BUSSELTON SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

As part of Portrait of a Nation: Australian Schools Portrait Project, students from Busselton Senior High School in Western Australia were invited to participate in an outreach workshop presented by the National Portrait Gallery.

The workshop provided students with the opportunity to explore connections between the portrait of Deborah Vernon Hackett and the history of their local area, settled by her grandfather, Alfred Bussell, and his brothers in the early 1830s.

Forty-five students from Years 9-12 responded enthusiastically to the program, creating a series of animated contour drawings and delightfully unrestrained caricature sketches of the young Lady Hackett.

Reflecting on the relationship between portraits and place, students also engaged with the subject through drawings that incorporated images and symbols from their local environment.