Fiona Lowry in front of her portrait of Penelope Seidler, Archibald prize winner, 2014. Image: courtesy of the Art Gallery of NSW
Young artists considering formal studies at Sydney College of the Arts (SCA) need only look to the amazing cohort of working artists across the its large alumni network, who represent a definitive contribution to the Australian contemporary art landscape.
Zelda Stedman Lecturer in Visual Arts, Nicholas Tsoutas,said the rich community of artists at SCA also reflects the growing international reputation of the school for producing critical thinkers and creative practitioners. ‘SCA has a long history of both emphasising the strong relationship between critical thought and the importance of practice itself.
‘We’ve really specialised in the changing edges of where art, encouraging artists to think about where the changing shapes or edges of contemporary art, is located. We want our artists to be at the cutting edge or at the forefront of contemporary practice,’ he said.
Among SCA’s alumni are some of Australia’s most prominent artists and leading creative professionals including Ben Quilty, Bachelor of Visual Arts in (1994); Nike Savvas, Bachelor of Visual Arts (1989); Fiona Foley, Bachelor of Visual Arts (1986); Marc Newson, CBE, Bachelor of Visual Arts (1984); Mikala Dwyer, Bachelor of Visual Arts (1983) and Lindy Lee, Bachelor of Visual Arts (1982).
Dwyer, a current teacher at SCA, took out the Melbourne Art Fair (MAF) Commission with her sculpture The weight of shape, and is also curating the MCA season of Primavera.
’What a wonderful leading artist she is – not only sustaining a professional career that’s been recognised with wins and commissions like the MAF commission, but she is putting all that knowledge and energy into curating 2014 Primavera, and working with younger artists to give something back to the community..’
‘Dwyer and Lindy Lee are great success stories. They’ve gone on from being really fantastic students to extraordinary artists, to wonderful teachers at SCA,’ said Tsoutas.
‘They’re rethinking how art functions in our society, and challenging us to suggest that contemporary art is crucial to understanding our new Australian society, but also reminding us that SCA has been producing artists relevant to the contemporary art space.’
Tsoutas said that SCA Open Day on Saturday 30 August would give insights into artists at the very start of their careers, coming from the professionals who have come to grasp success in a very difficult, competitive, contemporary art arena. ‘We want to say: “hey SCA taught me how to be competitive and successful in my career”.
‘SCA, as a tertiary arts education provider, promotes best values and encourages artists to success at the highest possible standard.
‘Art is now visible in design, education, arts administration, publishing and screen arts, so much so, amongst our alumni we’ve got success stories everywhere – a career in visual arts is not just a singularity. We don’t just produce artists. We produce versatile, creative thinkers who participate in not only the deconstruction of their own art, but in lots of other different areas.’
The Sydney College of the Arts Open Day will be held on Saturday 30 August from 10am to 4pm.
For more information visit the University of Sydney website.
