Annual VCE Art exhibition FRESH: GV Top Art and Design is set to open this Saturday 18 February in the Shepparton Art Museum’s Community Gallery. 

Featuring artworks and design presentations from VCE Art, Studio Art and Visual Communication Design students from the class of 2022 in the Goulburn Valley, FRESH: GV Top Art and Design is Shepparton Art Museum’s (SAM) annual showcase of the talent and creativity of the next generation of artists.  

Responding to an open callout, twenty students from across the region submitted their final folios for inclusion in the exhibition. Themes addressed in the works encompass a variety of cultural and social issues, including environmentalism and the continuing impact of the global pandemic. The young artists articulate their ideas and concepts through diverse mediums, including photography, painting, wood burning and recycled materials.  

Caroline Esbenshade, SAM Curator – Community, says of the exhibition: 

“It’s wonderful to see these burgeoning artists’ works here on the walls at SAM. It’s an exciting step for any artist to have their work exhibited in a museum environment, and even more so if it’s your first experience showing your work publicly.  

I hope that any current VCE students who visit the show are inspired to participate next year, and that all visitors take a moment to think about how many artists who are displayed throughout the rest of the building might have gotten their own start participating in a similar program. It’s a reminder to us all that we all start somewhere, and of the importance of having quality art education available in schools.” 

FRESH: GV Top Art and Design will open in SAM’s Hugh D.T Williamson Community Gallery on Saturday 18 February. The official exhibition opening celebration will be held on 30 March as part of the museum’s monthly SAM at Sunset event. More details on the event proceedings will be announced soon. 

Featured image credit: Gabrielle Doherty, The Calming (detail) 2022. © the artist.