Artistically talented students impressed the reviewers at last night’s (3 September) Independent Education Union – Queensland and Northern Territory (IEU-QNT) Excellence in Art Design Awards 2025.
The awards held at the Queensland Multicultural Centre in Brisbane attracted hundreds of entries from students and teachers across the Queensland and Northern Territory non-government education sector, with entrants submitting artwork responding to the theme of ‘Friends’.
Student Abhisri Pandya from Brisbane Adventist College Primary Campus in Mt Gravatt was awarded the top honour of the Harriet Hunter Memorial Award, established in memory of a gifted student whose life was tragically taken in the 1999 South-East Queensland floods.
The Harriet Hunter Memorial Award winner is selected from all winning entries across Pre-school to Year 12 and was reviewed by Adrian and Sue Hunter, Harriet’s parents.
Adrian said Abhisri’s standout piece was humorous in its interpretation of the topic of friendship.
“It implies that friends will always find a way to talk to each other despite physical or technical limitations,” Adrian said.
“The compositional arrangement with exaggerated perspective draws our attention.
“It is visually engaging yet has been produced using basic drawing materials and demonstrates that, despite all the sophisticated media and technology available to us today, drawing is still an important means of visual communication,” he said.
IEU-QNT Branch Secretary Terry Burke said the Award reviewers were impressed by the high standard of submissions across all age groups in response to the theme.
“The reviewers commented on the quality of entries and the varied and creative interpretations that entrants brought to this year’s theme,” Mr Burke said.
“Our union established the Awards in 1994 to promote and encourage artistic students and celebrate their flair for creativity.
“Art is a very important area of learning in schools and IEU-QNT is proud to support the artistic talent of students and staff in the Queensland non-government sector.
“We congratulate all awardees for their remarkable achievements,” Mr Burke said.
See the full list of 2025 Excellence in Art Design awardees.
Excellence in Art Design Awards 2025 recipients:
Open: Kizzie Hinze – St Andrew’s Lutheran College, Tallebudgera
First Nations: Tahni Thompson – Xavier Catholic College, Wurrumiyanga
Years 11-12: Liana Rial – Cannon Hill Anglican College, Cannon Hill
Years 9-10: Oyun Cherry – Faith Christian School of Distance Education, Underwood
Years 7-8: Hanya (Michelle) Zhao – St John Fisher College, Bracken Ridge
Years 5-6: Karen Chen – St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School, Corinda
Years 3-4: Cynthia Shi – Sunshine Coast Grammar School, Forest Glen
Prep-Year 2: Kayden Jayasinghe – Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School, Springfield
