Art Express

The Sydney Morning Herald is a proud supporter of ArtExpress, an annual exhibition
of artworks created by students from government and non-government schools for
the Higher School Certificate Examination in Visual Arts. The works demonstrate
exceptional quality across a broad range of subject matter, approaches, styles and
media including painting, photography, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, documented
forms, textiles and fibre, ceramics, digital animation, film and video, and collections of
works.

ArtExpress represents the high standards and diversity achieved by Year 12 Visual
Arts students in New South Wales schools. Visual Arts is part of the core curriculum
in primary school and junior high school and a popular elective for the Higher School
Certificate examination.

Student assessment in Visual Arts for the Higher School Certificate is based on
submission of a ‘Body of Work’ plus a written examination. Each student develops
their submission through a process, recorded in a Visual Arts Process Diary, which
reflects the problem-solving approach of the practising artist.

The works chosen for ArtExpress are a representative selection from over 12,000
examination submissions and reflect not only the talent of the individual students, but
also the strength of the curriculum and excellence of Visual Arts teaching in New
South Wales schools.

ArtExpress is shown at 9 metropolitan and regional venues in NSW.


Preparing for Art Express

In the below documents, students who have participated in Art Express in the past share their tips and experiences.

Tips from Emma Dower (2008) (pdf)
Tips from Nell Pearson (2008) (pdf)
Tips from Natalie Sender (2008) (pdf)
Tips from Jared Gilsenan (2008) (pdf)
Tips from Kate Dowd (2008) (pdf)
Tips from Julia Knibbs (2008) (pdf)
Tips from Yan Htet Wai (2008) (pdf)

What are they doing now?

Claire Harris
Jasper Knight

Associated Links

  Art Express
  Art Gallery of NSW
  NSW Board of Studies