behind the scenes
how ARTEXPRESS happens

ARTEXPRESS comes together through the efforts of many people, including the Visual Arts teachers who mark the HSC Bodies of Work, the individual galleries which assist in curating the exhibitions and officers from the NSW Department of Education & Training and the Board of Studies NSW.

As far as possible each student's entire Body of Work as submitted for examination is represented. In each of the venues Bodies of Work on display will include works that are conceptually connected, where ideas are elaborated and reiterated, and where meanings make significant references and register on a number of levels. We view technically refined and discerning works together with other works that appear to be less resolved within the same Body of Work. Nevertheless, these apparently less resolved pieces make an even more powerful contribution to our understandings of the students' thinking and actions in making art.

the marking process
Bodies of Work from schools, mostly from the Sydney metropolitan area, were sent to the Visual Arts Marking Centre at Homebush Bay to be marked. Bodies of Work from the remaining metropolitan schools and all country districts were marked in each school by visiting teams of markers.

Two teams assess each Body of Work by referring to marking guidelines prepared in response to the new Standards Referenced Framework HSC. Guidelines are expressed in terms of the knowledge and skills demanded by the task. The guidelines focus on the conceptual and material practice of the student as represented in their Body of Work.

Samples of work from five 10 mark levels in each media area are established to create visual Schemes with accompanying written comments (derived from markers' comments to a set of questions). Schemes are correlated across the media areas to ensure comparability and consistency. Copies of these Schemes are used to brief all marking teams. Marking teams then assess all the Bodies of Work against the Marking Guidelines and their knowledge of the Marking Scheme ie the scales and comments. The whole process takes months to complete.

Bodies of Work come from all of the media areas described in the Visual Arts syllabus - drawing, graphic design, painting, printmaking, photography, designed objects and environments, textiles and fibre, sculpture, documented forms, ceramics, digital media, film and video, digital animation, interactives and collections of works.

selecting works for ARTEXPRESS
Particular criteria now become important and care is taken to select works representing both government and non-government schools from across New South Wales. The final selections reflect the range of media submitted and must work as a coherent exhibition across the various venues.

In order to differentiate each of the separate ARTEXPRESS exhibitions the curators agreed on a specific approach to the ARTEXPRESS selection for each venue.

The selection of this year's exhibitions was made by selectors from the host venues in conjunction with the ARTEXPRESS Coordinator. The exhibiting venues in the city are The Art Gallery of New South Wales, David Jones City Store, The College of Fine Arts (UNSW), the Hazelhurst Regional Gallery & Arts Centre and Sydney Olympic Park. The regional tour was curated by the ARTEXPRESS Coordinator and assisted by Stephnie Jan, Visual Arts teacher Whitebridge High School. The tour venues are Albury, Newcastle, Grafton and Orange Regional Art Galleries.

The Bodies of Work selected for ARTEXPRESS are drawn from a wide range of schools throughout NSW and illustrate the exceptional standards achieved reached by Visual Arts students in NSW schools.

Once again this year's exhibition reflects many interesting themes ranging from issues of political, social, cultural and spiritual significance through to aspects of personal identity and home environment.  In the creation of these works, the students have demonstrated their understanding and mastery of a wide range of media, conventions and techniques.

ARTEXPRESS major sponsor is Integral Energy. Supporting sponsors are Chroma Art Supplies and S & S Wholesalers. Media Partners are The Sydney Morning Herald and 2GB. The official ARTEXPRESS carrier is Grace Fine Art. Patron to ARTEXPRESS is The Sir William Dobell Art Foundation.

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Top: ARTEXPRESS selection venue, Homebush