Are seen as owners and not recipients of knowledge
Are encouraged to question
Are taught through play and not instructions
Are allowed fearless expression
To make this a reality, Art1st has been engaging at the level of curriculum, and
advocacy to bring about a change in the way art is taught and perceived. Drawing on the
rich repository of research and resource material put together by several art educators,
philosophers, artists and theorists, Art1st has shifted the idea of art
from that of a skill to a way of learning and being.
To make this a reality, Art1st has been engaging at the level of curriculum, and advocacy to bring about a change in the way art is taught and perceived. Drawing on the rich repository of research and resource material put together by several art educators, philosophers, artists and theorists, Art1st has shifted the idea of art from that of a skill to a way of learning and being.
The Art1st Way of learning is based on
creating an atmosphere where the child is encouraged to be
to encourage them to think and express freely.
it recognises the school environment as
a formative ground of childhood experiences,
and has adults - including artists, educators and
mentors - work alongside children as
It celebrates diversity, curiosity and
it instills in young minds an awareness and respect
for differences, while
The Art1st Way of learning is based on creating an atmosphere where the child is encouraged to be
to encourage them to think and express freely.
it recognises the school environment as
a formative ground of childhood experiences,
and has adults - including artists, educators and
mentors - work alongside children as
It celebrates diversity, curiosity and
it instills in young minds an awareness and respect
for differences, while
Our flagship program, the Art Education Program (AEP) mentors art teachers in schools; complemented by a set of independently-developed AEP Curriculum books for pre-to-senior school. Art1st Art Labs offer the first-of-its-kind physical, interactive spaces to explore art.
Art1st has been striving towards bringing art back into education, by advocating for systematic changes at a policy level with Art Education Roundtables (AER) and the Art Education Summit 2019. While the Community Engagement Programmes ensure wide and democratic access to art.
The award-winning Art1st books are published after deep research, which is translated into storytelling and interactive engagements within their pages, introducing young readers to Indian art and artists through games and play. Bringing together dynamic artists and filmmakers, Art1st films are critically-acclaimed for their sensorial introduction to the lives and minds of Indian visual artists.
Enable Endless possibilities through
creative intervention
Enable Innovation and exploration
to make thinking visible
Enable Creative stimulation to
address real-life situations
Enable Local and cultural awareness, and a sense of community
Our flagship program, the Art Education Program (AEP) mentors art teachers in schools; complemented by a set of independently-developed AEP Curriculum books for pre-to-senior school. Art1st Art Labs offer the first-of-its-kind physical, interactive spaces to explore art.
Schools
collaborated with
Workshops
conducted
Educators
trained
Artist-mentors
coached
Children
impacted
Years of engagement 4 years
Grades 1-5
Our four-year long collaboration with TSUS Hyderabad stands testimony to the impact that AEP made in the school. It transformed art from a skill to a way of seeing and exploring.
Art classes were no more confined to a closed classroom, and the teaching no more inhibited by any formulas of right aesthetics.
For a story on trees, the class was conducted in a treehouse where the students explored the fantastical world of all that lives in trees.
For the project ‘Trees trees trees’, the teachers requested children to log in from their balconies, gardens and windows, and used the phone camera to talk about different kinds of trees. This project idea was the outcome of a discussion when the Art1st team encouraged teachers to make use of material and resources available with children at homes.
It invited children to engage with a variety of mediums, express freely and with confidence, and explore the works of artists from across – all with a spirit of play.
While learning the concept of dots, children were each armed with a zoom lens and let free to discover dots in the school garden.
In an online session on understanding colour, the students were asked to walk around their house and spot multiple objects of different shades and tints of any one colour.
With the change in the teaching methodology, teachers turned researchers, viewing art in its endless possibilities of integration with all aspects of life. The exercise on hand animals set the students on a scavenger hunt to find any waste materials around them to create an animal they had in mind.
In a session on model neighbourhoods, the students walked around their neighborhoods, keenly observing its strengths and what it lacked. Introducing them to the idea of a community, they were asked to identify local heroes and interact with them. As a final outcome, they were asked to create their model neigbourhoods using any available material.
Self-motivated, the educators mapped their own individual journey to engaging the creative transformative power of art, building lesson plans in tandem with other subject teachers. One of them, Madhavi Sylesh, began writing her own articles on art education – ‘Insights from personal experiences as an art educator and a parent’.
Years of engagement 2 years
Grades 1-5
Balancing a hybrid model of online and offline learning, the Art1st collaboration saw the teachers at TSUS Palava sportingly take up the challenge to adopt new ways of thinking and teaching. They started recording their online sessions and watching them, to gain insight and make changes where needed.
They now demonstrated a high level of engagement with the curriculum books, using them in innovative ways. In an online class on portraits, the students were asked to make portraits of each other by looking at each other on the screen.
Teamed with a coordinator prompt in communication and solution finding, the classes turned into an energised space. A testimony to it was the eagerness of the students awaiting the art class for the entire week. They now voluntarily stayed back in class. Many asked questions and were at ease with taking part in discussions.
With a greater autonomy in their ideas and space, they now shared both interesting points of view and light banter with the teachers. The change was also visible in a value-adding peer interaction, where they analysed each other’s works curiously and intelligently.
Years of engagement 2 years
Grades 1-5
Balancing a hybrid model of online and offline learning, the Art1st collaboration saw the teachers at TSUS Palava sportingly take up the challenge to adopt new ways of thinking and teaching. They started recording their online sessions and watching them, to gain insight and make changes where needed.
They now demonstrated a high level of engagement with the curriculum books, using them in innovative ways. In an online class on portraits, the students were asked to make portraits of each other by looking at each other on the screen.
Teamed with a coordinator prompt in communication and solution finding, the classes turned into an energised space. A testimony to it was the eagerness of the students awaiting the art class for the entire week. They now voluntarily stayed back in class. Many asked questions and were at ease with taking part in discussions.
With a greater autonomy in their ideas and space, they now shared both interesting points of view and light banter with the teachers. The change was also visible in a value-adding peer interaction, where they analysed each other’s works curiously and intelligently.
Years of engagement 2 years
Grades 1-5
The culture shift that DPS Varanasi saw with the Art1st curriculum was conspicuous. With innovating teaching methodologies such as Reflection Circles and VTS, classes became more engaging and student-led. Not only did the students become more confident and vocal in the classroom, but they also became good listeners and respectful of their peers’ thoughts.
