Autumn is beloved by Canberra schools as a time for large-scale fundraisers, such as the coming Artshow@Radford, marking the 40th anniversary of Radford College’s dedication in 1984.

With more than 300 artworks including paintings, ceramics, glass, sculpture and woodwork, the show will kick off with a jazzy opening featuring music played by the student band that, under the baton of school photographer Alan Lee, has been playing at the art show for more than 15 years.

This year’s judge, Robert Stephens from Aarwun Gallery, will be on hand to announce and present the awards of prizes for Radford art students and artists from the wider community.

The highlight will be the $2000 first prize for the artist whose work impresses Stephens the most, which is given in memory of Jonquil Mackey, a media and photography teacher at Radford who died in 2018.

Her daughter, Bridget Mackey, will screen a video at the opening in honour of her mother.

Second prize is $1000 and third prize is $500, with student art prizes to the value of $500 and a People’s Choice award.

I caught up with the president of Radford’s Parents and Friends Association, Stephanie Hinton, parent of a year 1 student, who told me the art show was a way of bringing the community together and that funds would be used to support small-scale projects such as a greenhouse for kindergarten students.

The show was important for the school to meet the needs of the Belconnen community, she said. 

Describing the gala opening as “quite a landmark on the school calendar”, Hinton said there was always an atmosphere of friendly competition among the 50 or more exhibiting artists drawn from the broader Canberra region, not just from Belconnen.

The registration fee allows up to four entries each and, if last year’s show was anything to go by, Hinton said there would be a broad range of art forms on display.

Although the bulk of the art works would be by adult artists, the junior and senior school art prizes were aimed at encouraging students to think about celebrating Radford’s 40 years and what it meant to them. 

Artshow@Radford gala opening, TB Millar Hall, 1 College Street, Bruce, May 17.  The exhibition continues on May 18 and 19.