Warrnambool mayor Robert Anderson opened the mid-year exhibition at the Warrnambool Visitor Information Centre and Flagstaff Hill on Friday afternoon. 

The exhibition features the work of 60 students, ranging in age from grade prep to adults, and runs until Sunday. 

Loop Studio teacher and artist Ella Webb said the students used iMovie and other computer programs to transform their work into four animations which tell south-west historical stories.

“The animations went off,” Webb said. “There were people queuing to watch them all.”

She said they worked with the Warrnambool and District Historical Society to produce the stories, including one which depicted a tightrope walker who crossed Banyan Street when the circus visited and another of cow who broke into a Warrnambool bakery and ate all the butter.

She said individual pieces they’ve been working on were also displayed and there were “lots of giggles and excited kids when they spotted their art work”.

“Upstairs was pretty amazing. Everyone got to check out the view and all of these amazing young artists and their works.

“It was great to see all the people who came to support them. It was really fabulous.” 

Webb said each week students looked at a new artist or style and a new medium or material and made their own artwork in response to the week’s theme. 

She said art taught students a range of skills including problem solving and working with others.

“There’s a lot of cool stuff that comes out of art. It’s not just making a cool picture. It’s the process and what happens when you’re sitting down with a group of people talking about ideas.

“I’m trying to get these young people to see that art is something that they can do. Everyone can do art. It’s great to sit down and draw for five minutes a day. It’s mindfulness, it’s meditation.” 

Webb is constantly thinking of ways to engage the students and different ways to produce art, and plans to portray more local history and stories in the future through the students’ art work. 

“There’s a lot of things we want to do to raise awareness or make Warrnambool a bit more interesting, as well as have a really nice time doing art with other artists. There’s lots of boxes I’m trying to tick.” 

She congratulated the students and said she was proud of the work they continued to do. 

“They do it every week and they do have to deal with challenges. It’s not just sitting down and drawing what you want some of the time. It’s really thinking outside the box and they always do a good job.” 

The Loop Studio mid-year exhibition is on Saturday and Sunday at the Warrnambool Visitor Information Centre and Flagstaff Hill, Merri Street and is open until 4pm both days.