Leonora students ‘feast’ on some AWESOME Art!  

                         
The talented young people of Leonora District High School are off to a flying start this week with AWESOME Art’s Creative Challenge food art project ‘FEAST,’ supported by BHP Billiton Nickel West.

Budding young artists have been using food as an artistic medium to explore ideas of identity, community and the natural landscape in Leonora.

The culinary creations have so far included silhouette portraits and handprints created with coloured spices, rice paper and seaweed faces and honey ants made from coloured play dough.

AWESOME Artists Fiona Gavino, Graham Hay and Lauren Simpson have been workshopping with the students in mapping out the natural landscape and surrounds of Leonora and identifying areas inside and outside the town.

"The project is being received with a very positive response from the students. They are working really well with the artists and have been thinking about and creating artwork that is relative to their natural landscape such as goannas, snakes and fish," said Lauren Simpson.

2008 marks Creative Challenge’s third visit to Leonora, giving students the exciting opportunity to experience a creative difference to the curriculum through the support of the AWESOME Arts partnership with BHP Billiton Nickel West.

“Over the past three years it has been fantastic to see the young people in the goldfields region extend their creativity and imaginations to a point where they can understand that with art- anything is possible! Nickel West’s support has enabled AWESOME to continue to bring thought-provoking projects to these young people, building on outcomes and relationships within the community,” said Amanda Premici, Community Development Manager for AWESOME Arts.

Leonora’s spectacular artwork can be viewed at a final community celebration on Friday 15 August at Leonora District High School. These artworks will showcase an exploration of community, environment, family and history of the young people of Leonora. The works will later be showcased in Perth at the AWESOME International Arts Festival for Bright Young Things held in the Perth CBD in November.

AWESOME works to inspire and encourage creativity amongst young people and aims to be a catalyst in developing creative, open-minded, young Western Australians who are engaged with the world.