Arts in Schools

Twenty years ago the practice of arts in schools was very much dependent on, if a teacher was interested and prepared to go outside the curriculum box to practice their art.  Children who wanted to be involved in drama in the Northern Suburbs only had school opportunities which were very few and far between. 

I know, my daughter was one of them.  She regularly came with me to a local adult theatre group but because they didn’t have roles for 12 year olds, she enjoyed helping backstage. She just wanted to be involved and soak up the atmosphere of performance.

So in 1992, I set up our own group for 12 – 25 years olds to produce and perform something for the public, which 80 enthusiastic members of Northern Youth Theatre did very well, every three months until 1996. 

I am proud to say my daughter Jessica was accepted into WAAPA’s ‘ Set Design &  Construction’ course at 17 years old, because of her experience with Northern Youth Theatre.  They usually only considered 24 year olds and over, for their courses.

The only reason I closed the group was because I had decided to study full-time at ECU/WAAPA myself.

As the founder and Artistic Director of Northern Youth Theatre, I was very much involved as the community Theatrical consultant with the Department of the Arts & Culture Peer Assessment Panel and Wanneroo/Joondalup Community Festival & Performing Arts Centre Advisory Committees.  

“Since the 1990’s, the City has considered the need for a dedicated performing arts and cultural facility to provide local opportunities for residents to participate in and experience cultural events.”   City of Joondalup

I lobbied hard for the introduction of the arts into the Australian school curriculum all those years ago and celebrated when the plan was accepted.  Now, there will be an inquiry into how well the Arts Curriculum is being implemented. 

Meanwhile, the long awaited dedicated Performing Arts Centre in Joondalup is still on the drawing board because the public doesn’t appreciate the value of arts practice and plans remain just that.   

If the Performing Arts Centre was now the reality we worked so hard for in the 90’s, the public would know how many in the community actually already practice the five arts markers: dance, drama, media arts, music and visual arts.

We have dance schools in the Northern Suburbs with their top students achieving scholarships to prestigious schools around the world again and again, representing Western Australia.  My niece is a senior teacher at Gale Meade Performing Arts Centre  and her sister, an ex-student won many scholarships and has danced professionally all over the world. 

Our proud ex-students from WAAPA leave their mark with each performance here and overseas:  

 Star graduates

“WAAPA graduates excel in their chosen professions around the world, confirming the Academy’s well-earned reputation. Many well-known actors, dancers, musicians and music theatre stars including Hugh Jackman, Frances O’Connor, Marcus Graham, William McInnes, Lisa McCune, Lucy Durack, Rachelle Durkin, Emma Matthews, Jamie Oehlers, Eddie Perfect and Tim Minchin, have called WAAPA home.

The employment record of our graduates, in extremely competitive fields, continues to be outstanding and well-attuned to the needs of the industry. Our designers, arts management and production graduates are highly sought after and many hold influential positions across a wide range of performing arts companies, festivals, venues, film, television, major events, arts organisations and teaching institutions.”  WAAPA

It is essential we have effective Arts Practitioners teaching our young to develop and hone their skills, then enabling them to put those skills into practice in their community – preferably in our own Performing Arts Centres show-casing the abundant talent in our Northern Suburbs and Perth. 

25 years after Northern Youth Theatre, participants have grown into valuable members of their communities, applying the lessons learnt working as a team to produce something for someone else to enjoy. 

Appreciation of the Arts should begin in school and have the opportunity to thrive in a community which encourages and offers multiple venues to share their talent with a wider audience.  Some may even make a living doing so.

Practicing the Arts crosses all boundaries and permeates lives in a positive way – smashing down walls of division and enabling friendships and experiences which last a lifetime.

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