Held over the course of three days, students from eight schools across the region, as far as Black Springs, were taught how to make art across a number of mediums with workshop coordinator and artist Niki Martignago. 

She encouraged the students to continue making art and to enter artworks into the Operation Art exhibition, which will be held at Sydney Olympic Park in September. 

On Friday afternoon, two students, Liam O’Brien from Blayney and Nathan Mrdjenovic from Oberon, had their artworks selected to be displayed in Cowra Hospital at a presentation of the 2016 traveling exhibition at Cowra Library. 

Primary teacher Heidi Hinte from the Arts Unit said their works, along with the hundreds of others on display each year, would go on to help kids in hospital. 

“Artwork plays an important role in healing,” she said. 

“It’s really nice for the sick kids in the hospital.”

Wendy Hyde from Cowra Hospital said the works will be seen by patients and visitors alike. 

“People do stop and look at them,” she said. 

“I’ll find a nice, long corridor and put these in.”

Every year schools across New South Wales are invited to participate in Operation Art, an initiative of The Children’s Hospital at Westmead in association with the New South Wales Department of Education.