Visual Arts – ‘An enrichment subject’

The Education Ministry continued its ‘Education Month’ activities, with a visual arts exhibition at Castellani House that showcased art pieces produced by secondary school students as part of their School Based Assessment (SBA) for CSEC examinations.

The exhibition lasted from September 17 to 21 and showcased a combination of art, craft and design, and embodied the theoretical and practical activities of drawing, imaginative composition, graphic design, paint making, three-dimensional design, fibre arts, surface decoration, ceramics, and leather and decorative craft. The pieces were done by Visual Arts CSEC students from 2011 and this year.
Visual Arts coordinator Rawle Franklin said the exhibition was held so that future visual arts students can get a grasp of what is involved in the subject area, and also for them to draw inspiration from what they observe at the exhibition. He added that it was held so that the public could be made aware of the magnitude of work being done in the schools.
“We want to also help students to incorporate art with other subject areas. Visual Art is dubbed in the education fraternity as an enrichment subject, and through it students can develop their reading ability, socializing ability and the ability to concentrate for longer periods,” he outlined.
Franklin noted that pieces were produced through the skill, talent, enthusiasm, patience, and inspiration of students and good tutoring by teachers. He emphasised that visual arts is the vehicle through which students can improve their concentration, reasoning ability, better understand life and their environment, and interact socially.
Other activities for this month include a National Spelling Bee Competition on September 26 at the National Cultural Centre; the September 27 launch of JOF Haynes Debating Competition at the Bush Lot Secondary School; a sports and fun day on September 28 at the Ministry of Education Sports Complex, and a steel band exhibition at the Botanical Gardens September 30.
This year Education Month is being celebrated under the theme, “Transforming the Nation through Inclusive Education”. (Cover page caption: Acrylic art work done by a Patentia Secondary student (2012))