Artists in focus

Learn about two South Australian artists, Kate Bohunnis and Mark Valenzuela. Here you will gain insight into the artists' practice and hear first hand from the artists in two short videos. These videos are a great tool to bring the artist into your classroom. Explore the making and responding suggestions where students can create works of art that connects to their own world, while responding to these contemporary artists.

Tip for the classroom

Students are often asked to respond, explore, compare and experiment as they represent a theme concept or idea, using their own visual language - rather than mimicking the work of any artist or group of artists.

A guide to using artists as a starting point flowchart will help you in making suitable decisions as you plan and rationalise a unit of work, prompting you to check the 'what', 'how' and 'why' of your teaching practice:

• Who is the artist or group of artists?
• What are the main ideas, themes or concepts in the artist's work?
• How could these ideas, themes or concepts connect with your students? (For example, personally, socially environmentally or physically)
• What are some ways my students could respond to these issues or ideas without creating copies of the artist's work?