Artistically talented students have impressed judges at the recent Independent Education Union – Queensland and Northern Territory (IEU-QNT) Excellence in Art Design Awards.

The awards held at the Queensland Multicultural Centre in Brisbane, attracted more than 800 entries from students and teachers across the Queensland and Northern Territory independent education sector, with entrants submitting artwork with a theme of ‘New Beginnings’.

Student Anouk Cole from Mt St Michael’s College in Ashgrove (pictured) was awarded the top honour of the Harriet Hunter Memorial Award, which was established in memory of a gifted student whose life was tragically taken in the 1999 South-East Queensland floods.

The Harriet Hunter Memorial Award winner is selected from all winning entries across Pre-school to Year 12 and was judged by Sue and Adrian Hunter. Sue and Adrian said Anouk’s winning piece titled ‘Bewildering Beginnings’ had been thoughtfully planned in response to the topic and presented an optimistic viewpoint of a bright and meaningful future.

“It also conveys a sense of environmental awareness and the interconnectedness of all life forms,” the judges said. “The medium has been skilfully handled and it demonstrates strong use of contrast, scale and proportion to create a sense of depth which draws the viewer in.”

IEU-QNT Branch Secretary Terry Burke said the competition judges were wowed by the calibre of entries across all age groups in response to the theme. “The judges commented on the high standard of entries and the varied and creative interpretations that entrants brought to the theme,” Mr Burke said. “Our union established the Awards in 1994 to promote and encourage artistic students and celebrate their flair for creativity. Art is a very important area of learning in schools and kindergartens and IEU-QNT is proud to support students, staff and artists in Queensland,” he said. “Award recipients are to be congratulated for their remarkable achievements.”

Awards of Excellence winners were:

Open: Julie Whitehouse – Seton College, Mount Gravatt East

Indigenous Art (Years 5-12): Sienna Loban – St Monica’s College, Cairns

Years 11-12: Laura Pittam – St. Thomas More College, Sunnybank

Years 9-10: Hayden Pressley – St Joseph’s College, Gregory Terrace

Years 7-8: Olivia Hsu – Ormiston College, Ormiston

Years 5-6: Cookie Hawkins – Hills International College, Jimboomba

Years 3-4: Stella Yoo – St. Peter’s Catholic Primary School, Rochedale

Prep-Year 2: Saffron Zimmerman – St. Peter’s Catholic Primary School, Rochedale

Preschool/Kindergarten: Anastasia Winter – St John’s Kindergarten, Kingaroy

Entrants who received Highly Commended Awards in their category included:

Open:

Marg Judd – Holy Cross School, Trinity Park

Donna Free – Whitsunday Anglican School, Mackay

Janette McLennan – St Joseph’s Primary School, Wandal

Years 11-12:

Katerina Evlachkov – Redeemer Lutheran College, Rochedale

Eurecka Alexis Reyes – Mary Mackillop College, Nundah

Jasmine Phan – St Thomas More College, Sunnybank

Hayley Marshall – St Peter’s Lutheran College, Indooroopilly

Years 9-10:

Ava Stephens – Somerset College, Mudgeeraba

Sophie Dickinson – Mt St Michael’s College, Ashgrove

Anouk Cole – Mt St Michael’s College, Ashgrove

Brienna Graff – St Peter’s Lutheran College, Indooroopilly

Ashleigh Smith – Loreto College, Coorparoo

Years 7-8:

Romilly Acworth – Mt St Michael’s College, Ashgrove

Eva McGarry – Mt St Michael’s College, Ashgrove

Beatrix Blinco – St Peter’s Lutheran College, Indooroopilly

Reina Zordan – Loreto College, Coorparoo

Amelie Pegg – St Peter’s Lutheran College, Indooroopilly

Years 5-6:

Jessica Huang – Redeemer Lutheran College, Rochedale

Sasha White – St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School, Corinda

Isabelle Ma – Holy Cross School, Trinity Park

Eileen Kang – St Peter’s Catholic Primary School, Rochedale

Lily Brennan – St Peter’s Catholic Primary School, Rochedale

Linda Yu – St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School, Corinda

Years 3-4:

Brooks Zhang – Australian Christian College, Caboolture

Henry Kim – St Peter’s Catholic Primary School, Rochedale

Emily Duck – St Peter’s Catholic Primary School, Rochedale

Shiu Jung – St Peter’s Catholic Primary School, Rochedale

Isabella Kretschmer – St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School, Corinda

Prep-Year 2:

Rayne Zhang – Australian Christian College, Caboolture

Sophia Farrell – St Peter’s Catholic Primary School, Rochedale

Kara Reed – Hills International College, Jimboomba

Thomas Austen – Bethany Lutheran Primary School, Raceview

Evelyn Freudigmann – St Peter’s Catholic Primary School, Rochedale

Preschool/Kindergarten:

Evalise Bravo – Brisbane Christian College Kindergarten, Salisbury

Cooper Janes – St John’s Kindergarten, Kingaroy

Austin McDowell – St John’s Kindergarten, Kingaroy

Indy Catterall – St John’s Kindergarten, Kingaroy

Abby Foreman – St John’s Kindergarten, Kingaroy

Joseph Bochmann – St John’s Kindergarten, Kingaroy