Turning Lessons

The first book from Concordia Gallery, Turning Lessons: Models of Artist Residency Projects, was conceived to accompany an exhibition reflecting on ten years of the Artist in Residence Program. It has been devised to extend expertise, learning, and critical thinking into the broader visual arts community from the perspective of one of Australia's leading secondary schools and the renowned program conceived and executed by the innovative Educator and Curator, Hannah Chapman.Turning...
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The first book from Concordia Gallery, Turning Lessons: Models of Artist Residency Projects, was conceived to accompany an exhibition reflecting on ten years of the Artist in Residence Program. It has been devised to extend expertise, learning, and critical thinking into the broader visual arts community from the perspective of one of Australia's leading secondary schools and the renowned program conceived and executed by the innovative Educator and Curator, Hannah Chapman.Turning Lessons sets out to document selected projects through the use of archival materials, communications, installation images, source materials, contemporaneous candid photography, and photography of artworks that were produced on site during Residencies. This book focuses on the ways in which art is a demonstration of exchange with the world. It looks at a specific model of how artists can relate to and explain our understanding of the world, and how students interact with those ideas. Artists and Curators included in the book are: Andrew Burns, Mitch Cairns, Displeasing the Masses (Caroline Garcia, Josh Muir, Salote Tawale), Mikala Dwyer, Agatha Gothe-Snape, Nathan Hawkes, Deborah Kelly, Heather Peak & Ivan Morison, Claudia Nicholson, Jason Phu, Tom Polo, Stuart Ringholt, Jensen Tjhung, Garry Trinh, and Anne Zahalka.Writings have been commissioned from the Curator of the program, Hannah Chapman, previous Artist in Residence Patrick Hartigan, and former student and current artsworker Jackie De Lacy to address various aspects of the program, including: creative writing as a reflection on the experience from an artist's perspective; a look at models of thinking in artistic practice and student learning; and a theoretical and academic contextualisation of Concordia Gallery's Artist in Residence Program. It is our sincere hope that in looking back on the program as it has been, we can understand the distinct voices that have collaborated to pioneer original thought - the students, artists, educators, curators - and look forward to what might still lie ahead. To turn unwaveringly towards the next lesson.There will be an exhibition looking at the Residency Program across multiple venues in Sydney in March 2024.