In its 25th anniversary year, the Winmalee Artfest has evolved from an annual art and crafts festival into an exciting event that embodies the creative and artistic essence of the Blue Mountains.
This year, individuals and businesses are being offered the chance to become an 'Artfest angel' and help fund expert teaching opportunities at the school.
"One of the challenges in any school community is keeping the curriculum alive by providing experiences that bring life to learning; that bring purpose and excitement to learning," said principal Katrina Middlebrook.
"What we want to ensure we do well at Winmalee is to have a living curriculum. We want to call on the expertise of our local artists, designers, musicians, photographers, writers etc to work directly with our students to excite them about learning, improving their skills and breadth of experience. Learning is much more stimulating when you can watch and learn from experts. The sky is really the limit."
Artfest angels can either make a financial contribution to allow the school to hire local experts, or they can provide their professional expertise to deliver stimulating learning opportunities.
Artfest angel packages are available in three tiers - gold ($1000), silver ($500) and bronze ($250) in financial sponsorship and/or professional service and time to the value of one of the tiers.
All Artfest angels receive a gold, silver or bronze winged badge and a car sticker. Angels will be kept informed about how their money has made a difference to learning at the school.
Creative contributors to the 2014 Artfest included artists Chris Tobin, Michael Jungura, Tania Loviz and Caitlin Hughes, African drum musician Afro Moses, photographer David Glazebrook and well-known personality Ernie Dingo. The first gold artfest angels are Mathew Lynn and Michael Jungura.
Call Prue Rowston or Katrina Middlebrook for more details on 4754 2822.