Lauren Palte, Herzlia High School Deputy Principal’s address at the Opening of the 2024 Matric Art Exhibition:

It is with immense pride that we open the Matric Art Exhibition of 2024.

The exhibition can be seen as an opportunity for us as a school community to come together to recognise and celebrate our Grade 12 pupils as they are about to leave the school and enter into the wider world.

Artmaking is a space that teaches us to hold contradictions and uncertainty because we set out to make sense of our thoughts and feelings. The most exciting artworks are often those that emerge in the process of making.

It is for that reason that you take time to look at our pupils’ process work in their sourcebooks and read their artist’s statements. In doing this, you will see their experiments, reflections, ideas, and significantly, their growth.

I believe artmaking provides a particular kind of growth experience that grounds us in the world. We use our bodies to make, and from within, we oscillate between using our minds (thinking about what the artwork might mean) and feeling (guided by what’s in our gut and our hearts).  We are also connected through artmaking—we make connections with the viewer who looks at the work—and we make connections to the world as we consider our place in it and put out into the world.  The theme for the matric final examination, Bridge, provides a framework for thinking about the exhibition as a whole—exploring connections to self and to one another—and, of course, it is a bridge between school life and our pupils’ lives after school.

My hope for our matric art pupils is that they carry with them what they learnt in the art classroom: they can work through difficulty if they spend time on something, gain knowledge, learn from others, and try different things to get there.

But, tonight is not only about the Grade 12s – it is also about the people who helped them along this journey. We say thank you as parents. To be a matric art parent is to carry more stress, more cost and endure later nights. But I hope tonight it is also to have more nachas as you have witnessed your child’s growth.

To Ms Sally Stephens. This is also a special celebration as Sally’s first matric exhibition at Herzlia. When we first met Sally in her interview, I could tell she was wise and kind with enormous empathy. I was also told by very reliable sources that she is brilliant. All true. What I didn’t know or expect is how hilariously funny Sally is, and it’s been so wonderful to see the joy and laughter you bring to your classes and our department.

Mazaltov to all the Matric art pupils.