Crowds gathered at Bayside Gallery on Saturday 4 February, for the official launch of the 2023 exhibition program, featuring an incredible display of local talent.
Bayside Mayor Cr Hanna El Mouallem, said Council plays an important role in curating exhibitions that recognise the works of local artists.
“We seek to create an environment where creativity is encouraged and celebrated and provide opportunities to our incredible art community,” Cr El Mouallem said.
Now in its fifth year, the highly anticipated annual Bayside Local exhibition showcases 49 talented local artists, including year 11 and 12 VCE and IB students. Visitors to the Gallery will be immersed in an eclectic and energising array of works that range from traditional landscape painting to experimental abstraction, intriguing photographic images and ceramic forms.
At the opening event, Cr Hanna El Mouallem presented the Student Encouragement Awards to three lucky winners: Mikaela Staples for her painting Memento mori, Angelia Zhu for her watercolour Landcox warriors and Sofia Korfiatis for her mixed media piece Shattered expectations.
The second exhibition to launch the program, is Speak up: Bayside’s Upstanders exhibition. The Upstanders program is an initiative that encourages grade 5 students to be an upstander, not a bystander, to bullying.
Speak up is a collaborative project between Bayside City Council, renowned artist Adrian Spurr and a network of five schools across Bayside who are part of The Upstanders community. The primary schools involved in the project are Beaumaris, Brighton Beach, Hampton, Sandringham and Sandringham East.
Artist, sculptor, master printer and educator Adrian Spurr led collagraph workshops with 100 grade five students to create over 400 artworks culminating in an immersive installation at Bayside Gallery.
Cr El Mouallem noted the significance of The Upstanders initiative.
“We’re proud to partner on such an important initiative that aims to support children at a pinnacle moment of their education and provide them with the tools they need to become the future leaders in our community,” Cr El Mouallem said.
Both exhibitions are on display at Bayside Gallery until 5 March 2023. Entry is free and walk-ins welcome.
