One World School will be presenting the artworks of its students in a show dubbed “Nilay” as the exhibit, which opens on Saturday at the Nova Gallery in Makati City, will showcase over 100 works of art by both regular and differently-abled students.
Each student of the school has contributed at least one painting for the show. The budding artists, aged two to 39, used water colors and acrylic.
“Nilay” will run up to Tuesday, Nov. 28, at the Nova Gallery, located at Warehouse 12A, La Fuerza Compound, 2241 Don Chino Roces Avenue, Makati City. For details, contact Sharon at 0916-371-9952.
Located along EDSA in Guadalupe, just off Palm Village and Estrella St., One World School was established five years ago to provide education for children who have mild to significant special education needs.
Ericson J. Perez, the founder and headmaster, explained that the show is being held to raise more funds for the expansion of One World School, which began accepting students just four years ago.
He said many children and adults with special needs tend to respond positively to pictures and images. Art, Perez pointed out, is one of their favorite subjects in school.
“Nilay” promises to be a showcase of impressive abstracts and pictures. Supervised by their art teacher Precious Gamboa, the students have come up with paintings that could add a certain character and flair to any room. Ayunan G. Gunting-Al-Hadj
The drawings of the younger children offer a view of the world as they see it. These include the Makati skyline, rainbows, and the sunshine, and even famous cartoon characters like “Tom and Jerry.” The works are a blending of childlike fantasies and impressionism. They could easily be mistaken for works done by established artists.
Most of the abstracts were by students with autism. “They did it through finger painting, since some of the children and adults with autism are non-verbal, meaning they cannot effectively communicate using words with other people. I presented them a choice of palettes. I made them choose thrice, and they tend to choose the same color combinations. So those are the colors they use for their works,” Gamboa said.
“I didn’t make them use brushes. Instead, I mixed the colors and placed in them in plastic catsups bottles so they can just squirt the colors on the canvas. This way we avoid making a mess,” she added.
In painting the pictures, Gamboa asked her students to draw them first, using pencils. The coloring comes afterward. Each painting took an average of two to three days to finish.
The student population is composed of children with special needs (including autism, dyslexia, Down syndrome), children who can’t cope with the traditional instructional methods of regular schools, as well as typically developing students who just learn differently. On its first school year, One World accepted 15 students. Within five years, the number of students ballooned to 84.
A former faculty member of Brent International School Manila, One World’s headmaster Ericson Perez, is a champion of special education. He said he decided to establish One World because so many children are being turned away from schools because of their disabilities.
“This is depriving them of a chance to be productive in society, and to make them benefit from the opportunities offered to the rest of us,” he explained.
This surge in enrollment has necessitated an expansion in school facilities. Hence the show was conceived to help raise more funds for expansion as well as to provide all of their students the opportunity to showcase their talents in expressing themselves through images.