Some ex-student stories: Downlands, celebrating 90 years
PRESTON WILLIAMS
Class of 2020 Preston is already making an impact to those around him.
An interview with the Herald Sun, showcased Preston and his identity.
Preston joined the Wanderers Rugby Union Club in Cairns and this week take on the Bulls in the inaugural cultural round.
“We have a lot of different cultures in our team,” he said.
“Being NAIDOC Week, we wanted the Aboriginal and Torres Strait on our jersey. But because we have such a mix of cultures – Tongans, Samoans, Fijians and Cook Islands – we got their artwork to represent all of them.”
“Representing your identity – for me, it’s the strongest thing you can possibly do,” Williams said. “It’s telling people who you are and where you’re really from.”
FIONA McILWAIN (O’SHEA)
Did you get the courier mail this weekend?
Fiona McIlwain (nee O'Shea) Class of 1986 featured on the cover.
Fiona is currently working with Bestlife to build/buy a house in her daughter Helena's Legacy.
Helena dedicated her short life to looking after a children with a disability, working with students at Conductive Education Queensland (CEQ). Helena began working with Lara Coory whose mother Kathy Coory is the CEO of BestLife. BestLife is an organisation which provides high quality fun, interesting and supported short stays for small groups of children and young adults living with a disability.
The problem was that BestLife does not have a house to run such program in, hence the drive for the families to create Helena's House, in her legacy.
ANNA BATTLE
Congratulations to past student, Anna Battle, who currently has her work on display at the RME Downlands Art Exhibition. Anna is launching her range of vibrant wallpaper, produced by Milton and King, which is certainly one of the highlights of the exhibition. Toowoomba artist’s work will be in homes around the world
GERWYN DAVIES
Past Downlands student Gerwyn Davies, class of 2001, spoke with the Sydney Morning Herald about his rise to success as an artist who brings quirky and colourful characters to life through performative photography.
Davies’s work is building momentum, with his pieces soon to be featured in the store windows of French luxury house Hermes and exhibited at boutique Brisbane hotel, The Calile.
During his interview Davies spoke about his youth, including his time at Downlands, reflecting on how this time shaped him into the artist he has become.
