Ignite your artistic side and take a tour of McGlade Gallery, where you will discover 68 mesmerising spiritual artworks by talented Sydney Catholic secondary students.

Sculptures, paintings, photographs and much more form part of the 2021 Clancy Religious Art Prize and Exhibition.

Sixty-eight individual and collaborative works were last year entered into the Sydney Archdiocesan competition and 14 picked up prizes on Friday 21 May.

The artworks illustrate students’ understanding of this year’s exhibition theme: ‘Celebrating 200 Years of Catholic Education in Australia’.

“I try to buy as much student work as I can; it’s good for me and for them” – Clancy Prize judge, Dr Victoria Carruthers

Anna Giannini, former St Ursula's College Kingsgrove student, with her Clancy Prize artwork

ACU School of Education Award winner: St Ursula’s College Kingsgrove alumna, Anna Giannini, with her artwork Intricacy. “During 2020 we were isolated and had to find new ways to ‘look up’,” said Anna, who is now studying fashion. “My artworks are a symbolic and spiritual representation of this.”

Martino Kanasugi, a former St Mary's Cathedral College Sydney student, with his Clancy Prize artwork

St Mary’s Cathedral Sydney alumnus, Martino Kanasugi, with his work Don’t Blink (keep watching). “The sensitive use of a translucent Mickey, whispering subliminal messages, alludes to the sinister nature of the ‘screen’,” said Martino, who is now studying Bachelor of Design at UNSW.

ABOUT THE CLANCY PRIZE

The annual Clancy Prize exhibition is a celebration of our students’ creativity and spirituality, expressed through visual arts, inspired by Cardinal Edward Clancy.

This is the 22nd year of the competition.

Taking part is a very practical way for students to mark and celebrate the bicentenary of Catholic education in Australia and, most importantly, it provides an opportunity for them to use their gifts and talents.

“To me it’s about how humanity and divinity meet, interlock and become one” – Clancy Prize coordinator, Ivanka Rancic

De La Salle College Cronulla students Sean Maquiran, Lily McAdam and Christina Stambolziovska accepting their Clancy Prize award

Br Kelvin Canavan Prize winner: De La Salle College Cronulla students Sean Maquiran, Lily McAdam and Christina Stambolziovska produced Lasallian Madonna, taking inspiration from the luminous colour of Giovanni Bellini’s Madonnas. “I’m quite proud to see it all come together; I saw some people taking photos of it and I thought ‘Great!’” said Lily.

Natalia Azzi and Winnie Lay Quach with Clancy College West Hoxton collaborative Clancy Prize artwork Faces of Clancy

Clancy Catholic College West Hoxton Year 7 students Natalia Azzi and Winnie Lay Quach with their collaborative work, Faces of Clancy. “It’s exciting to see everyone looking at it’,” said Winnie. “It’s really outstanding to see (all our portraits) gathered as one.”

Marist Sisters' College Woolwich students with their Clancy Prize artworkheir artwork

Packing Room Prize – Year 9 Photographic and Digital Media: Marist Sisters’ College Woolwich students created the artwork Marist in name and nature. “Patron saints inspired us,” said Ziani Viola.

Trinity College Regents Park Year 8 student Stephanie Nguyen with collaborative Clancy Prize work A world to which we can turn

Throughout 2020 and 2021 Year 7 and 8 students from Trinity College Regents Park were encouraged to draw casts of religious statues found on campus, outside the neighbouring convent and inside the neighbouring church. The result is this work, A world to which we can turn. Pictured is student-artist Stephanie Nguyen who said: “I’m proud of my school.”

A JUDGES’ PERSPECTIVE

Dr Victoria Carruthers described the standard of entries as “extraordinary.”

“The quality of the work shows the quality of the teaching across Sydney Catholic schools” – Dr Victoria Carruthers

She is a senior lecturer in modern and contemporary art history at Australian Catholic University, specialising in all aspects of visual culture from the 19th century to today.

Marist College Kogarah students with their Clancy Prize collaborative artwork

ACU School of Arts and Sciences Award winner: Collaborative artwork, Red & White: MCK Now and Then, celebrates the history and culture of Marist College Kogarah.