The teachers’ willingness to embrace the new curriculum, and evolve with it, made the implementation easier. When given the space to explore and experiment, they were able to create/design hands-on activities to help convey art concepts better in class.
For the chapter, ‘Our World in a Dustbin’, the students were asked to bring and present an existing artwork of theirs that they did not like. The rest of the class was then asked to observe it closely and give suggestions to improve it. This enabled the students to see their own works with new eyes, become aware of the many hidden possibilities, express their opinions confidently and listen respectfully.
Also, the encouragement given to communicate in their language of comfort (a mix of Hindi and English) went a long way in turning classrooms into enlivened spaces of storytelling and play. For instance, a teacher introduced the concept of the DOT to grades 1 and 2 using the visual aid of colourful bindis against a black sheet of paper, and narrated a story on it using voice modulation and expressions in part English and Hindi.
One of the teachers used a smooth zoom-in manner for introducing new concepts. Guided by a discussion-led approach, this encouraged students to make connections between real world observations, experiences and concepts/elements (dots, lines etc) of art.
When asked whether a particular artwork could be considered a pattern or not, a student replied, ‘if you see from left to right, it is a pattern, and from up to down it is also a pattern.’ Another class saw a student draw a connection between S.K Bakre’s artwork and the Rock Garden in Chandigarh. Observations as these spoke volumes of the students’ understanding of the concepts of art.
Years of engagement 2 years
Grades 1-5
The initial hesitation among the teachers at Lodha School Palava gave way as the Art1st mentors allowed each of them space to reference their own methodologies and format; devising curated, collaborative solutions. This served as the strength of the program. The classes acquired an individualistic approach as each educator took them in his/her style. Classes conducted by multiple teachers therein opened the students to multiple perspectives.
Refraining from demonstrations, the classes turned exploratory. The teachers would ask questions and prompt the children to think critically. There was innovation in suggestions on use of alternate materials whenever needed.
The teaching methodology turned both methodical and research-oriented. For instance, for a discussion on Van Gogh, a teacher enterprisingly found and read a book on the Dutch artist in Marathi.
Years of engagement 2 years
Grades 1-5
The collaboration with Lodha School, Taloja, saw a gradual but palpable shift in the teaching methodology, from an initial textbook-approach towards Art1st curriculum books to an interactive approach, using the books as provocations.
Demonstrations made way for discussion-led classes, allowing students to ask questions and arrive at their own outcome. The assessment was no more limited to the final artwork but seen through the lens of the child’s interest and enthusiasm in conversations during classes.
With a keenness to learn and ability to adapt, the program saw the teachers’ learn not just from the Art1st mentors but also from each other’s experiences. For instance, a teacher’s insights from his fine art background gave a new perspective to the group. They were introduced to the idea of collaborative brainstorming and breakout sessions. Animated conversations had them engage in reflective questions, such as, if there is craftsmanship in art or art in craftsmanship.
Year-end trainings introduced them to seeing art in its socio-cultural-political context, further evolving their understanding of art.
“We learnt new things in this training. We got to see children’s creativity from a new perspective. The children thoroughly enjoyed it and we in turn got to explore new ways of teaching.”
Years of engagement 1 year
Grades 1-5
Art1st mentors began the training in Zila Parishad with first understanding how art was perceived and previously taught by the teachers. A discussion on ‘What do you think is Art?’ and ‘Why, if at all, do we need to engage with the subject?’ had the school teachers come up with responses that opened up the subject from different perspectives – historical, contemporary, socio-cultural and political. This, along with other observations, helped sharpen the teachers’ core concepts of art. They were introduced to methodologies that explore material and mind, and pedagogical tools that helped make their classes interactive and exploratory.
Next, a localisation of the core concepts enabled the teachers to tweak the curriculum to suit the school’s needs. Field trips were made to neighbourhood sites, and locally-available resources used for material exploration. For instance, the concept of lines was introduced to the students by studying lines in nature.
It was inspiring to observe the children respond with enthusiasm to the customised curriculum. The Art1st mentor ensured that all lesson plans were written in the language commonly spoken and understood -- Marathi.
The Zila Parishad School has been forthcoming in all aspects. The collaboration opened new horizons for the teachers as well as children.
Years of engagement 1 years
Grades 1-5
Art1st’s collaboration with Antar Bharati Balgram was both challenging and gratifying for its dual nature of being both an orphanage and day school for neighbourhood children. It had the mentors and teachers weave a way around the gaps of poor attendance, limited/no access to smart phones for online classes, and a lack of familiarity with English.
With open conversations, the Art1st mentors had the teachers explore the oft-missed reality of there being different types of learners, as well as more experimental and experiential ways of introducing concepts of art to students. Engaging in mindful discussions on the concepts of viewing and teaching art, they were now able to assess student work in ways to deepen learning.
A change was also visible in the teachers’ adapting to changes (such as using Google Classroom for online documentation), working collaboratively (seeking help with filling lesson reflections in English) and demonstrating a hands-on approach to solution finding. In one instance, when the children did not have access to certain material, the teacher improvised and asked them to use household items to create their sculptures.
Years of engagement 4 years
Grades collaborated with 1-5
The four-year collaboration with DPS Agra led to a habit building of asking probing questions both for teachers and students. With an inquiry-led approach, the classroom turned into a space of collaborative learning and teaching. The teachers began working with each other’s strengths, preparing in-depth lesson plans. The children imbibed a keen sense of observation and could now make swift connections during any activity.
A remarkable feat was fourth graders learning live figure drawing, without any demonstration. The teacher simply asked the students to observe their classmates’ posture in the form of simple lines and shapes and prompted a discussion around it. For instance, what parts of the face are visible; how many fingers can you see. With a close study and keen observation, each found their own way of breaking down the activity to its most simplistic yet authentic form; gaining a skill to develop individually rather than a template that may be reproduced from memory.
The Art1st way of thinking and creative approach also paved the way for enabling the teachers’ individual art practice, outside of the school.
The impact of the program was not only visible in the primary school, but also in the way teachers took their classes in middle school.
With the senior school students, they initiated a heartwarming project called ‘Wasihat’ or legacy – wherein used and discarded flowers from outside shops, houses, temples were collected and from them the seeds segregated to replant them, with involvement from the local communities.
‘From the board, we have come to a practical approach to teaching art – by bringing story, craft, music into the class, and not just paints and pencils. We now know anything can be used to create art.’
‘At a very young age, when they’re studying the artwork of great artists, the way they analyse the work, the interpretation they draw is quite amazing. We never expected that a 5-6 year old could learn so much.’
