 27 October 2023

Words by Nadia Chapman

Photo courtesy of Queensland Government | artwork by Amelia De-Vitry

37 Queensland senior students have been honoured at this year’s Creative Generation Excellence Awards in Visual Art.

Among them, three Moreton Bay students were excellence award recipients.

All excellence award winners will have their artwork displayed at the Central Exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane, from April 27 to August 25, 2024.

Lachlan Heap from Albany Creek State High School, Amelia De-Vitry from Genesis Christian College at Bray Park and Jules Sta Cruz from St Benedict’s College at Mango Hill received the excellence award for their exceptional artistic talent.

The winning works were selected from 459 submissions from 177 schools across the state.

This year, there were 37 excellence award winners, seven regional encouragement award recipients and 105 commendation award recipients.

Between the excellence awards and the commendation awards, there were eight Moreton Bay students in the mix; with Albany Creek State High School claiming three of the awards while St Benedict’s College claimed two.

The commendation award recipients include Margot Dawson and Heidi Swainson from Albany Creek State High School, Abbey Stevenson from Narangba Valley State High School, Isabelle Muller from Samford Valley Steiner School and Mimi Knight from St Benedict's College.

Education Minister Grace Grace says the quality of the students’ artworks were exceptional.

“The quality of works this year was a testament to the exceptional artistic abilities of Queensland’s secondary school students,” Ms Grace says.

“These awards celebrate not only the students themselves but also the importance of nurturing artistic talent in Queensland schools and celebrating our dedicated visual art teachers.

“The works also reveal some of the issues and topics young Queenslanders are thinking about including environmental and social problems, cultural identity, health and wellbeing, technology and relationships.

“The opportunity to have work shown in QAGOMA is once-in-a-lifetime for these aspiring young artists.”

Find a list of some of the award-winning students and their artwork here.