A
portrait painted by many artists is to enter the
prestigious 2007 Archibald Prize as a tribute
of thanks to Father Chris Riley.
On Tuesday 13 February, students
from Youth Off The Streets Key College will proudly
enter the 2007 Archibald Prize with a portrait
painted by many young people accessing the services
that Father Chris Riley’s charity Youth
Off The Streets provides.
Stemming from a new programme
to encourage student involvement in the school
curriculum, the portrait was presented as a gift
to Father Riley at the end of school presentations
last year. The young people wished to show their
gratitude to him for helping them overcome various
obstacles and for providing them with opportunities
such as education, rehabilitation, service learning
and psychological counselling through his Youth
Off The Streets services.
“Father
Riley is in life honest and wise, he gives himself
to anyone who is willing to be helped and who
will put in an effort to help themselves,”
said Michelle, a student and artist at Key College.
The process:
The project involved young people
from services right across the organisation in
the Hunter Valley, Merrylands, Surry Hills and
the Southern Highlands. Each agency received a
package labelled “Highly Explosive”,
inside was a puzzle and a tape developed by students
at Key College. The tape sent the students on
a secret mission to photograph Father Chris Riley
in all areas of his work. A photo was chosen,
blown up in scale and divided into 80 equal pieces.
Each young person accepting their mission received
a section of the photo, a small canvas (20cm x
25cm) on which to paint their allocated portion
and black and white acrylic paint.
When completed, each individual
section was then delivered to Key College in Surry
Hills, where the 80 small canvases were joined
together to make one large portrait of Father
Riley.
The portrait has been named “Charity
is the canvas of the soul” as voted
on by all students and members of staff in the
organisation.
Available
for interview: Min Bonwick, Key College
Teacher and Coordinator; Liz Marshall, Key College
teacher and students.
Where: The
Art Gallery of NSW, Art Gallery Road, The Domain
Date: Tuesday
13th February 2007
Time: 11 –
11:30am
About Father Chris Riley:
Father Chris Riley AO, priest,
psychologist, teacher, writer, CEO and Founder
of Youth Off The Streets, has worked with disadvantaged
youth for more than 30 years in a variety of roles.
In 2006 he was awarded the Human Rights Medal
and the Austcare Humanitarian Award for his service
to youth. Father Riley now oversees the operation
of 25 services for disadvantaged youth and his
charity employs over 120 people. Father Riley
believes “There is no such thing as a child
born bad, but we must have the courage to demand
greatness from our youth.”
About Youth Off The Streets:
Youth Off The Streets is a community
organisation working for young people who are
chronically homeless, drug dependent and recovering
from abuse. We support these young people as they
work to turn their lives around and overcome immense
personal traumas such as neglect and physical,
psychological and emotional abuse.
Since opening in 1991, Youth
Off The Streets has grown from a single food van
delivering meals to young homeless people on the
streets of Kings Cross to a major youth specific
agency providing a wide range of services offering
a full continuum of care.
It is our goal that these young
people will leave our care drug free, with a high
school education, living skills and a full or
part time job in hand.
|
