9 February 2024, St Leonard College, Brighton East, Melbourne
Peter Clague is the principal of St Leonard College
Wominjeka and a very warm welcome to you all.
It is the proud duty St Leonard’s College to host this year’s Art Exhibition for graduates of Victorian & Tasmanian IB schools. Part of that responsibility includes providing the Guest Speaker who will address this formal opening tonight. You are doubly blessed as a result of that. Not only does it mean that you are shortly to hear from one of our inspiring Old Collegians (who speaks superbly), but that also means less time listening to me.
In fact, I only have two things that I want to share before Olivia speaks. The first is that this is a guilty pleasure for me. Along with my fellow Principals who are here tonight, I spend a lot of my time attending functions relating to school activities. And the Big Book of ‘How to Be a Successful School Principal’ says that you must show equal enthusiasm and no bias in all College events.
People should never guess that you enjoy watching Basketball matches more than Hockey, or that you secretly like the Senior Jazz Band’s concerts more than you do listening to the Year 3 strings group torturing their violins. If you were a Geography teacher before you landed this job, you should always appear to be equally interested in Mathematics or French. And so on. You mustn’t have favourites when you are the principal.
However, the St Leonard’s Art Department have already cottoned on to the fact that I have a huge soft spot for their endeavours. Which has a lot to do with the fact that, many years ago, my own son did Higher Level Art in his IB Diploma, and it changed his life. Which was remarkable given the fact that Year 11 was the first time he had ever shown any artistic inclination.
Not only did he excel in his IB course, including in his Extended Essay, which was on whether the work of a little-known artist was actually art. (This was 15 years ago, and the newcomer was some fellow by the name of ‘Banksey’). He then went on to complete a Bachelor of Fine Arts and then Master’s Degree with Honours. I am proud to say that he is, today, a fulltime artist. And before you all get too excited, he is penniless. Poor as a church mouse. Although he wears that as a badge of honour, I might add.
He is also one of the most self-actualised, intellectually curious, and delightfully grounded people I know. And I lay most of the credit for that at the door of the IB Diploma Art programme. So, this is my happy place.
The second thought I want to leave the young artists in the room with is this. Even in the 15 years since my son graduated, the world has changed enormously. Social media, incessant shouty texting, and the rabbit holes of the internet dominate almost every aspect of our lives. Even those who strive to resist it have become consumers of vast amounts of content. Unimaginable volumes of ideas and imagery spill out of small screens and flood our lives every day.
I am not going to stand here and tell you not to be passive consumers – just about everyone is. But I would plead with you to continue to be creators. Because creators are a far rarer breed than consumers. Anyone can take, but not everyone can make.
I marvel at the magical, mystical process that happens between your neurons as you sit in front of a blank canvas or an inert lump of clay. It is wonderous to create something where once there was nothing.
In your Diploma portfolios and in your own private artwork, you have established the skill of being a maker. So, whatever you do from here forth, whether you become a professional artist or not, I would implore to keep on being creators throughout your lives. It makes for far more interesting people and, if my son is anything to go by, far more content ones as well. You fill me equally with awe and gratitude. So, thank you, and please enjoy consuming one another’s creations this evening.