Dream to bring back art realised at St Thomas
Colour and imagination will be brought back into the classrooms of St Thomas High School thanks to the restoration of its former art department.
A dream of the Northern Areas People’s Development Initiative (Napdi) to revive the former art department at St Thomas and preserve its heritage, is finally being realised through a partnership with the school management, the provincial education department and the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality.
The project, launched this week, will see pupils and the community benefit from classes in different forms of creative art.
Napdi chair Isaac Metembo said the organisation had always been involved in community initiatives in education in the area, as well as in developing a footprint in the arts.
“We hope this project is a precursor to something bigger.
“We are grateful to the municipality for giving us the grant-in-aid of R50,000 to kickstart the project.
“The idea is, in partnership with the local education district and St Thomas, to see whether we can transform the school into an art hub in this district again.
“In the Eastern Cape, there is not one school in the former disadvantaged communities that offers any art subject, whether it is music, visual arts or dance.”
Metembo said as a result, if parents of talented pupils were unable to afford the fees for former model C schools, the children’s creative talent became dead in the water.
“We want pupils from across the metro to find a home in a school like St Thomas.
“This project is a small start, and that is why the participation of all the role players ought to be successful.”
Metembo said communities had to be actively involved in preserving their own heritage.
“And reigniting this art school is one way of preserving the heritage of our community.”
Project leader and former St Thomas art teacher Michael Barry said the school opened in 1986 with a focus on the arts.
“As years went by, things became more complicated with the redeployment of teachers, bigger classes and outcomes-based education (OBE) introduced.
“It became convenient not to have art as an exam subject any longer.
“As a result, access to art was closed to the poorer children whose parents could not afford to pay for fees at the former Model C schools.
“That was 18 years ago.” Barry said new school principal Jacky Gorgonzola had a vision to turn St Thomas into a community school with art as a focus.
“We applied for the municipality’s grant-in-aid and with that money we refurbished the classroom and started the initiative off as a pilot project.
“We have an agreement with the school to take the pupils with an inclination towards art to develop their talent.
“The plethora of art will also be offered to the community at a small fee during evenings.
He said the project would start only after exams, but an added service would be provided to pupils.
“If you are in grade 11 or 12 and want to study art at university, we are offering to help you with your required portfolio for university admission.
“The dream is to bring art back as an exam subject up to matric.”
Gorgonzola said it was important to plough back into the community.
“For me, the impact on our pupils is very important, because not all our pupils are academically strong.
“This is an opportunity for them to use their hands and learn a skill.
“This gives children another option and a career path.
“Only 20 pupils will be identified, but hopefully the project will grow to benefit more children.”
She said St Thomas was a beacon in the northern areas.
“Our children have talent and they need to be given the opportunities to develop their talent.”