Years of engagement 2 years
Grades 1-5
Peer learning, among both teachers and students, served as the most effective tool to change the landscape of education in DPS Nashik. The teachers, willing and enthusiastic, adapted to their new roles as companions in learning, opening classrooms to discussions and unbridled expression.
Nudging the thinking process with ‘What more would you like to add’ or ‘What else do you see?’, they encouraged students to look at artworks more closely.
A teacher came up with an interesting approach towards questions raised by students. He directed the questions back at the rest of the class, thereby encouraging students to think and come up with answers themselves. This facilitated self-reliance and problem-solving skills in students.
It was evident and heartening that students were able to view, examine and discuss art much more intelligently.
Years of engagement 2 years
Grades 1-5
Monthly meets and open interactions led to a gradual but concentrated bond-building between the Art1st mentors and teachers at the Lodha School Thane. Relentless questioning and clarifications by the teachers led them to break down the Art1st curriculum into a realm of creative possibilities, as the mentors opened dialogues, giving them a platform to express and discuss.
There was a new-found ambition in the teachers to dive in deeper; turning them into keen students and researchers at the same time. They consistently sought feedback and made art integration plans for the future classes.
Classes transformed into a space of play – of heightened observation, wild imagination and no holds bar on the use of mediums. In the scribble exercise, the children used their left hand for the first time. Making individualistic art led to increased interaction amongst students as they analysed and shared insights on each other’s works.
Years of engagement 3 years
Grades 1-5
An encouragement to use their language of comfort – in this case, Hindi – for interaction in classrooms became a game-changer for the educators in Kalyani School. It eased the teachers into imbibing freer and instinctive ways of engaging with the students. They now began using research tools to enhance the classroom experience, and unlearn instructional teaching methodologies.
On their part, the Art1st team innovated with interactive ways of mentoring, such as teaching art history using a timeline, organising centralised training sessions to build a collective identity, and conducting research colloquiums.
Most importantly, they were able to steer sessions as needed to make them more meaningful. To give an example, in a mentoring session, one of the teachers asked, ‘How do we know what you mean when you say landscape?...because when you say it you mean something different than the image of two mountains, sun, birds, a hut and river that we are all familiar with.’ To address this extremely important question, the next training saw a colloquium where teachers explored the concept of landscape through art history – from prehistory, through mediaeval ages to contemporary environmental art projects – as well as through concepts – of Still life, Landscape and Portrait. This changed the question from ‘What is a landscape? to ‘What all can a landscape be?’.
Such a pointed approach sharpened not just the teachers’ conceptual understanding of the subject but also their creative and critical thinking ability. Their classes were now participatory and interactive. They experimented with various media, and used the play-way method. The students both awaited the art class and remembered the theory as well as concept discussions.
Years of engagement 3 years
Grades 1-5
Art1st’s intervention at PSBB Coimbatore saw the teachers encouraging students to explore beyond the obvious. They elicit keener observations and imagination by asking ‘why’ when a student replied. The result: the reflections made by children were now instinctive, creative and insightful.
Making a strong team, with a good project coordinator, the educators at PSBB Coimbatore met regularly, discussed, and planned classes. This made the exchange enriching for both the school and for Art1st.
A teacher mentoring session on contour drawing translated into one of the most exciting classroom experiences. To illustrate that contour drawings are unique to the maker, the Art1st mentor asked the teachers to draw a blind contour drawing of herself. Taking cue from it, the teachers walked the students through contour, continuous contour, and blind contour drawing – asking them to draw the same object with all three techniques in turn. Exercises such as these helped build a robust conceptual understanding of art, turning the classroom into a space of eager engagement and learning.
Years of engagement 5 years
Grades collaborated with 1-5
The creative approach with DPS Coimbatore underlined letting go of rules, formats and truths in both teaching and learning. The mentoring for teachers included field visits, sessions on art history, and hands-on activities; which enabled a transition into integrating research, experimentation and creative play in their teaching methodology. The result of the mentoring was innovative lesson planning, despite the sessions being online. A sure shot success was the hand-human exercise where the children brainstormed and arrived at original ways of creating hand humans in an online class, sans any visual inspiration.
It also paved the way for a thoughtful integration with other subjects. For instance, a session on Warli art was followed by a story-writing activity in their subsequent English class, where the students wrote about what they had created.
Conducting classes the Art1st way, the educators were able to instill a very high level of critical thinking in the children. In a mind-bending activity, the children were asked to tweak factual statements with a play of imagination: ‘the sky is not necessarily blue, the moon is not always white, and the sun may not be yellow’.
Years of engagement 4 years
Grades 1-5
The mentorship with educators at Shri Ram School Aravali was founded on the premise of observing the obvious and connecting with the everyday. In a field visit to the NGMA and Crafts museum in New Delhi, the educators at Shri Ram Aravali were nudged to take in these oft-visited sites with fresh eyes; and find one piece of art that drew them in with a trigger to a personal incident. The exercise served as a reminder that it’s not the ‘seeing’ that’s important but how you engage with any setting. A subsequent viewing of the documentary ‘If you Pause - In a Museum of Craft’ by Sameera Jain, opened a larger dialogue on that which is not seen – the stories hidden under the familiar beauty of craft.
The mentor-teacher interactions also helped to identify the different skills each teacher had, and how they could take it to the classroom. For instance, a teacher interested in handiwork engaged the students in crafting totem poles; while another interested in poetry found references from the school library, and dividing the class in groups had the children illustrate the poems which were then compiled in a beautiful booklet.
Years of engagement 2 years
Grades 1-5
Located in the middle of fields in a small town, DPS Ferozepur received the Art1st program with an openness that made the experience immensely refreshing for the mentors. From the very beginning, the educators arrived for the training leaving aside any presumptions about art and bringing with them an eagerness to learn. The mentors, meanwhile, arrived with the tenet of opening engagement with art not just for the art teacher but for all twelve educators from the school.
Experiential activities very swiftly built art as an identifier, making the educators feel confident that each of them, irrespective of their professional field, could engage with art, and in their own individual way.
It redefined art as an awareness of having and owning limitless perspectives, instead of a skill at drawing. In one such exercise, the mentor prepared a sensorial walk for all teachers in the fields, where, divided into five groups, each was assigned one sensorial engagement – sight, hearing, smell, touch, feel. Through that lens, in a 30-minute silent walk, they were to experience their surroundings and bring back their experience in the form of writing or drawings.
