Once Again we thank Chevaughn Joseph and her husband Noel from the Just Because Foundation for including us in their 2014 Kiddi-K Event and walk against pediatric Cancer. In 2013 our friend Nikita Mohansingh from RAGD (Random Acts of Good Deeds) introduced us to the Foundation and we offered our first mobile Art Centre.
We decided this was more effective than an information booth at an event where members of the public and children at the pediatric cancer ward attend JBF’s fun filled day with activities and entertainment for kids. Here we offer free art activities for any children who are interested in stopping by.
We do not host the more complex activities that form our workshop curriculum here, and unlike our major annual projects we do not have an art therapist or artists and specialists on site. The mobile art centre is meant simply to provide an accommodating space on location, for children to create without pressure and without expectation. There are set activities (much more simplified versions than those we use for the core programme) that are easy and flexible and that cater for the nature of such outreach – ie the kids will probably only stay for 15 minutes to 30 minutes as we are but one of dozens of other tents in the Kiddi-K.
Sometimes adults ask if they can create and they are most welcomed! In the picture above one of our volunteers who happens to be an artist, joins the kids in making art for children on the cancer ward. Our activities are often tailored for the NGOs that ask us to provide this service and this was how our SEND A HERO activity was born. Here our visiting ‘superheroes’ are asked to send secret superhero messages to kids on the ward. Some paint, draw, make cards, send simple messages or sketches for them.
As the main aim is to provide a spontaneous space to create, children are encouraged to do what they feel to, when faced with the materials. Some kids may be sitting on the table where we invent our secret superhero identity, but in that moment they feel like drawing something else they are inspired by in that moment – they are encouraged to do what they are inspired to do, rather than be forced to stick with what is suggested.
The information component of our Outreach includes reading material and other media that we hope can help inspire others. Whether it be copies of our drawing collection (drawings from children who have invented their secret superhero identities), pictures and text from our past workshops and exhibitions, or even our library of books on superheroes we may have bought as reading material for our programme, we hope to for that short moment in time – inspire kids to think of themselves as super, as special, and as able to create in whatever way they choose.
We welcome all ages, sometimes even toddlers who simply like scribbling with markers and crayons.
We thank all our volunteers, The Volunteer Centre of Trinidad and Tobago, all our super excited and creative heroes who visited us, and all of you visiting this page who are interested in the work we do.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL ALBUM OF THIS 2014 OUTREACH EVENT. For past events see PHOTO GALLERIES on the left.