Imagine a world without the Arts? No TV, no film, no Netflix, Disney+, no music on Apple Music Spotify, no art, no books, no magazines, no YouTube, TikTok, nothing it doesn’t bear thinking about.
It is fantastic to be back at school with things slowly returning to normal after a couple of years of uncertainty. However, we are not out of the woods yet and one of the industries to suffer at the hands of COVID has been the Arts.
According to the Guardian “Its not just the hospitality industry that is facing chaos…the performing arts, is similarly afflicted. What’s wholly unfair, though, is that the workers in the live arts – everyone from electricians to wigmakers, actors to folk musicians, front-of-house personnel to opera singers – are, once again, left flailing.” It is clear to see that all walks of life and jobs have a connection with the Arts and we must be there to support it.
We have seen the devastating effect that the pandemic has had on local events, Come From Away at the Canberra Theatre has not been pushed back to 2023. There are also many local amateur productions postponed, pushed back or cancelled as a result of the pandemic. And St Edmund’s College has not been left unaffected. We were due to be performing our 2022 musical Little Shop of Horrors in April/May of this year. Due to the uncertainty of the Omicron variant, we had to make the decision to postpone the show until weeks 8 and 9 of term 3. We are extremely grateful that although we have had to make changes and delay the show, we are in a position that, at the moment, we can put on a fantastic show giving students from 3 colleges, St Edmunds, Merici and Canberra Girls Grammar the opportunity to work together, build a tight nit community, gain new friends, and put on a show that will be seen by these schools incredibly supportive community. The mental health benefits of experiences such as we are able to provide are immeasurable.
The Creative and Performing Arts has the ability to help with one’s mental health, as The University of Melbourne stated in the paper The Arts and Australia’s Mental WellBeing “As we recover from lockdowns, the creative arts can support mental health challenges like loneliness, depression and anxiety that the social isolation, job insecurity and tension of living with COVID have caused.”
Whether it’s reading a book, painting a picture, creating a piece of digital art, creating a video on TikTok, singing in the shower, performing a piece of theatre or reciting a scene from your favourite movie to playing/learning a musical instrument, taking part in Music, Drama, Art or Media classes or participating in the College musical the importance of the Creative and Performing Arts cannot be underestimated.
Imagine a world without the Arts? No TV, no film, no Netflix, Disney+, no music on Apple Music Spotify, no art, no books, no magazines, no YouTube, TikTok, nothing it doesn’t bear thinking about.
We are lucky that at St Edmund’s we are an inclusive community and through the myriad of opportunities we provide for our students, whether through sport, hospitality, the sciences and humanities, the list goes on and on. The Arts sits perfectly with all of these, providing the music backing track to a weights session in the gym or helping to explain complex theories and with the help of documentaries and film, graphic design to liven up a textbook or website, Art history to help unpack Religious iconography or a piece of drama to take Shakespearian text from the page to the stage. The Arts are integral to the lifeblood of a school.
The CPA department at Eddie’s is able to provide an excellent educational base in the Arts, a safe space for students during exciting and energetic classes, extending that safe space for recess and lunches for Music, Drama, Arts and Media rehearsals. As well as all the additional co curricula’s on offer from Junior band, to the Combined Colleges Band with St Clare’s and of course this year’s musical Little Shop of Horrors- week 8&9 term 3.
Education and mental health have taken their toll during the pandemic and we are doing our best to ensure we in the Arts will always, support, nurture and educate our boys and give them the tools to cope with whatever else comes their way.
Nigel Palfreman
Head of Creative and Performing Arts