An intricately painted piano with video content and augmented reality technology has wowed judges at the inaugural Sunshine Arts Fest.
Pacific Lutheran College’s bright display was a highlight of the two-month exhibition, which featured innovative installations from students at six local high schools.
Each display combined a visual art display and augmented reality (AR) component, and reflected the competition theme ‘Let the Sunshine In’.
Supported by Sunshine Arts Fest artist ambassador Sarah Sculley, the schools were guided through the creative process, to develop captivating installations that conveyed their unique stories through the AR experience.
PLC’s display theme focused on nature and music, which “support our wellbeing and powerfully impact our inner selves”. They were awarded the overall title and $3500.
Ms Sculley said it was an impressive piece.
“I want to congratulate Pacific Lutheran College on their outstanding installation and well-deserved win, with stunning layering and textures and a really interesting AR component that interacted beautifully with the visual display,” she said.
“It’s been wonderful to be on the Sunshine Arts Fest journey with the six selected schools from day one, nurturing and celebrating the next generation of creatives and seeing how each team came together and grew throughout the process.”
Pacific Lutheran College teacher Marnie Whittaker said the students had relished the chance to be involved.
“Being part of the inaugural Sunshine Arts Fest has been a wonderful experience for our students and being awarded the overall winner is a fantastic outcome,” she said.
“The students embraced the opportunity to collaborate across departments and year levels on this project and were excited to display their installation in the public domain for the community to engage with an innovative experience.
“As an emerging technology, knowledge of AR will prove valuable to our students as they progress in their academic learning and beyond. We saw them apply impressive creative thinking, problem-solving and teamwork to achieve the final installation and we couldn’t be prouder of their efforts.”
Sunshine Coast Grammar School claimed the $1500 People’s Choice Award.
Other schools involved were Caloundra State High School, Kawana Waters State College, Montessori International College and St Andrew’s Anglican College.
The winners were announced at a presentation event hosted at Event Cinemas at the plaza, where all participating schools were in attendance along with two of the judges, Ms Sculley and Hayley Jenkin, and community partner headspace Maroochydore.
As part of Sunshine Arts Fest’s partnership with headspace, Sunshine Plaza was set to donate $1 for every public vote received to the community organisation’s local youth art programs.
Sunshine Plaza centre manager Michael Manwaring said the exhibition was a bright addition to the venue.
“It’s been fantastic to see our region’s community, particularly our young people, embrace the inaugural Sunshine Arts Fest, as it provides us all with an interactive platform to explore our creativity and emerging technologies together,” he said.
“Having the installations on display over an extended period has definitely added an extra vibrancy to the centre and we extend heartfelt congratulations to this year’s winners and all schools who participated.”
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