“I think that allowing students to explore all aspects of their humanity through creative expression is vital to developing empathy and understanding of human experience,” Dr Carruthers said.

Importantly, the Clancy Prize and exhibition is helping to “bring an awareness of this experience to an audience,” Dr Carruthers said.

St Patrick's Sutherland alumna Charlotte Litchfield with her Clancy Prize artwork

St Patrick’s Sutherland alumna Charlotte Litchfield with her artwork, Maurice, His faith and spirit still lives on in me. “Maurice was my grandfather, who had been living with dementia and was at the stage of severe cognitive decline whilst I was completing my HSC,” said Charlotte, who is now studying business at the University of Wollongong but hopes to continue her passion for art. “I find it really therapeutic,” Charlotte said.

Bella Seeto and Finn Rooney Weimers from Brigidine College Randwick with their Clancy Prize artwork

ACU School of Education Award winner: The collaborative artwork, Fiercest Fauves, celebrates 200 years of Catholic education and 120 years since Brigidine Catholic College Randwick was founded. “Art has been a big part of my life since I was little,” said collaborating artist Finn Rooney Weimers (pictured with Bella Seeto). Asked if she’d sell her quarter of the artwork, Finn remarked with tongue firmly in cheek: “For the right price!”

“ACU really values the collaboration with Sydney Catholic Schools,” Dr Carruthers said.

“Last year and the year before I bought artwork from the exhibition.”

St Patrick's Sutherland alumnus Yianna Karantonis with his Clancy Prize artwork

St Patrick’s Sutherland alumnus Yianna Karantonis with his pencil drawings, titled Unlived memories, depicting his paternal and maternal grandfathers. “Although I did not physically know (them), their experiences and lives feel like that of a distant memory, gathering a sense of reality through my life, my head filled with stories of their mandatory military service experiences, migration to Australia and stories of their love towards my parents,” said Yianna, who is now studying property economics.

Southern Cross College Burwood student Charlotte McCaughan with her Clancy Prize artwork and parents

The Executive Director’s Award winner: Southern Cross Catholic College Burwood construction student Charlotte McCaughan’s artwork, titled Tableland of Faith and Time, tells her story of redemptive healing following a life-altering head injury. “My injury made me question my faith in God and if it were not for the teachers and family members who supported my academic work and social life, I would not be sharing my experiences with the world around me,” said Charlotte. “The physicality of the wood demonstrates my skills and the symbolism of the cross and stars reflect those people and places that I have navigated in my faith journey.”

THE FULL WINNERS’ LIST

Packing Room Prize

  • Year 9 Photographic and Digital Media for their artwork: Marist in name and nature (Marist Sisters’ College Woolwich)

Sponsors’ award from Eckersley’s

  • Claudia Matek for her artwork: Diaspora (Domremy College Five Dock)

ACU School of Education Award

  • Amelie Bald, Anya Radomir, Finn Rooney Weimers and Bella Seeto for their artwork: The Fiercest Fauves (Brigidine College Randwick)
  • Anna Giannini for her artwork: Intricacy (St Ursula’s Kingsgrove)
  • Stage 4 Collaborative for their artwork: This is who we are (Mary Mackillop College Wakeley)

ACU School of Arts and Sciences Award

Br Kelvin Canavan Prize

  • Sean Maquiran, Lily McAdam and Christina Stambolziovska for their collaborative artwork: The Lasallian Madonna (De La Salle College Cronulla)

The Brian Jordan Prize

  • Jayden Gronau, Alistair Logan, Aidan McNeill, Cooper Roche, Jack Bowen and Orlando Murillo for their collaborative artwork: The Patrician Tradition (Holy Cross College Ryde)
  • Sean Maguiran for his artwork: Lasallian Values (De La Salle Cronulla)

The Monsignor Doherty Prize

  • Stage 4 Collaborative Portrait (Marist College Penshurst)
  • For their collaborative artwork: 20 Decades (Loretto Kirribilli)

The Executive Director’s Award

The Clancy Prize exhibition is showing at McGlade Gallery on Australian Catholic University’s Strathfield Campus until Sunday 30 May, 2021.