Engaging with the resources at hand, the mentor developed an exercise where as a group the teachers were asked to engage with the books in the school library, make connections and build lesson plans. In another, they were asked to think of local games of Punjab that they may have grown up playing and translate them into one of the lessons or activities from the curriculum and take it to class.
This saw the teachers innovate and turn the classes into play. One teacher used a 1960s Bollywood song ‘rail gaadi’ that is originally picturised on children, to introduce the concept of lines to the class. Here the students took the formation of a train, queuing up one behind the other, the teacher demonstrated different kinds of lines by guiding the human-train into zigzags, parallels, curves, etc. Needless to say, the class was a joyous riot! Another teacher drew different kinds of lines on the ground with chalk and had the children race on them with one foot in the air.
To introduce the concept of colour mixing, a teacher wrote names of different colours on chits of paper. The students then picked two chits and made a painting using all possible combinations with the two colours.
The involvement of different subject teachers brought in fresh perspectives to using the Art1st curriculum books. In an activity on family portraits, the educators had children gather responses from their fathers on ‘What does family mean to you?’; which they then shared with the class in individualist ways.
Using triggers, instead of demonstrations, the mentor guided the teachers in breaking unthinking visual patterns in students. For instance, to break the pattern of a house inadvertently being drawn with a triangle roof, a single door and a window, the students of Grade 4 were nudged to visualise their own house and draw it from memory. Instantly, the class buzzed with excitement as each child attempted to share what their house looked like. No two drawings looked the same as endearing details such as a tractor, a dog and TV became part of their storytelling.
The two-year collaboration with DPS Ferozepur stands testimony to the fact that with an open mind and the right guidance, art can find an easy integration with all aspects of teaching, thereby widening perspectives and breaking boundaries.
Years of engagement 1 years
Grades 1-5
NMMC e.t.c. is a special school catering for students who have special educational needs due to severe learning difficulties, physical disabilities or behavioural problems. It is specifically designed, staffed and resourced to provide the appropriate education for these children.
In the Art1st collaboration, the artist mentors aimed at helping the children explore the spaces within so that they could connect with and express their feelings better.
In one such session, the artists led them through a session on self portraiture – ‘The Magic of You’ – to instil self love and worth. To begin with, the artist spoke to them about his unique physical features – a crooked nose and twirled moustaches. He then demonstrated by making a portrait by looking at himself in the mirror. Changing expressions – from serious to angry to twisted and funny – he turned the class into a laugh riot.
The children were then encouraged to think about the things that they liked about themselves; to focus on their physical features and identify what made them unique. It made them think about the clothes they wear, the way they look, things that make them laugh or cry, things they love, things they dislike, etc.
Each student was then given a mirror to look into -- they could stare into it, make faces, smile, talk, squint -- do whatever expressed their thoughts best. What followed was unimagined spontaneity and sheer joy in the creative process when left unhindered.
One of the boys observed his face for nearly 20 minutes. The mentor thought he hadn’t understood what was expected of him. ‘But then I saw him observe his moustache and draw it slowly on the paper.’ He was holding the pencil very lightly so Kundan, the teaching artist, encouraged him to hold it with a firm hand for bold strokes. Instead he replied, “Sir, my moustaches have just come and they are very thin so if I hold my pencil nearer the line will become thick and I will not be able to capture it well. That’s why I am holding it at a distance.”
Another boy was seen painting his face white. The artist thought he needed help in mixing colours, ‘but when he pointed at the tubelight and its reflection in the mirror we understood that he was painting the reflection of light on his face. The boy gave us a smile and went back to his work. It was a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign for us.’
Art gave them an outlet to express what they were feeling. Some kids were so busy making faces with their mirrors, that they didn’t really want to paint but observe themselves.
The teachers realised the need to ‘give freedom to the students to explore their imagination and creativity -- moving away from structured teaching’. And, if done consistently it can help them develop a language of self-expression that will go a long way in their social and emotional development.
Years of engagement 3 years
Grades 1-5
The collaboration with TSMS Gurgaon began with online art sessions. Steadily getting used to the digital space, it saw teachers gain confidence in their own knowledge and thereby create a safe space for students to express their thoughts via open-ended discussions, questioning and positive feedback.
The change could be seen in the questions now raised by the students, underlining an enhanced cognitive understanding. The classroom had transformed into an inspired, interactive space where students engaged freely in peer interaction, sharing feedback on each other’s works.
For the teachers, encouragement to communicate in the language they found comfortable (in this case, Hindi) proved to be a game changer, both in their approach and in the execution of the lesson plans. With a command on the language, they were able to make the connections to previously discussed concepts and integrate their learnings to other subjects more effectively. They were now far more confident, independent and experimental in their methodology. This greatly helped the students to remain engaged as they were able to retain the concepts with better clarity and application.
Years of engagement 3 years
Grades 1-5
Art1st’s collaboration with PSBB Millennium saw remarkable results, with a smooth execution of the program by a passionate team of educators. The classes followed a methodical format: recap, concept discussion, project and circle time.
With their keenness to learn and experiment, each lesson planning saw a well thought-out progression from concept introduction to idea exploration; pushing children to think beyond, with questioning and dialogues. For instance, in an exercise on self-portraiture, the teacher, Pramila supported her students by asking them to break down complex, organic shapes into simple geometric ones.
As the teachers gained an understanding of the new approach, consistent efforts were now made to make their classes more engaging using storytelling and guided imagination exercises. For instance, explaining the concept of colour mixing, a teacher, Priya, made a video of a spinning wheel to show how the mixing of all colors makes black; while another used sugar granules to introduce Pointillism
Years of engagement 2 years
Grades 1-5
The culture shift that DPS Varanasi saw with the Art1st curriculum was conspicuous. With innovating teaching methodologies such as Reflection Circles and VTS, classes became more engaging and student-led. Not only did the students become more confident and vocal in the classroom, but they also became good listeners and respectful of their peers’ thoughts.
The teachers’ willingness to embrace the new curriculum, and evolve with it, made the implementation easier. When given the space to explore and experiment, they were able to create/design hands-on activities to help convey art concepts better in class.
For the chapter, ‘Our World in a Dustbin’, the students were asked to bring and present an existing artwork of theirs that they did not like. The rest of the class was then asked to observe it closely and give suggestions to improve it. This enabled the students to see their own works with new eyes, become aware of the many hidden possibilities, express their opinions confidently and listen respectfully.
