The 3rd Annual Children's Art fair was held on Saturday, July 16, from 3 -6 p.m. at the Girl Guides Headquarters in Kingstown Park. The activities included jewelry and pottery making, volcanic rock, craft and face painting, and an array of games and activities including the popular Hula Hoop contest.
"The event encourages children to have fun and be creative through
art making," says St. Vincent artist and Youlou Arts Foundation founder
and chairman, Camille Saunders-Musser.
"Growing Young SVG Artists"
The 2011 annual visual arts program sponsored and organized by Youlou Arts Foundation was held from July 18 to August 5. The theme for the "Growing Young SVG Artists" project was "My Homeland Part 2". The project leaders agreed to team up with the National Trust and presented a program, which looked at St. Vincent from a historical perspective. The idea behind this was to get the children to learn the early history of the island and the national monuments. Close attention was paid to the way of life of the Pre-Columbian people who lived on the island. The first week was spent getting the children prepared for a visit to an archaeological site at Brighton. The National Trust was able to arrange a field trip to this site, where visiting archaeologists from the Netherlands were doing a dig. The children had the opportunity to listen to the archaeologists explain what they were doing, and what they had discovered about the way of life of the Pre- Columbian people living on the island. The children were able to interview the archaeologists, see the tools they used in their work, and see the artifacts, which were found at the site.
This provided the "spark" for the art making projects for the rest of the program.
Teacher Training Workshop
The Growing Young SVG Artists program started with The Teacher Training Workshop. This was held July 11 -15 at the Thomas Saunders Secondary School. Primary School teachers from Georgetown, Kingstown, Barrouallie and Spring Village participated in this workshop.
The teachers' workshop is a "hands on" experience. Teachers are expected to make the projects presented, and become familiar with the art materials provided. They are given instructions as to how to go about presenting projects to the children. There are also discussions about the subject matter and the in and outs of teaching art to children.
The "Growing Young SVG Artists" Visual Arts
Program
During week 1, the
children discussed the food the Pre-Columbian people ate and grew. Then
they did drawings and paintings of the various fruits and vegetables the
people would have eaten. Using clay the children attempted to make sculptures
of the food.
The second week there was a discussion about the jewelry these people
wore. The second week there was a discussion about the jewelry these people
wore.
Projects were designed to teach braiding, knotting, and macramé
techniques. The children made necklaces and bracelets using jute cord,
local beads and wooden beads.
During week three the children were asked to design and make a mask using
half a calabash.
The assignment for this project was to think about their mask as having tremendous power which when worn could cure any private or social problem/evil. The children were encouraged to think about their fears, and the social problems in the society. On completing their mask design, each child was asked to explain what his /her design meant.
Throughout the three
weeks the children were instructed in poetry writing.
They also all made a sketchbook in which they wrote their poems, did sketches
to illustrate their poems, and drawings of the field trip.
The program at the Kingstown Location:
The program at the Georgetown Location:
The program at the Barrouallie Location:
The program at the Spring Village Location:
