Every year since I was in Year 3, I have attended the openings of the various Ivanhoe Girls' Visual Arts Exhibitions.

Something I loved every year is watching the students talk, looking up at how old they are and idolising them. And when Mr Greenwood asked me to open the exhibition this year I realised this time I’m not watching the students talk; now it’s my turn up there. Perhaps there was someone there in the younger years, picturing themselves opening the art show in a few years time, or just with the goal to have a creation of theirs on display.

As I was reflecting about my Hillsley experience, it has made me think about how I have literally grown up in that building. From Year 3 up to now I’ve been honing my skills, developing my passions, and becoming the person I am today. These walls have truly seen it all, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Ever since I was little I had a passion for art. Unlike my whole entire family whohave taken more traditional routes, I had to navigate my love for art by myself. Until I moved to Ivanhoe Girls’. 

This Art Department is the reason why I’m at this school, and the reason why I have kept continuing my passion.

Creating pieces from ages eight to 17 I’ve been down in Hillsley for nine years now. Starting in Year 3, I’d visit Ms Begg down in the bottom classroom. I would look around in complete curiosity at everything in this building and wonder what the Senior School upstairs classrooms might have in store for me.

Over the years as I have gotten older, Hillsley is no longer just a classroom tome anymore - it’s a place in which I come to escape and to learn everything I’ve wished to learn. I went from grey lead and coloured pencils to the opportunities I’d dreamed of since I was little, ranging from painting and prints to sewing dresses and designing houses - things I’d never envisioned myself to be able to do.

Hillsley has given me not only the resources, but the encouragement and belief that I can do something I’ve never tried before. Going into unknown territory in art used to be scary to me; having to navigate it myself and feeling the need to perfect everything. But now this place, the teachers, the students, and the friends that I’ve made in this building have helped me so I can fearlessly jump into learning new things without the fear of failure.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve done the wrong printing technique on the wrong print, or how many times I’ve sewn a top with no head, or how many times I forgot that when you print, it reverses. So my cool worded print was, in fact, back to front.

But I’ve learnt through my art journey that it’s not supposed to be about the final print, nor that you have to perfect everything you learn. It’s about trying, experiencing, and growing. I’ve found things I hate, things I love, and ultimately I learnt that a fear of failure holds you back from so many new pathways. This Department has helped me embrace the opportunities that come with making mistakes.

To my fellow Hillsley friends who are on their own art journeys; I’d like to congratulate you all for not just the work you have exhibited, but for your ability to embrace the joy and challenges that art brings.

One thing not evident from the incredible pieces hanging on the walls in Hillsley is the amount of time and planning it really takes to produce such art. The process is truly extraordinary because every piece you see behind it will have countless techniques, multiple layers of planning, and skills that are not seen solely on the single piece alone. I invite you all to enjoy the beauty, messiness, mistakes, and wonder of art all around you.

Lexi
Year 11