New Art Wing

Hutt News, Volume XXII, Issue 10, 18 August 1948, Page 7

New Art Wing

HUTT VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL RIG DEVELOPMENT WORK By the conversion of a building that was formerly a naval hospital the Hutt Valley High School has been provided with an art wing of five rooms that adds considerably to the amenities of the school. The wing is well situated, in a position that allows full use to be made of the lighting, with one side opening on to the lawns and playing fields where studies of trees and other outdoor features may be made. Mr, J. B. Coe, art master, and Mrs. Coe, art mistress, assisted by enthusiastic • pupils, have been busy getting the new building into order, and are very optimistic regarding the work to be done. All the pupils of the school —over 700 —take the art course, and thus are given the opportunity of developing the talent which they may possess. As showing the scope of the work it may be stated that 3000 pictures are on the way each week. The main studio, for general painting, is a bright, well-lighted room, and is used for life study work. Folding screens also enable it to be used for mural and composition work. The room is fifteen feet lohger than the one previously in use, and a bigclass can be handled with ease. Each, child is responsible for. bis or her own equipment, and a comprehensive chart enables a check to be kept on every article.

Keenness of Pupils

The senior studio is used , for classes of from six to eight pupils seeking the diploma in fine arts, or those going on to do architectural work. Here the pupils can do fine work, and some of them show such keenness that, as the art master said, he has to chase them out sometimes!

A small office contains a file of every child going through the classes, with tabulated details of the work and personality of each pupil. The crafts workshop, a large, bright room, is a particularly interesting section of the new wing. Here it is hoped to cover the crafts of fabric printing and dress design. In the modelling room model figures are made. By actually draping the models the girls learn to design clothes. They cut their own blocks and print their own materials from their own designs, thus initiative and individuality are developed. ' Practical and Artistic The boys are taught to develop a sense of aesthetic appreciation of things in the home. Courses will be held in inferior decoration, with the use of models. Model furniture will be made, with weighted lay figures so as to give the correct line and balance in a room. This will mean not only the building of a chair or a table, but will emphasise the functional idea behind the aesthetic side of interior decoration. Wood-working and metal-working equipment will enable the pupils to carry the job through to completion. Costume jewellery may be made by some of the senior pupils. , _

i The whole. work in the crafts workroom will be practical, and may be continued in the home. Some of the furniture for use in the room is being made by the pupils, thus illustrating the practical nature of the instruction.

In the modelling room small groups can be handled. Apart from the general expressive modelling it is hoped to do figure work with certain girls’ classes as a help towards fashion designing. As a sign of the keenness of the pupils in their art studies many of them are seen busily at work during the lunch hour. This is purely voluntary. * With such enthusiasm by the girls and boys and capable and wise direction by Mr. and Mrs. Coe the new art wing at the Hutt Valley High School should soon become a busy scene of artistic endeavour.