Curiosity, persistence, imagination and courage: the 2025 Carey Art and Design Exhibition

'Valuing the whole person’ is at the heart of Carey’s Educational philosophy. Carey doesn’t just celebrate sporting triumphs or academic excellence – it celebrates the whole student. The musicians, the coders, the actors, the debaters, the makers and, of course, the artists and designers. It’s a place that reminds young people that success doesn’t have one shape, one path or one definition – according to this year’s Art and Design Exhibition Opening Night guest speaker and Carey educator, Liam Stewart. This is what makes the annual exhibition so special, because what we’re celebrating here isn’t just the artwork on the walls – it’s the curiosity, persistence, imagination and courage that went into creating them.

The 2025 Carey Art and Design Exhibition illustrates the transformational nature of art and design through the dedication, resilience and determination required by contemporary young men and women studying in our VCE and IB Senior programs and Middle School preparatory immersive programs. By valuing and celebrating the whole person, we seek to inspire our students and support their intended pathway and learning journey.

Artists and designers today create immersive and expanded environments through their pursuit of the issues of human consciousness, the power of technological change and by questioning social and political norms. Powerful contemporary art and design is not divorced from the cultural, political, social and climatic environments in which it is generated.

The pedagogical frameworks within our curriculum encourages our students to develop their personal language through a global, contemporary understanding of traditional skill-based development, immersive learning units and the interdisciplinary practices currently undertaken within the contemporary art and design diaspora.

Opening Night

Some 200 guests attended this year’s opening night last Friday. Together, we celebrated all year levels presented in the exhibition, from Year 7 art through to the VCE and IB Art and Design subjects.

The Carey exhibition is shaped by the desire to voice a conceptual and personal narrative through the mediums of Visual Communication Design, painting, printmaking, drawing, photography, digital art, sculpture, textiles, Food Studies, Wood and Metal Product Design Technology, and Media. Through their classroom subjects over the years, conceptual design thinking priorities are developed to give our students the frameworks to create such fine pieces of finished art and design.

Our new Art and Design Captains for 2026, School Captains and guest speakers set the tone for the evening, including Liam Stewart, Carey maths teacher and artist. We also take this Opening Night event as the opportunity to present our award-winning Art and Design students and celebrate their hard work and success.

2025 Award Winners

Year 11 supplier-sponsored award winners in Year 11 were: 
Christian Z, Elizabeth F, Annabel P, Nicholas S, Samantha F, Will V, Vanessa B, Jack B, Serafina P, Ruby M, Gracie M, Nathan A, Victoria P and Holly B.

Year 12 Academic Award winners:
Portia J, Josiah A, Chole B, Jasmine B, Moses A, Claire Z and Sam S. 

Special School prizes: 
Year 11 Bertrand Dupuche Memorial award: Gracie M
Year 12 Art and Design Prize – Monte L
Senior School Carey Art Acquisition award – Claire Z
Principal’s Art Acquisition award – Monte L.

I would like to warmly thank the entire Art and Design teaching team for their dedication and encouragement of our fine artists and designers, and our Art and Design Technicians for curating and supporting the teachers and students throughout the year. A huge success in 2025, the annual Art and Design Exhibition continues to be one of the key community celebrations each year.

Simon Carver
Leader of Learning – Art and Design