Also, the encouragement given to communicate in their language of comfort (a mix of Hindi and English) went a long way in turning classrooms into enlivened spaces of storytelling and play. For instance, a teacher introduced the concept of the DOT to grades 1 and 2 using the visual aid of colourful bindis against a black sheet of paper, and narrated a story on it using voice modulation and expressions in part English and Hindi.
One of the teachers used a smooth zoom-in manner for introducing new concepts. Guided by a discussion-led approach, this encouraged students to make connections between real world observations, experiences and concepts/elements (dots, lines etc) of art.
When asked whether a particular artwork could be considered a pattern or not, a student replied, ‘if you see from left to right, it is a pattern, and from up to down it is also a pattern.’ Another class saw a student draw a connection between S.K Bakre’s artwork and the Rock Garden in Chandigarh. Observations as these spoke volumes of the students’ understanding of the concepts of art.
Years of engagement 2 years
Grades 1-5
Balancing a hybrid model of online and offline learning, the Art1st collaboration saw the teachers at TSUS Palava sportingly take up the challenge to adopt new ways of thinking and teaching. They started recording their online sessions and watching them, to gain insight and make changes where needed.
They now demonstrated a high level of engagement with the curriculum books, using them in innovative ways. In an online class on portraits, the students were asked to make portraits of each other by looking at each other on the screen.
Teamed with a coordinator prompt in communication and solution finding, the classes turned into an energised space. A testimony to it was the eagerness of the students awaiting the art class for the entire week. They now voluntarily stayed back in class. Many asked questions and were at ease with taking part in discussions.
With a greater autonomy in their ideas and space, they now shared both interesting points of view and light banter with the teachers. The change was also visible in a value-adding peer interaction, where they analysed each other’s works curiously and intelligently.
Years of engagement 5 years
Grades collaborated with 1-5
The creative approach with DPS Coimbatore underlined letting go of rules, formats and truths in both teaching and learning. The mentoring for teachers included field visits, sessions on art history, and hands-on activities; which enabled a transition into integrating research, experimentation and creative play in their teaching methodology. The result of the mentoring was innovative lesson planning, despite the sessions being online. A sure shot success was the hand-human exercise where the children brainstormed and arrived at original ways of creating hand humans in an online class, sans any visual inspiration.
It also paved the way for a thoughtful integration with other subjects. For instance, a session on Warli art was followed by a story-writing activity in their subsequent English class, where the students wrote about what they had created.
Conducting classes the Art1st way, the educators were able to instill a very high level of critical thinking in the children. In a mind-bending activity, the children were asked to tweak factual statements with a play of imagination: ‘the sky is not necessarily blue, the moon is not always white, and the sun may not be yellow’.
“We hope to continue this project in its second year as well so that we can build stronger relationships with the local residents of Sector 8 and inculcate the idea of taking on responsibility towards the neighbourhood and the environment amongst our students, all through the medium of Art.”
Years of engagement 3 years
Grades 1-5
Located in Charkop, Sector 8, a low income locality in Kandivali West, Mumbai, Akshara High School raised the bar with its year-end curation project. Engaging the local community, it saw an exhilarating exhibition of student works displayed in the lanes and bylanes of Charkop, in the barber’s shop and outside people’s houses.
The curatorial theme was a declaration: ‘We are at Sector 8’.
An Annual Integrated Art Education Project, it was designed to integrate and connect academics, art and the neighbourhood. What worked was envisioning the project right at the start of the year. Thereon, all art projects through the year were integrated with the ecology and culture of Sector 8. What also went a long way was support from the school administration, highly motivated teachers and enthused children.
To plan the curation, the Art1st mentors and Akshara teachers conducted field visits around the school; brainstorming over project ideas that could be meaningfully integrated with each site. Sites for student field trips were shortlisted from these, based on feasibility, safety, ease of drawing and documentation.
Akshara stands next to a rich expanse of Mumbai’s mangroves; with unique and undiscovered flora and fauna. During the day, the narrow by-lanes in the school’s immediate vicinity are dotted with shops, carts, as well as motorbikes converted into mobile stalls, selling daily supplies. At night, these streets turn into a bustling bazaar offering an assortment of sweets and snacks.
With a site-specific exploration of concepts, the students were able to actively engage with the culture of the community, and build a relationship with their natural surroundings.
The project underlined the wide scope Art1st curriculum has of localisation and contextualization. For example: For the Grade 5 project “Let’s face it”, students were taken for a field trip in the by-lane of the school, to interact with the vendors they frequented every day. Children then requested to photograph them and drew their portraits. In the curated show, these portraits were displayed within school premises, and the shop vendors invited to visit with their families.
The project gave space for bringing in personal experiences and interests to shape a dynamic learning environment. For example, one of the student's parents initiated a Sunday Lake Cleaning Project, inviting his peers for it. This resulted in a field visit to the lake. The children sketched the landscape, capturing its many facets, highlighting the impact the water body had on the surrounding area.
The administration gave teachers the freedom to design their classes. The collaborative learning and teaching environment was conducive to innovate effective teaching methods. For instance, in a mural exercise on The Past, Present and Future of Charkop, the history teacher and the senior-most teacher of the school collaborated with the art teacher. An engaging discussion ensued on how Sector 8 was a few years ago, how it is now, and how it should be. After bulleting the same on the blackboard, the students were divided into three groups to illustrate the different themes in black and white murals.
The final curation saw a hands-on exploration for display strategies, with mock display of samples, identifying sites that required permissions before display, as well as employing strategies such as curatorial walk-through, if the display sites were far apart. The artworks included portraits of the residents and regulars of Charkop, drawings of their homes, surroundings, environment and belongings; binding them into an indelible relationship with Akshara.
“We learnt new things in this training. We got to see children’s creativity from a new perspective. The children thoroughly enjoyed it and we in turn got to explore new ways of teaching.”
Years of engagement 1 year
Grades 1-5
Art1st mentors began the training in Zila Parishad with first understanding how art was perceived and previously taught by the teachers. A discussion on ‘What do you think is Art?’ and ‘Why, if at all, do we need to engage with the subject?’ had the school teachers come up with responses that opened up the subject from different perspectives – historical, contemporary, socio-cultural and political. This, along with other observations, helped sharpen the teachers’ core concepts of art. They were introduced to methodologies that explore material and mind, and pedagogical tools that helped make their classes interactive and exploratory.
Next, a localisation of the core concepts enabled the teachers to tweak the curriculum to suit the school’s needs. Field trips were made to neighbourhood sites, and locally-available resources used for material exploration. For instance, the concept of lines was introduced to the students by studying lines in nature.
