Art'iT opens at UDC building - National Gallery displays children's Saturday programme work

Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer

The number of children gathered in the Information Centre of the Urban Development Corporation's (UDC) downtown Kingston office last week Saturday morning would have been unusual for an art exhibition run by the National Gallery of Jamaica.

However, for the Art'iT Exhibition it was expected and very welcome, as the gallery opened its exhibition of 'Selected Children Art from the Saturday Art-Time Programme'. The actual exhibition comprises 57 pieces, most of them in the eight to 11-year-old age group and the rest by the 12 to 15-year-olds, a selection displayed for Saturday's opening.

Guest speaker Dr Nadine Scott, principal of Excelsior Community College, connected the concepts and techniques learnt in the Saturday classes, a free programme in which 40 children participated in this its third year, with art and design examination requirements.

There were connections outside of academics as well, Scott asking the children which professions they thought art was relevant to.

Arts careers

Among the responses were chef, pilot and psychologist. She added to their responses, telling them about medicine, criminology and law, where observation is especially important.

And, of course, there are careers within the arts such as graphic arts, painting and dancing. Further, she emphasised the direct benefits of involvement in art, such as transmitting cultural heritage and instilling social consciousness.

The Saturday Art-Time Programme is run as a series of workshops from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the National Gallery of Jamaica. After initial funding through the American Friends of Jamaica, the free programme is currently financed by the CHASE Fund.

Programme coordinator, Monique Bernard, gave an overview of the exhibition and the gallery's assistant curator, O'Neil Lawrence, hosted the launch programme.

Sandra Kenton-Fraser, who had a child in the Saturday Art-Time Programme, noted not only the wide range of art that the children were exposed to, but also the effect of the space they received instructions in. "That many of the children come from backgrounds where there is not a quiet, calm space makes this a very important space to keep," Kenton-Fraser said. "It was a quiet place to come ... to see the children come into the space and become calm."

And she also noted that "not all children have seen art and have art championed in their homes".

There seems to be little chance that Saturday Art-Time will be discontinued, as National Gallery executive director Dr Veerle Poupeye said that soon after it was started "we decided that this programme is a keeper".

Part of its importance is the increased public interaction with the National Gallery.

"I am frustrated by the lack of public interest in this institution," she said, noting that starting with the children is key to reawakening that interest.

And Poupeye called the first name of every child exhibiting in Art'iT, pumping her right fist at the last, thanking them for their work.

Photos by Mel Cooke