Mackay hosts more contemporary arts students
Published on 25 June, 2008
On Sunday July 6, CQUniversity Mackay and the University of Tasmania will welcome another 5 new students into the UTAS Master of Contemporary Arts degree, during an orientation to be held at CQUniversity Mackay.
The orientation for commencing mid-year students marks the ongoing continuation of a community arts collaboration between CQUniversity and UTAS to offer regional arts practitioners the opportunity to study a studio and practice-based Masters in their discipline without having to relocate to southern or interstate campuses.
MCA students gather in Mackay. Photo by Auz Vizions Photographics.
Professor Vincent McGrath, Head of School, Academy of the Arts, University of Tasmania said that:
"The collaboration is a milestone achievement because it has the potential to serve the artistic and broader cultural interests of both our regions in Australia in very exciting and distinctive ways".
Professor McGrath also said that the Master of Contemporary Arts was the first studio and practice-based academic program to be offered externally by the Academy of the Arts and that the Mackay region's lively arts scene would be a perfect place for a cross-regional advanced study.
Visual artists including painters, photographers, printmakers and sculptors, as well as teachers, costume and textile designers, and people interested in arts curatorship and management from as far south as Brisbane, north to Bowen and west as far as Darwin in the NT have been accepted into the Master of Contemporary Arts.
"We also hope that by next year the Masters program will also attract theatre practitioners and those with a deep interest in the culinary arts," Professor McGrath said.
Students will study externally and attend various intensive workshops, tutorials and seminars at CQUniversity with visiting academics from UTAS throughout the duration of their course.
Ann Williams-Fitzgerald, Postgraduate Field Officer, Academy of the Arts at UTAS and Dr Trevor Davison, Head of Campus, CQUniversity Mackay will welcome the mid-year commencing students at the orientation commencing at 10am on Sunday, July 6.