SPIRIT OF THE ARTS

Province 20 sponsor two awards in the Spirit of the Arts (www.spiritofthearts.com.au) each year: the Performing Arts Festival and the Angelico Exhibition.

1. Performing Arts Festival for Catholic Schools & Colleges in Western Australia was established to help the students of Catholic schools and colleges experience the spirit and tradition of the performing arts.

The Festival seeks to provide students with specific ‘performance platforms’ where they have the unique opportunity to give of their very best and perform to a public audience. Open to both primary and secondary school students, the performance categories encompass choral, drama, musical, instrumental, vocal and dance aspects of the performing arts. Approximately 18,000 students enter the festival each year.

The finale is the Spirit of the Arts Festival Concert which showcases a variety of award winners who participated in music, dance, choral and drama performances. The performers were outstanding. At the 2024 concert, Immediate Past P20 Director Ralph Fitzpatrick presented The Catenian Association Scholarship for Secondary Solo Woodwind to Jacob Della Bona from Aquinas College.

2. Angelico Exhibition for Catholic Students is a prestigious annual event on the Catholic schools art calendar in Western Australia. The Angelico Exhibition was named after Blessed Fra Angelico, Patron before God of Artists. The combined Primary and Secondary Angelico Exhibition runs for three weeks and is open to students from pre primary to year 12.  The exhibition provides a broad public forum through which Catholic students throughout Western Australia are able to exhibit their dynamic artistic talent.

The Exhibition is open to all Catholic school students and features an array of creative, colourful, inspirational and spiritual works ranging from aboriginal and contemporary paintings, ceramics, sculpture, furniture pieces and textiles. Diversity has always been one of the show’s main features from bold social statements to scenes of serenity with works coming from as far as Kununurra, Geraldton, Kalgoorlie, Albany and Broome. The Exhibition has been held at the Forrest Centre in the City of Perth.

In 2024 P20 Director Lou Daily presented the $500 Catenian Prize to Benjamin O’Keeffe from Aquinas College for his brilliant painting titled boys don’t cry.