Early this month, Total South Africa and the University of Johannesburg (UJ) launched the UJ-Total SA Art Development Programme.
124 learners from six Soweto and Eldorado Park Primary Schools were chosen to receive Visual Arts training and mentoring from Total-sponsored UJ Art students over the next six weeks.
Nyameka Makonya, CSI manager at Total SA, said, “The initiative is the offspring of Total SA’s sponsorship of postgraduate degree bursaries for UJ students in the Arts faculty.”
Sade Swarts a third-year fine arts student at UJ, was among the 10 students who will be teaching the youngsters everything they need to know about art.
In assisting these students with further training and development beyond their formal qualification, Total SA will provide them with a platform to impart their knowledge and skills to the next generation of artists and, in turn, gain valuable experience as mentors and orators of the dynamics of arts.
Nkathuto, Moetapele, Sizanani, Kliptown, Firethorn and St Ives Primary Schools were the schools selected to take part in this initiative. All six schools are from the Greater Eldorado Park area.
Each school has nominated 20 Grade Six learners to participate in the initiative which will be taking place at St Ives Primary School over the next few weeks.
Learners will be trained and developed in the different facets of visual arts. They will also be tasked with producing various visual arts projects with the help and assistance of the UJ mentors.
Their artworks will be exhibited after the programme to their peers, teachers and parents, “We believe by the end of these six weeks our children would have learned a lot so, of course, they should exhibit their progress,” said Makonya.
She added that art was an important focus area in the Life Orientation subject and through interaction and engagement with the Department of Education, “We realised that rolling out such an initiative would assist teachers who are not trained in teaching arts to also gain skills for the classroom.”
Such initiatives align to the Department of Arts & Culture’s Mzansi Golden Economy, a strategy that reinforces the role of Arts, Culture and Heritage in the growth of the South African economy.
It also advocates social cohesion and nation-building through the promotion of intercultural dialogue, understanding and collaboration between developed and developing artists.
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