“ Pattie” and eleven of the Canowindra High School students who designed her shared a moment of triumph at the Age of Fishes Museum this week. The creatively decorated fibreglass cow was chosen for the finals of the annual Archibull Prize presentation day at Sydney Showground next Friday by judge Wendy Taylor, who described Pattie as having “everything I’m looking for” among the 42 school exhibits she’s been assessing across NSW, Queensland and Victoria.
Pattie, she said, “shows technique, texture and lots of interesting little features,” supporting the exhibit’s core theme of the life, production and marketing cycle of beef and sheep, complete with a little wagon full of the final products that we see in the stores and supermarkets.
“I love the storyline,” the judge added. “The students have done a great job.”
The girls, all from the school’s Year 8-10 agriculture, arts, timber and photography courses, described the work that had gone into Pattie and the various graphic features of the exhibit it was assessed. This group effort was driven, among other things, by the fact that people in the cities don’t see the entire production chain of their food, from mating to marketing – just the final products.
By Derek Maitland
IMAGE: Judge Wendy Taylor and the triumphant girls from Year 8-10.