Art Outreach

In this age of video games and television, one organisation is making sure that students continue to find inspiration in everyday works of art.

Creativity has always been associated with art and artists. But what most people don’t realise is that it doesn’t take an artist to appreciate a creative piece of work. In fact, one organisation has been working on making art accessible and interesting to everyone–including your own primary and secondary school students.

Established in 2003, Art Outreach has brought art appreciation to more than 2,000 students in schools across Singapore. Through its network of volunteers, the organisation offers free art education on a range of topics such as fundamental design, photojournalism and environmental art.

All schools have to do is sign up. An Art Outreach volunteer, who’s trained to engage students and promote interaction with the topics presented, will then be assigned to provide monthly art presentations.

By getting students to think about the contexts and experiences behind works of art, Art Outreach believes they will learn to think critically about works of art and maybe even be inspired to produce their own.

However, the best part of Art Outreach is that it brings art beyond the museum by encouraging students to see art as something they can encounter in their everyday lives. For example, the lesson “Public Sculpture” can have students talking about Fernando Botero‘s “Bird” sculpture in Boat Quay while “Art in Transit” can have them discussing Tan Swie Hian’s calligraphy in Chinatown MRT station.

Art Outreach reminds young people to notice, think and talk about the art that surrounds them. In age of video games and television, things like these are very easy to forget.

Interested in signing up with Art Outreach? Contact them by going to https://www.artoutreachprogram.org