This is the final week to see Bayside Gallery’s Speak up: Bayside’s Upstanders exhibition, which shines a light on anti-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.
Each year, grade five students from Beaumaris, Brighton Beach, Hampton, Sandringham, and Sandringham East primary schools are encouraged to write an expression of interest to join The Upstanders initiative; of which twenty students from each school are selected.
Helen Berwick, Education & Community Engagement Officer at Bayside City Council spoke of the obstacles that had to be overcome to bring this project to life.
“The project was initially scheduled for 2021 but had to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We had to pivot the program in line with health regulations at the time, resulting in online workshops facilitated by Adrian Spurr, but unfortunately couldn’t host the exhibition.” Helen said.
The essence of the program is to educate children on bullying prevention with the aim of knowledge sharing and becoming future leaders in our community.
“We know arts is a fundamental tool in assisting with the expression of complex concepts and emotions, which is why it was so important for us to host an exhibition as soon as we were able,” Helen said.
With the pandemic restrictions easing, the concept was revitalised for the 2022/23 program.
To launch the program, this year’s students met at Brighton Town Hall late last year for a series of workshops introducing them to the program and what they could expect over the coming months.
Adrian Spurr spoke of the collagraph workshops he led at each of the primary schools, culminating in the 400 prints on display in an immersive installation at Bayside Gallery.
“We wanted this to look like you enter an information space where you are confronted and immersed in a lot of imagery and text and thought and ideas,” Adrian said.
“The concept behind this campaign can be discussed and workshopped and you can read and look at it online, but to actually be there and make something concrete that expresses your personal viewpoint – there’s nothing like art to do that.”
This exhibition is particularly powerful due to its collaborative expression of anti-bullying and providing a platform to raise awareness of The Upstanders initiative.
On display at Bayside Gallery until 5 March.
