Their minds and hands constantly in motion while being inspired by the music around them, 40 children are bent at tables, fully engrossed on their masterpieces as they spend their Christmas holiday developing their artistic skills.
The tables are protected by wrapped newspaper as the children work with paint, glue, scissors, brushes, markers and pens. There are smiles all around, small jokes and ideas being shared. The adults in the room scarcely have anything to do as the children seem to know exactly what is required. Colours and materials are mixing to create lasting art at the tables, and more importantly, in the minds of the children.
This week in Essequibo, school was closed, but at the Imam Bacchus Library it was a time for learning at its Art Development Camp- a joint venture between the library and volunteers of the U.S. Peace Corps.
“We want to create a sense of achievement. We want that once the camp is over, the kids will say, ‘Hey, I can do that. It’s not hard.’ Then they will use the skills they learned here for their personal art long after this week is over,” Colleen, a Peace Corps volunteer and one of the two teachers at the art camp, declared in an interview with Guyana Times Sunday Magazine. Imam Baksh, the head librarian, told Sunday Magazine that every morning camp begins with team-building activities in the Imam Bacchus Park next door to the library. In addition to the local children from Affiance village, a significant number of the campers are from the Supenaam area, 10 miles away, so bonding between the two groups is important. After exercises and games like dog-and-the-bone, the children are ready for art.
Every activity is personal. The children made their own name tags, for instance, decorating them with designs of their choice. Perhaps the most personal items are the silhouette portraits. A projector casts a shadow of each child’s profile onto a canvas where it is outlined. Using paint, and pictures and words cut from magazines, the children create a representation of themselves. According to Imam, the children were very excited to be given the opportunity to express themselves via art.
“This isn’t just about the kids telling the world who they are. It’s also about their first looking inside themselves and figuring out what their values are, and that helps them set goals and standards for themselves,” said Claire, the other Peace Corps teacher.
Imam revealed that a 13-year-old said she had already reproduced some of the projects from the camp on her own time for fun. Nine-year-old Shawn said he enjoyed learning about painting techniques.
Almost all the children, noted Imam, indicated that they will continue to create art even after the camp is over. The children are all praise for the teachers.
“The teachers are fun. They make me like the work and they make things easy to learn,” 9-year-old Charran said.
“You can tell the children enjoyed it from how consistent the attendance was over the week. Every student chose to be here, and that’s a powerful thing. Kids learn so much better when they’re willing,” Imam noted.
The head librarian noted that it is the enthusiastic learning that makes the project worthwhile for Imam Bacchus & Sons Ltd, the company behind the library and the art camp. The company has sponsored the cost of art supplies, snacks and meals. They also spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on the library each year. The local community donates cash and books as well.
The library has hosted art, theatre and literacy events since it started in 2011. They also have regular story times for children each Saturday morning, and an annual Christmas party.
The art camp is one of the library’s most ambitious projects, reaching more children for a longer period than anything they have done so far. During the children’s Christmas school holiday, each day the library features activities such as snowflake Christmas decorations, greetings cards, paper windmills and colour wheel flags.
“Those didn’t start out as flags. It was just supposed to be a lesson about mixing colours, but one kid started to decorate his and then they each decided to make their canvas personal and every kid ended up with a flag to represent themselves,” Colleen recalled.
Another project that received a good response from the students was the designed hearts. Imam disclosed that the task called for the children’s patience, since they had to spend half a morning learning to create patterns and designs out of small, repeated lines and shapes and then they used that skill to decorate hearts with complex patterns.
“I think it surprised many students that they could do something so difficult by being patient and just working at it. But in the end, that’s the kind of lesson we hope they learn,” Imam stated.
For more information about the Imam Bacchus Library, visit The Imam Bacchus Library on Facebook. (Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)
