Caroline Chisholm ceramic art showcased in Penrith Regional Gallery

Claudia Beghetto and her ceramic creation on display in Notanda.

The ceramic works of six students from Caroline Chisholm College, Glenmore Park’s Year 10 Ceramics unit, ‘Notanda’, have been selected for a special exhibition in the Penrith Regional Gallery.

Director of the Penrith Regional Gallery and the Lewers Bequest, Dr Lee-Anne Hall, and Collections Manager, Dr Shirley Daborn, visited the school and selected the ceramic works of Year 12 student, Alana Thomas, and Year 11 students, Nicoletta Bellino, Claudia Beghetto, Jasmine Clarke, Amber English and Laura Wonson. The works are now on exhibition in the gallery’s Ancher House which also features works by the original owner, Margot Lewers.

Students at the opening of Notanda.

As part of the Notanda program, students took a tour of the gallery and the collection with Dr Daborn. From these visits, the students developped a design for a ceramic form that is their interpretation of an aspect of the Penrith Regional Gallery site – the gallery collection or the gallery site including the original house and garden.

Ceramic art creation by Amber English.

Dr Hall said the partnership between Penrith Regional Gallery and Caroline Chisholm has sought opportunities for students and teachers to work collaboratively with gallery and museum professionals and with visiting artists in ways that deepen student access, experience and appreciation of the visual arts.

‘The partnership continues to strengthen with the recent exhibition of student ceramic works Notanda On Site produced as a unit of study in response to the gallery’s modernist collection and architecture,’ said Dr Hall.

Alana Thomas with her ceramic art creation.

Creative Arts Leader of Learning, Karen King said working with local resources such as the superb Modernist collection at Penrith Regional Gallery was an integral part of the Notanda program.

‘We want to recognise what is significant in our local area and give students an opportunity to learn about this site and its important role in Australia Art History,’ Karen said. ‘We also want the students to be working with professionals in the field such as the curators and collections managers at the gallery so their artmaking is relevant and built on best practice.’

‘One of the key intentions of this unit is to introduce students to the history and significance of the gallery site and to help them appreciate and value this important local site,’ she said. ‘It is a real privilege for the students to be able to have the opportunity to exhibit their works in a professional gallery and we have been fortunate to be able to work in partnership with the gallery.’

Nicoletta Bellino and her ceramic art creation.

The name for the unit, Notanda, has been taken from the name of ground-breaking design shop run by Margot in the 1950s in Rowe St, Sydney. The name of the shop, Notanda, meant ‘worthy of note’ and featured a selection of modern homewares, textiles, ceramics, jewellery and artworks.

Margot, with her husband, Gerald Lewers, were founding members of the Contemporary Art Society of NSW. Their house on the banks of the Nepean River was an important site where many significant artists and writers would stay and work.