It was inspiring to observe the children respond with enthusiasm to the customised curriculum. The Art1st mentor ensured that all lesson plans were written in the language commonly spoken and understood -- Marathi.
The Zila Parishad School has been forthcoming in all aspects. The collaboration opened new horizons for the teachers as well as children.
Years of engagement 2 years
Grades 1-5
The collaboration with Lodha School, Taloja, saw a gradual but palpable shift in the teaching methodology, from an initial textbook-approach towards Art1st curriculum books to an interactive approach, using the books as provocations.
Demonstrations made way for discussion-led classes, allowing students to ask questions and arrive at their own outcome. The assessment was no more limited to the final artwork but seen through the lens of the child’s interest and enthusiasm in conversations during classes.
With a keenness to learn and ability to adapt, the program saw the teachers’ learn not just from the Art1st mentors but also from each other’s experiences. For instance, a teacher’s insights from his fine art background gave a new perspective to the group. They were introduced to the idea of collaborative brainstorming and breakout sessions. Animated conversations had them engage in reflective questions, such as, if there is craftsmanship in art or art in craftsmanship.
Year-end trainings introduced them to seeing art in its socio-cultural-political context, further evolving their understanding of art.
Years of engagement 4 years
Grades collaborated with 1-5
The four-year collaboration with DPS Agra led to a habit building of asking probing questions both for teachers and students. With an inquiry-led approach, the classroom turned into a space of collaborative learning and teaching. The teachers began working with each other’s strengths, preparing in-depth lesson plans. The children imbibed a keen sense of observation and could now make swift connections during any activity.
A remarkable feat was fourth graders learning live figure drawing, without any demonstration. The teacher simply asked the students to observe their classmates’ posture in the form of simple lines and shapes and prompted a discussion around it. For instance, what parts of the face are visible; how many fingers can you see. With a close study and keen observation, each found their own way of breaking down the activity to its most simplistic yet authentic form; gaining a skill to develop individually rather than a template that may be reproduced from memory.
The Art1st way of thinking and creative approach also paved the way for enabling the teachers’ individual art practice, outside of the school.
The impact of the program was not only visible in the primary school, but also in the way teachers took their classes in middle school.
With the senior school students, they initiated a heartwarming project called ‘Wasihat’ or legacy – wherein used and discarded flowers from outside shops, houses, temples were collected and from them the seeds segregated to replant them, with involvement from the local communities.
‘From the board, we have come to a practical approach to teaching art – by bringing story, craft, music into the class, and not just paints and pencils. We now know anything can be used to create art.’
‘At a very young age, when they’re studying the artwork of great artists, the way they analyse the work, the interpretation they draw is quite amazing. We never expected that a 5-6 year old could learn so much.’
Years of engagement 2 years
Grades 1-5
Peer learning, among both teachers and students, served as the most effective tool to change the landscape of education in DPS Nashik. The teachers, willing and enthusiastic, adapted to their new roles as companions in learning, opening classrooms to discussions and unbridled expression.
Nudging the thinking process with ‘What more would you like to add’ or ‘What else do you see?’, they encouraged students to look at artworks more closely.
A teacher came up with an interesting approach towards questions raised by students. He directed the questions back at the rest of the class, thereby encouraging students to think and come up with answers themselves. This facilitated self-reliance and problem-solving skills in students.
It was evident and heartening that students were able to view, examine and discuss art much more intelligently.
Years of engagement 2 years
Grades 1-5
Monthly meets and open interactions led to a gradual but concentrated bond-building between the Art1st mentors and teachers at the Lodha School Thane. Relentless questioning and clarifications by the teachers led them to break down the Art1st curriculum into a realm of creative possibilities, as the mentors opened dialogues, giving them a platform to express and discuss.
There was a new-found ambition in the teachers to dive in deeper; turning them into keen students and researchers at the same time. They consistently sought feedback and made art integration plans for the future classes.
Classes transformed into a space of play – of heightened observation, wild imagination and no holds bar on the use of mediums. In the scribble exercise, the children used their left hand for the first time. Making individualistic art led to increased interaction amongst students as they analysed and shared insights on each other’s works.
Years of engagement 2 years
Grades 1-5
Peer learning, among both teachers and students, served as the most effective tool to change the landscape of education in DPS Nashik. The teachers, willing and enthusiastic, adapted to their new roles as companions in learning, opening classrooms to discussions and unbridled expression.
Nudging the thinking process with ‘What more would you like to add’ or ‘What else do you see?’, they encouraged students to look at artworks more closely.
A teacher came up with an interesting approach towards questions raised by students. He directed the questions back at the rest of the class, thereby encouraging students to think and come up with answers themselves. This facilitated self-reliance and problem-solving skills in students.
It was evident and heartening that students were able to view, examine and discuss art much more intelligently.
Years of engagement 3 years
Grades 1-5
An encouragement to use their language of comfort – in this case, Hindi – for interaction in classrooms became a game-changer for the educators in Kalyani School. It eased the teachers into imbibing freer and instinctive ways of engaging with the students. They now began using research tools to enhance the classroom experience, and unlearn instructional teaching methodologies.
On their part, the Art1st team innovated with interactive ways of mentoring, such as teaching art history using a timeline, organising centralised training sessions to build a collective identity, and conducting research colloquiums.
Most importantly, they were able to steer sessions as needed to make them more meaningful. To give an example, in a mentoring session, one of the teachers asked, ‘How do we know what you mean when you say landscape?...because when you say it you mean something different than the image of two mountains, sun, birds, a hut and river that we are all familiar with.’ To address this extremely important question, the next training saw a colloquium where teachers explored the concept of landscape through art history – from prehistory, through mediaeval ages to contemporary environmental art projects – as well as through concepts – of Still life, Landscape and Portrait. This changed the question from ‘What is a landscape? to ‘What all can a landscape be?’.
Such a pointed approach sharpened not just the teachers’ conceptual understanding of the subject but also their creative and critical thinking ability. Their classes were now participatory and interactive. They experimented with various media, and used the play-way method. The students both awaited the art class and remembered the theory as well as concept discussions.
“We learnt new things in this training. We got to see children’s creativity from a new perspective. The children thoroughly enjoyed it and we in turn got to explore new ways of teaching.”
