Today I congratulate Arta Dehghan on his awesome effort in being awarded with a Theo Batten Award. Arta attended Killarney Heights High School which is where he developed his piece, Facades and excelled in the HSC. The Theo Batten Award recognises 2 young artists who completed the Visual Arts HSC examination and major work with flying colours. It's valued at a total of $5000 and helps the winners to pursue art studies at a tertiary level. The two winners are given $2000 and the highly commended artist is given $1000. Arta won this prestigious award alongside Jennifer Choi (NBSC Manly Campus) as well as Olivia Sammut (St Lukes Grammar) who was Highly Commended. Arta's award-winning artwork will be on display at the Manly Art Gallery and Museum alongside other award recipients. Local legends like these bring our communities together through hard work and dedication. Great stuff Arta, keep it up. Society needs creatives more than ever in the world we live right now.
Read the Community Recognition Statement in the NSW Hansard, here