On Monday 7th October, Art and Drama welcomed members of the public, parents and students to our ‘Showcase of Art and the Spoken Word’ evening, as part of the Calne Music and Arts Festival.

St Mary’s Artists have generously supported the latest Erlestoke Prison fundraising initiative to create sporting facilities at the site by contributing original artworks for cARTes postales 'Art on Postcards', alongside works by professional Artists, which include that of Antony Gormley. The pieces will be auctioned and the proceeds will go towards this worthwhile cause.

Congratulations to 2019 Alumnae Artists, Ivy and Lucy, whose work has been selected by The Arts Society to join the long list to become Royal Society of British Artists (RBA) Scholars.

On Monday 17th June, the Year 10 and Year 12 artists went on the annual trip to London. We visited LARA art school and enjoyed a morning of charcoal-based life drawing and then spent the afternoon in the Royal Academy of Art at Phyllida Barlow’s ‘Cul De Sac’ and the Summer Exhibition.

We are delighted that Jane (current Year 12 Art Scholar), and sisters Alice and Clara Wade (2018 Leavers) have had their artwork selected for the first ever Young Artists’ Summer Show (YASS) at the Royal Academy of Arts.

Year 10 pupil Annabel recently won the GCSE Drawing prize of the Royal Academy YOUNG ART competition and she was delighted to see her piece in the exhibition at the Royal College of Art.

Congratulations to Year 13 Art Scholar, Lucy, who has had a selection of her A Level work shortlisted for the prestigious Cardiff School of Art and Design's CSADCeramics Excellence Award.

We have been informed by the Royal Academy YOUNG ART competition organisers that the judging is now completed, the Exhibition is mounted and being professionally photographed, the catalogue is finalised with student interviews and the curation of the Exhibition at the Royal College of Art is underway.

The London Atelier of Representational Art (LARA) London has awarded Cali (Year 12), first prize in their Easter Scholarship Competition.

The Year 9 girls spent their time in Art over Donaldson Week concentrating on Life Drawing.  In a session led by our Artist in Residence, Miss Litvack, the girls practised drawing portraits from life to begin the session.

The Year 7 girls had a great day on 11th February (the start of Donaldson Week) making homemade felt iPad cases. We started off in the morning with making the felt itself – pulling out wool fibres, laying them down and wetting and rolling to make colourful, textured felt fabric.

After a very early start, the two-hour flight from Luton to Barcelona was just enough time to catch up with some sleep and prepare ourselves for the busy three days that had been planned. As soon as we landed, we grabbed our luggage and took a shuttle bus to the centre of town where we got some lunch and headed for the hotel. We had a bit of time at the hotel to settle in before we began ticking things off the itinerary, which began with an augmented reality tour around the Casa Batlló, a house designed by Gaudi.

St Mary’s Calne hosted their third triennial London Art Exhibition at Mall Galleries from 6th-11th November 2018. ‘A Sense of Place’ included nearly 100 pieces of art produced by current pupils, alumnae, parents and staff and showed a breathtaking level of skill, creativity and flair.

On Wednesday 24th October, the A Level Art students drove up to Birmingham for a day full of exhibitions and an insight into the art world.

As part of Donaldson Week, on Tuesday 23rd October, the LIV and MIV Forms (Years 7 and 8) had the opportunity to work with a professional US artist, Thedra Cullar-Ledford. They made paper dresses and, at the end of the day, put on a small catwalk. It was an enjoyable experience for all of the girls.

On Saturday 13th October, our inaugural 'Showcase of Art and the Spoken Word' was an exciting display of the creative talent St Mary's has to offer. As part of the Calne Music & Arts Festival, it was open to everyone, including all residents of Calne and guests included parents, local artists and members of the local community.

On Thursday 4th October, the LVI (Year 12) went on a trip to Hardenhuish School in Chippenham for a lecture about Photography and Art, hosted by The Arts Society.

My name is Naomi Litvack and I am delighted to be working at St Mary’s Calne as the Artist in Residence for 2018/19.

'A Sense of Place’ is St Mary’s Calne's third London Art Exhibition and it will feature the work of over 50 artists, showcasing artwork by talented students, staff and alumnae.

Over the summer holidays, two of our LVI (Year 12) students attended art courses in different London colleges. Both colleges, Central Saint Martins and Chelsea College of Art, are part of the University of the Arts London.