School students from across NSW will become the latest artists to have their work displayed on the exterior of a building for all to enjoy, as part of this year's Operation Art exhibition.
The annual exhibition, which encourages school students from kindergarten to Year 12 to design artwork for sick children in hospital, is traditionally held at the Armory Gallery at Sydney Olympic Park. However, with COVID-19 preventing a physical display, organisers came up with a creative solution.Rather than cancel the exhibition altogether, they worked with the Pullman Hotel at Sydney Olympic Park to light up the building with the artworks.
"We had to think outside the box this year and come up with a new and innovative way to display the incredible artworks created by NSW school students," Heidi Windeisen, Operation Art Project Officer for the NSW Department of Education, said.
"We have seen what has been possible with VIVID each year and how well that is received by the public, and we thought that this would be the perfect solution. Light projection gives us the ability to celebrate each of our artists, to show off their artworks while also keeping everyone safe," said Tony Nesbitt, Manager, Events and Activation at Sydney Olympic Park Authority.
In addition to the light display, the artworks will be curated in an online exhibition that has been available to the public from Monday 27 September 2021. A number of artworks from this year's collection will also be printed on vinyl barriers and hung at Vaccination Hubs in Sydney Olympic Park; a special treat just for those attending vaccination appointments.
"Artwork in a hospital setting is an important way of helping to reduce stress, make places more welcoming and enhancing spaces where quiet moments can occur. We hope that these artworks will have a similar effect for those presenting for their vaccinations, helping to ease what we know is an already stressful time," Ivy Baddock, Art Curator at The Children's Hospital at Westmead, said.
More than 700 artworks were entered in this year's exhibition from 211 schools around the state. From these entries, 50 artworks will be chosen to be part of the Touring 50 Exhibition, which will begin by being displayed in Jacaranda Square near Olympic Park Train Station. The selected artworks will then commence a tour around the state before becoming part of The Children's Hospital at Westmead's permanent art collection.
The judging panel this year includes special guests judges, Allie and Liam Holland, whose child, Asher, has been a long-term patient at The Children's Hospital at Westmead.
"We are so thankful to Operation Art for filling the walls with colour and joy and hope and beauty. Hospital life is hard but there are always pockets of joy to be found in the waiting."
While the move to an online exhibition is not the Operation Art anyone initially had in mind, it is hoped to draw an even bigger crowd than before.
"This extension of Operation Art is another way in which art can help us navigate uncertain times and provide cheer and distraction during wait times. We are so pleased to be able to bring these artworks virtually to even more people, especially those requiring medical treatment and those working within the health care system," Ms Baddock said.
The Operation Art exhibition has been on display at the Pullman Hotel from 27 September 2021 and will be available online until 31 December, 2021.
To view the exhibition, go to https://artsunit.nsw.edu.au/operation-art-2021
