Natalie & Amy Receive Angelico Art Awards
- August 19, 2021

The Angelico Art Awards are run by the Catholic Education Arts office and are open to all primary and secondary catholic schools in Western Australia. They are held annually.
In 2020, Santa Maria College was the winning school of the Fra Angelico Award. It is tradition for the winning school to host the event in the following year. Santa Maria visual arts students did a wonderful job directing guests, and our musicians performed beautifully.

Natalie Loach (Year 11) and Amy Oaten (Year 10) received awards. Natalie received a Highly Commended in the Fra Angelico Award – Secondary and the St John of God Health Care Visual Arts Scholarship. ​Amy received 1st prize in the 2-Dimensional Artwork (Years 7 – 10 section) and the Catholic Schools Parents WA Encouragement Award.
We asked the girls to share the inspiration behind their artwork.

Natalie
My work expresses my personal journey and relationship within my Christian beliefs. It reveals the deeper relationship and connection that I have with my faith. Each figure represents a time in my life that either brought me further from God or closer to him.  The figure in red on the furthest right is a display of falling into temptation and straying away from my faith. Each figure to the left of her is a representation of a movement back to the Catholic Church and an internal sense of returning to my faith as a young Christian in a secular society.Â

Amy
My portrait is of my grandfather, who has worked the land all his life. He is an incredibly important figure to my family. It was inspired by our artist in residence, Craig Soulsby, and his amazing work. The creative freedom that comes with art can be intimidating if you’re not feeling inspired, but for this piece, I was very motivated. I love that during the busy school day, I get a period where I get a break from the academic workload and express myself through painting.
Author: Santa Maria College
Santa Maria College is a vibrant girls school with a growing local presence and reputation. Our Mission is to educate young Mercy women who act with courage and compassion to enrich our world. Santa Maria College is located in Attadale in Western Australia, 16 km from the Perth CBD. We offer a Catholic education for girls in Years 5 – 12 and have 1300 students, including 152 boarders.