LET'S START ART: MAY 2019

Creating art is a practice in both communication and empathy that affects the storyteller (the student artist) and the person viewing the story (peers, teachers, and counselors). Art gives the students new ways to process and tease out meaning and to share their lived experiences. In the Let's Start Art sessions, students often make paintings that can easily help us figure out their relationship with their parents/siblings, the surroundings they are living in, the things they love or hate and many such factors.

The summer vacations started way before they were supposed to, so we conducted the art sessions in 7 Govt. Primary Schools of Varanasi and around 172 students attended these workshops. In these sessions, we asked the students to make a paper mask of their favorite person, thing or fictional character. The students enjoyed drawing faces and then getting photographed after putting on the mask.

This mask makes it evident that mangoes are the most popular thing this season among children. Kalaam, a student of class 3 at Govt Primary School, Nayi Sadak told us that he cannot think of anything else as his favorite other than a mango.

The art sessions at Govt. Primary Schools at Bhadaini and Nagwa were conducted by Neelam Gupta (Student Artist) and the sessions at Govt. Primary Schools at Sonarpura, Naria, Nayi Sarak, and Sunderpur were conducted by Ajay Prakash (Student Artist).