A recent sojourn to two of the finest American West Coast art institutions has made Rathkeale College Year 13 art student Alex Penfold realise a career in the upper echelons of the art world is within the grasp of mere mortals.
''You see an artist as more like a person and
less like a god,'' Alex said of last month's trip to Los Angeles' Museum of Contemporary Art and San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art.
Many of the artists he saw on display were ones he had previously studied and seeing that ''big mix of ideas and techniques'' in real life, full scale was a revelation.
Rathkeale-St Matthew's Senior College art department has had consistent success since teachers Evan Jones and Monika Theng began their tenures five years ago.
Over three years the school has produced three students who have received national scholarships in the outstanding category.
Mr Jones said the scholarships were more about kudos for students than monetary benefit and said the department's solid track record was an aspirational model for current and future students to strive for.
Many current Year 13 students were in the Level 2 Visual Arts programme last year in which the school gained 73.7 per cent excellence grades in the external assessment.
Rathkeale principal Willy Kersten said nationally that figure would be in the order of 10 per cent. One former student, Tim Wagg, who won a painting outstanding scholarship last year, is attending the Elam School of Fine Arts Auckland University alongside alumni Sam Lee, who took the same prize in 2008.
Other ex-students are peppered around the country. Some works feature in the nationally touring Top Art Exhibitions.
