STUDENTS of Sunshine Special Development School are exhibiting their works in an exhibition titled Sunshining Two, on view until 14 September at the Hunt Club Community Arts Centre.
Students have developed their paintings in focused studio sessions with minimal teacher involvement. These sessions are part of the school’s general art program, geared toward developing the students’ sense of identity through self-expression.
The artists in this exhibition have shown real progress and propensity for this identity driven curriculum.
As part of the school’s arts access program, students take fortnightly trips to a range of public and commercial galleries around Melbourne. In many cases seeing the works of established artists has had a direct influence on the way the students work and the pieces they have produced.
Many of the students in this program have Autism Spectrum Disorder and the experience of co-operating with others has been at times difficult and challenging, but ultimately rewarding.
This is the Hunt Club’s third exhibition of work by students at the Sunshine Development School in the past two years. The artists in this show are looking forward to taking part in more exhibitions in the future. Sunshining Two can be viewed at Gallery 2, Hunt Club Community Arts Centre, 775 Ballarat Rd, Deer Park, until 14 September, Monday to Thursday 9am-8pm and Friday 9am-5pm. All proceeds from sales of this work will help buy art materials for these young artists.
