More than a year ago, I flew to Cebu to conduct an art workshop for street and abandoned children in Bogo, a small, poor city (rated 5th class) with a population of about 80,000 people.
It was part of two explorations coming together.
I, to use art in helping children gain self-confidence and, perhaps, discover their heritage.
And the shelter, to introduce a new activity to keep away their wards from restlessness or feeling downtrodden.
Art Ako in Bogo
Spurred by a new-found friend Michelle from Butuan, who I met on a train in Fukuoka, Japan, I formed Art Ako, a concept that became a program that intends to bring art to disadvantaged sectors of the society.
Seeing the eagerness and wonderment in children’s eyes with art materials in hand brings a peculiar bliss to me. And that was also true with the wards of Collyn Laurio of Humanility’s The Lighthouse Center in Bogo.
As mentioned in my previous columns, the modern world looks at art as a special human endeavor where the creators are “gifted” and the rest as spectators or partakers.
That shouldn’t be. Each one could be special.
Melding Concepts In Art Workshops
There are findings that, in old societies, art is not only practiced by all but is lived as life itself, such as the definition of art becomes non-existent.
There could be a bridging of the two, and I drew inspiration from two friends, Sam and Joey.
Artist-writer Sammy Sta. Maria runs Bright Hope, an art workshop for children in New Jersey, USA.
One time, when he came to the Philippines for a vacation, he sent ahead art materials and t-shirts to hold a whole day of painting with artistic kids.
With the help of Joy Buensalido, primera public relations pro, the children had a grand time and good food, too.
Sam and I go a long way back. We were batang jeprox.
I used to pull him to sub for me as a teacher at Maryknoll (now Miriam), as a writer for the TV show “Ms. Ellaneous,” and as art consultant for a wannabe real-estate developer where we were paid in cash that reeked of wet market.
Art to Manage Trauma
Joey Tanedo, on the other hand, was one of my students at the UPCFA.
He was that kind of student you bring into your wings because you see in him great potentials, not because he was a lady’s man.
He did not disappoint. He chose to be a teacher, well, like me who took on a gamut of “moonlight” jobs.
I consider him as a strategist and as an indefatigable experimenter.
One of his undertakings, which impressed me, was in the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda, when he conducted workshops in Leyte for child survivors to ease their trauma.
Long-Term Benefits of Art Workshops
Art workshops for children could result in several positive results.
First, they can sharpen the kids’ ability to observe and notice more details around them.
That is true when you draw or even take pictures attentively.
Second, they can build empathy especially when you ask the children to interpret their drawings. Shapes, colors, and composition, no matter how crude they may look, have emotional moorings.
Third, with these observation and empathy, the children could then roll their drawings into stories - whether they are derived from life (nag-away si Mommy at Daddy) or anecdotes inducted into tales (naging fairy si Ate).
Communicating More Than Words
Fourth, when the children start to think or plan their next drawing, they enter a stage of problem solving. What to draw, what materials to use, how to put them together, and so forth.
Fifth, when they get further involved in the process of art, they begin connecting dots - the origins, differences, events and personalities in the world – gone or still around.
And sixth, the children consequently build self-confidence with their ability to communicate, not just through words.
A Philosophy In Art
This is the undertow of Art Ako.
Notice how almost of all us drew when we were younger and, some, earlier than when we learned how to speak.
Parents have dismissed that ability as playtime when, in truth, it could be a key to our existence.
Art Ako is meant to be an inclusive rediscovery journey.
Applying Art for All
We have already brought Art Ako to Cabadbaran, Agusan where we worked with school children from various barangays.
My thanks to the beauteous mayor, Judy Amante, our host, and to the solid support of kins Ruby Enciso-Pernia, Jimmy and Tess Enciso, Jocel and Mayette Dagani, Jo Cinco and more.
We were supposed to go to Misamis Oriental and Binalonan, Pangasinan last year.
Alas, the Wuhan Virus.
Art Ako is an art workshop where craftsmanship may seem to be the objective.
But, primarily, Art Ako is meant for us to recover our innate ability to understand and appreciate ourselves and our world through the power of visual language.