The school’s annual exhibition brought together everything from Grade 3 drawings and Grade 9 ceramics to the final works of its Matric Visual Arts pupils.
Grahamstown, South Africa (07 October 2026) – Art took on many different forms at St Andrew’s College this year. All from clay “Worry Monsters” made for younger pupils to Matric artworks inspired by everything from memories to personal experiences.
The school’s 2026 Visual Arts programme has now wrapped up with its Grade 12 Exhibition at the Cornish Visual Arts Centre, bringing together the work of pupils across different grades and celebrating a year of creativity, experimentation and plenty of problem-solving.
One of the most charming projects came from an unusual collaboration between Grade 3 and Grade 9 pupils.
The younger pupils created drawings of “Worry Monsters”, inspired by The Very Hungry Worry Monsters. Those drawings then became the starting point for Grade 9 Visual Arts pupils, who transformed the two-dimensional characters into three-dimensional clay sculptures.
The finished ceramics were gifted back to the Grade 3 pupils who had created the original drawings, giving the project a full-circle ending and a chance for the younger pupils to see their ideas brought to life.
For the Grade 12s, the exhibition marked the final chapter of their school Visual Arts journey.
Working from the 2026 IEB theme The Things We Carry, the pupils developed their artworks and examination drawings through their own interpretations, drawing on months of research, experimentation and reflection.
That process also included the demanding 24-hour IEB Drawing Examination, making the exhibition a chance to see not just the finished pieces, but the amount of work and thought that went into creating them.
There were also some special accolades on the night.
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The exhibition was ultimately about more than putting artwork on walls. It gave the Grade 12 pupils a chance to show how their ideas and creative voices had developed during their time at College.
The school thanked Ms Fick, its Visual Arts Intern, and Ms Wilmans for their support throughout the year, while congratulating the Grade 12 pupils on bringing their Visual Arts journey to a fitting close.
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