What a ride 2021 has been. Navigating the year may not have been the easiest but if there's one thing that Collarts takes pride in, it's rising above any challenges.
From launching a new school, to welcoming our brand new intakes with an online Candyland party, to keeping active during the brunt of lockdown, here are our standout moments of 2021.
LAUNCHING OUR NEW BRAND CAMPAIGN
It’s Only A Dream. ‘Til It’s Not. A motto to live by for creatives everywhere. Our campaign highlights the life-changing moment of carving your passion into a career, and we spoke to three visionaries—Gloria, Rachel and Damien—who did just that.
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LAUNCHING THE SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION
The colour orange entered the chat as we launched our brand new School of Communication, joining our Entertainment and Design cohorts. Perfect for those wanting a career within the communications industry, the launch came with three new courses: Advertising, Marketing and Creative Writing. And it also saw our two existing courses Entertainment Journalism and Digital & Social Media move under the umbrella.
EXPANDING INTO POSTGRADUATE COURSES
We entered the world of post-graduate with the launch of Creative Writing and Ethical Leadership, paving a new chapter for Collarts course offerings. Creative Writing is tailored for emerging creative writers wanting to apply knowledge of narrative and storytelling to produce original works of literature. Meanwhile, Ethical Leadership welcomes creative leaders looking to take their leadership skills to the next level. Both were launched as part of the School of Communication.
LAUNCHING OUR PHOTOGRAPHY DEGREE
For lovers of Photography, we expanded into the world of visual storytelling, with the launch of our Photography degree. Revolving around photographic technologies, portraiture, post-production, the course prepares students to enter the commercial, advertising, and domestic photography industries with ease.
THROWING AN ONLINE CANDYLAND-THEMED O-WEEK PARTY
Lockdown number six couldn't stop us from hosting an iconic Zoom O-Week party. Held across two nights, the celebration wouldn’t have been as sweet as it was without our lineup of legendary talents including Helena Hogan, Jaypan, Hannah Willoughby, Aiden Willcox, Kittling, Jemma Hollway and the incredible Banoffee headlining the affair.
FUNDRAISING FOR MENTAL HEALTH MONTH
A school-wide step challenge proved successful as Collarts staff and students collectively walked over 468,000 steps during October, raising $1100 for Steps Outreach Service! School of Entertainment took out the highest average step total (200,489), scoring themselves a trophy to mark the occasion.
CELEBRATING MELBOURNE FASHION WEEK
We announced our exciting partnership with the City of Melbourne as they delivered Melbourne Fashion Week for its 2021 return. Collarts Fashion students showcased their learnings with their Sharing, Wearing, and Repairing installation at Library at the Dock; a project that promoted social connection and slow fashion techniques. Fashion students also participated in an Upcycling Program, which will involve reworking all the volunteer shirts from this year into fresh, new garments that will be debuted next year.
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SWITCHING TO HUMANITIX
We made the switch to Humanitix, an Australian, non-profit, ethical ticketing platform that helps educate disadvantaged children worldwide, for all Collarts events. The platform directs 100% of profits from ticket booking fees to fund a range of education programs, working with children’s charities including Yalari, Room to Read, Manaiakalani Education Trust, Code.org and Adara.
HOSTING A MERCH DESIGN COMPETITION
What better way to celebrate the talent of our student base than to spotlight their creativity on a limited edition merch run? Cue the Collarts Merch Design Competition, with Animation & VFX student Pearl Baillieu triumphing as its winner. A limited-edition version of the design was up for grabs at our merch store, with all profits going to Pearl herself.
WELCOMING NEW PARTNERSHIPS
Alongside the City of Melbourne, we welcomed a host of new partners including Ego Expo, ATOM Awards, Interiors Australia's Denfair, UNIFIED Group's Red Hill Entertainment, and As The Cocky Flies, setting the tone for a shining bright 2022. We can't wait.
