Northern Beaches Environmental Art and Design Prize

Last week the finalists were announced in the 2021 Northern Beaches Environmental Art & Design Prize and from over 700 entries across seven Open sub-categories, we're very proud to have two finalists:

• Coco Elder (Our Senior School Art Teacher) in the Painting category
• Sienna Morison (Year 11)  in the 13-18 year old category

Sienna submitted a work named ’Fake News’ which addresses the catastrophic issue of climate change, specifically focusing on the vulnerability of the polar bear. 

“As the viewer scans across the triptych, the exposed natural landscape is interrupted by alarming tones of red and orange representative of the corruption that occurs below the surface. The impacts of industrialisation and pollution are uncovered and dominate the work, just as they dominate our future. I hope to confront the viewer of this to spark conversation and urge people, especially of authority, to become less ignorant. We may have one last opportunity to make the necessary step to change, but must accept the fact that this is not ‘Fake News’ and without drastic action within the next decade, the natural world as we know it will be unrecognisable.”