On Wednesday 13 March, a creative forum was held inside Newington’s Centenary Hall. ‘Men and the Arts’, gave the elective students an insight into the lives and beginnings of creative arts careers of three key figures in Art, Music and Drama. The panel included actor, Jeremy Lindsay Taylor (ON ’91), artist and architect, Dr Richard Goodwin (pictured above) and composer, Dr Matthew Hindson AM.

After graduating from Newington College, Jeremy went on to pursue a successful Australian acting career and has appeared most recently on Australian television in Underbelly Razor and Puberty Blues. Richard has over 30 years experience as an international artist and architect. Mathew is one of Australia’s most commissioned composers both internationally and nationally and also sits on the board for the Australia Council for the Arts. The forum was essentially a talk show with the boys as the audience, Ms Tamara Smith as the host and the creative men as the guests. A few students and I introduced ourselves to the guests after the forum and found ourselves warmly welcomed and engaged in further advice and conversation.

The forum, which was for all elective Art, Music and Drama students, provided an opportunity for the boys to hear highly respected figures talk about their personal experiences in their creative field as well as to ask their own questions including: “How did the inspiration for Carapace come  about?”, “How do you get into the mood of a particular character?”, “Is it hard to drop everything and pursue life as an actor?”, “What makes a good artist?”, and “How do you feel about government funding for the Arts?”

It was interesting to learn that although they had different views, all agreed on the most important point of the night – you should pursue your passion with all of your strengths. Jeremy commented that, “If it wasn’t hard everyone would do it. Strive for it. Learn everything about your craft. It is about staying positive in the hard times and focused in the down times.”

To be able to meet some of Australia’s leading individuals across three creative fields was a significant opportunity and the boys took  full advantage. It was an evening of learning and laughing and a great experience. The next event we look forward to is special guest Ah Xian, an internationally acclaimed sculptor who will be accompanied by Visual Arts specialists, on Wednesday the 19th of June, 2013.

Robert Townsend (ON ’12)
Former Student