Years of engagement 1 year
Grades 1-5
Art1st mentors began the training in Zila Parishad with first understanding how art was perceived and previously taught by the teachers. A discussion on ‘What do you think is Art?’ and ‘Why, if at all, do we need to engage with the subject?’ had the school teachers come up with responses that opened up the subject from different perspectives – historical, contemporary, socio-cultural and political. This, along with other observations, helped sharpen the teachers’ core concepts of art. They were introduced to methodologies that explore material and mind, and pedagogical tools that helped make their classes interactive and exploratory.
Next, a localisation of the core concepts enabled the teachers to tweak the curriculum to suit the school’s needs. Field trips were made to neighbourhood sites, and locally-available resources used for material exploration. For instance, the concept of lines was introduced to the students by studying lines in nature.
It was inspiring to observe the children respond with enthusiasm to the customised curriculum. The Art1st mentor ensured that all lesson plans were written in the language commonly spoken and understood -- Marathi.
The Zila Parishad School has been forthcoming in all aspects. The collaboration opened new horizons for the teachers as well as children.
Years of engagement 4 years
Grades collaborated with 1-5
The four-year collaboration with DPS Agra led to a habit building of asking probing questions both for teachers and students. With an inquiry-led approach, the classroom turned into a space of collaborative learning and teaching. The teachers began working with each other’s strengths, preparing in-depth lesson plans. The children imbibed a keen sense of observation and could now make swift connections during any activity.
A remarkable feat was fourth graders learning live figure drawing, without any demonstration. The teacher simply asked the students to observe their classmates’ posture in the form of simple lines and shapes and prompted a discussion around it. For instance, what parts of the face are visible; how many fingers can you see. With a close study and keen observation, each found their own way of breaking down the activity to its most simplistic yet authentic form; gaining a skill to develop individually rather than a template that may be reproduced from memory.
The Art1st way of thinking and creative approach also paved the way for enabling the teachers’ individual art practice, outside of the school.
The impact of the program was not only visible in the primary school, but also in the way teachers took their classes in middle school.
With the senior school students, they initiated a heartwarming project called ‘Wasihat’ or legacy – wherein used and discarded flowers from outside shops, houses, temples were collected and from them the seeds segregated to replant them, with involvement from the local communities.
‘From the board, we have come to a practical approach to teaching art – by bringing story, craft, music into the class, and not just paints and pencils. We now know anything can be used to create art.’
‘At a very young age, when they’re studying the artwork of great artists, the way they analyse the work, the interpretation they draw is quite amazing. We never expected that a 5-6 year old could learn so much.’
Years of engagement 3 years
Grades 1-5
Art1st’s collaboration with PSBB Millennium saw remarkable results, with a smooth execution of the program by a passionate team of educators. The classes followed a methodical format: recap, concept discussion, project and circle time.
With their keenness to learn and experiment, each lesson planning saw a well thought-out progression from concept introduction to idea exploration; pushing children to think beyond, with questioning and dialogues. For instance, in an exercise on self-portraiture, the teacher, Pramila supported her students by asking them to break down complex, organic shapes into simple geometric ones.
As the teachers gained an understanding of the new approach, consistent efforts were now made to make their classes more engaging using storytelling and guided imagination exercises. For instance, explaining the concept of colour mixing, a teacher, Priya, made a video of a spinning wheel to show how the mixing of all colors makes black; while another used sugar granules to introduce Pointillism
Years of engagement 4 years
Grades 1-5
The mentorship with educators at Shri Ram School Aravali was founded on the premise of observing the obvious and connecting with the everyday. In a field visit to the NGMA and Crafts museum in New Delhi, the educators at Shri Ram Aravali were nudged to take in these oft-visited sites with fresh eyes; and find one piece of art that drew them in with a trigger to a personal incident. The exercise served as a reminder that it’s not the ‘seeing’ that’s important but how you engage with any setting. A subsequent viewing of the documentary ‘If you Pause - In a Museum of Craft’ by Sameera Jain, opened a larger dialogue on that which is not seen – the stories hidden under the familiar beauty of craft.
The mentor-teacher interactions also helped to identify the different skills each teacher had, and how they could take it to the classroom. For instance, a teacher interested in handiwork engaged the students in crafting totem poles; while another interested in poetry found references from the school library, and dividing the class in groups had the children illustrate the poems which were then compiled in a beautiful booklet.
Years of engagement 2 years
Grades 1-5
Located in the middle of fields in a small town, DPS Ferozepur received the Art1st program with an openness that made the experience immensely refreshing for the mentors. From the very beginning, the educators arrived for the training leaving aside any presumptions about art and bringing with them an eagerness to learn. The mentors, meanwhile, arrived with the tenet of opening engagement with art not just for the art teacher but for all twelve educators from the school.
Experiential activities very swiftly built art as an identifier, making the educators feel confident that each of them, irrespective of their professional field, could engage with art, and in their own individual way.
It redefined art as an awareness of having and owning limitless perspectives, instead of a skill at drawing. In one such exercise, the mentor prepared a sensorial walk for all teachers in the fields, where, divided into five groups, each was assigned one sensorial engagement – sight, hearing, smell, touch, feel. Through that lens, in a 30-minute silent walk, they were to experience their surroundings and bring back their experience in the form of writing or drawings.
Engaging with the resources at hand, the mentor developed an exercise where as a group the teachers were asked to engage with the books in the school library, make connections and build lesson plans. In another, they were asked to think of local games of Punjab that they may have grown up playing and translate them into one of the lessons or activities from the curriculum and take it to class.
This saw the teachers innovate and turn the classes into play. One teacher used a 1960s Bollywood song ‘rail gaadi’ that is originally picturised on children, to introduce the concept of lines to the class. Here the students took the formation of a train, queuing up one behind the other, the teacher demonstrated different kinds of lines by guiding the human-train into zigzags, parallels, curves, etc. Needless to say, the class was a joyous riot! Another teacher drew different kinds of lines on the ground with chalk and had the children race on them with one foot in the air.
To introduce the concept of colour mixing, a teacher wrote names of different colours on chits of paper. The students then picked two chits and made a painting using all possible combinations with the two colours.
The involvement of different subject teachers brought in fresh perspectives to using the Art1st curriculum books. In an activity on family portraits, the educators had children gather responses from their fathers on ‘What does family mean to you?’; which they then shared with the class in individualist ways.
Using triggers, instead of demonstrations, the mentor guided the teachers in breaking unthinking visual patterns in students. For instance, to break the pattern of a house inadvertently being drawn with a triangle roof, a single door and a window, the students of Grade 4 were nudged to visualise their own house and draw it from memory. Instantly, the class buzzed with excitement as each child attempted to share what their house looked like. No two drawings looked the same as endearing details such as a tractor, a dog and TV became part of their storytelling.
