The best of 2016’s Higher School Certificate artworks from around the state are on show June 16 to July 27 at the Grafton Regional Gallery, as part of ‘ARTEXPRESS’. ARTEXPRESS project officer, Kimberley Oates, said it was a tremendous honour for these students to have been selected by the gallery curators from the 501 nominated for one of the prestigious ARTEXPRESS exhibitions. The exhibition is touring galleries throughout NSW. “This year’s exhibition program will feature the work of 228 students, who have been selected from more than 9000 HSC visual arts students,” she said. “Each exhibition will showcase an outstanding collection of art works representing a broad range of subject matter, approaches, styles and media. “Visual art provides students with a way to communicate their responses to the world, historical contexts and contemporary cultural. Visual art is the one, true global language, communicating across all communities. The student voice is live and clear in these outstanding ARTEXPRESS exhibitions. “This year’s exhibitors and their artworks are a tribute to the high quality of visual arts educators teaching in NSW schools.” Works range from painting, photo media, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, graphic design, documented forms, textiles and fibre through to ceramics, time-based forms and collections of works.