The two-year collaboration with DPS Ferozepur stands testimony to the fact that with an open mind and the right guidance, art can find an easy integration with all aspects of teaching, thereby widening perspectives and breaking boundaries.
Years of engagement 2 years
Grades 1-5
Monthly meets and open interactions led to a gradual but concentrated bond-building between the Art1st mentors and teachers at the Lodha School Thane. Relentless questioning and clarifications by the teachers led them to break down the Art1st curriculum into a realm of creative possibilities, as the mentors opened dialogues, giving them a platform to express and discuss.
There was a new-found ambition in the teachers to dive in deeper; turning them into keen students and researchers at the same time. They consistently sought feedback and made art integration plans for the future classes.
Classes transformed into a space of play – of heightened observation, wild imagination and no holds bar on the use of mediums. In the scribble exercise, the children used their left hand for the first time. Making individualistic art led to increased interaction amongst students as they analysed and shared insights on each other’s works.
Years of engagement 5 years
Grades collaborated with 1-5
The creative approach with DPS Coimbatore underlined letting go of rules, formats and truths in both teaching and learning. The mentoring for teachers included field visits, sessions on art history, and hands-on activities; which enabled a transition into integrating research, experimentation and creative play in their teaching methodology. The result of the mentoring was innovative lesson planning, despite the sessions being online. A sure shot success was the hand-human exercise where the children brainstormed and arrived at original ways of creating hand humans in an online class, sans any visual inspiration.
It also paved the way for a thoughtful integration with other subjects. For instance, a session on Warli art was followed by a story-writing activity in their subsequent English class, where the students wrote about what they had created.
Conducting classes the Art1st way, the educators were able to instill a very high level of critical thinking in the children. In a mind-bending activity, the children were asked to tweak factual statements with a play of imagination: ‘the sky is not necessarily blue, the moon is not always white, and the sun may not be yellow’.
Years of engagement 3 years
Grades 1-5
Art1st’s intervention at PSBB Coimbatore saw the teachers encouraging students to explore beyond the obvious. They elicit keener observations and imagination by asking ‘why’ when a student replied. The result: the reflections made by children were now instinctive, creative and insightful. Making a strong team, with a good project coordinator, the educators at PSBB Coimbatore met regularly, discussed, and planned classes. This made the exchange enriching for both the school and for Art1st.
A teacher mentoring session on contour drawing translated into one of the most exciting classroom experiences. To illustrate that contour drawings are unique to the maker, the Art1st mentor asked the teachers to draw a blind contour drawing of herself. Taking cue from it, the teachers walked the students through contour, continuous contour, and blind contour drawing – asking them to draw the same object with all three techniques in turn. Exercises such as these helped build a robust conceptual understanding of art, turning the classroom into a space of eager engagement and learning.
Years of engagement 4 years
Grades 1-5
The mentorship with educators at Shri Ram School Aravali was founded on the premise of observing the obvious and connecting with the everyday. In a field visit to the NGMA and Crafts museum in New Delhi, the educators at Shri Ram Aravali were nudged to take in these oft-visited sites with fresh eyes; and find one piece of art that drew them in with a trigger to a personal incident. The exercise served as a reminder that it’s not the ‘seeing’ that’s important but how you engage with any setting. A subsequent viewing of the documentary ‘If you Pause - In a Museum of Craft’ by Sameera Jain, opened a larger dialogue on that which is not seen – the stories hidden under the familiar beauty of craft.
The mentor-teacher interactions also helped to identify the different skills each teacher had, and how they could take it to the classroom. For instance, a teacher interested in handiwork engaged the students in crafting totem poles; while another interested in poetry found references from the school library, and dividing the class in groups had the children illustrate the poems which were then compiled in a beautiful booklet.
Years of engagement 3 years
Grades 1-5
An encouragement to use their language of comfort – in this case, Hindi – for interaction in classrooms became a game-changer for the educators in Kalyani School. It eased the teachers into imbibing freer and instinctive ways of engaging with the students. They now began using research tools to enhance the classroom experience, and unlearn instructional teaching methodologies.
On their part, the Art1st team innovated with interactive ways of mentoring, such as teaching art history using a timeline, organising centralised training sessions to build a collective identity, and conducting research colloquiums.
Most importantly, they were able to steer sessions as needed to make them more meaningful. To give an example, in a mentoring session, one of the teachers asked, ‘How do we know what you mean when you say landscape?...because when you say it you mean something different than the image of two mountains, sun, birds, a hut and river that we are all familiar with.’ To address this extremely important question, the next training saw a colloquium where teachers explored the concept of landscape through art history – from prehistory, through mediaeval ages to contemporary environmental art projects – as well as through concepts – of Still life, Landscape and Portrait. This changed the question from ‘What is a landscape? to ‘What all can a landscape be?’.
Such a pointed approach sharpened not just the teachers’ conceptual understanding of the subject but also their creative and critical thinking ability. Their classes were now participatory and interactive. They experimented with various media, and used the play-way method. The students both awaited the art class and remembered the theory as well as concept discussions.
Years of engagement 2 years
Grades 1-5
The initial hesitation among the teachers at Lodha School Palava gave way as the Art1st mentors allowed each of them space to reference their own methodologies and format; devising curated, collaborative solutions. This served as the strength of the program. The classes acquired an individualistic approach as each educator took them in his/her style. Classes conducted by multiple teachers therein opened the students to multiple perspectives.
Refraining from demonstrations, the classes turned exploratory. The teachers would ask questions and prompt the children to think critically. There was innovation in suggestions on use of alternate materials whenever needed.
The teaching methodology turned both methodical and research-oriented. For instance, for a discussion on Van Gogh, a teacher enterprisingly found and read a book on the Dutch artist in Marathi.
Years of engagement 5 years
Grades collaborated with 1-5
The creative approach with DPS Coimbatore underlined letting go of rules, formats and truths in both teaching and learning. The mentoring for teachers included field visits, sessions on art history, and hands-on activities; which enabled a transition into integrating research, experimentation and creative play in their teaching methodology. The result of the mentoring was innovative lesson planning, despite the sessions being online. A sure shot success was the hand-human exercise where the children brainstormed and arrived at original ways of creating hand humans in an online class, sans any visual inspiration.
It also paved the way for a thoughtful integration with other subjects. For instance, a session on Warli art was followed by a story-writing activity in their subsequent English class, where the students wrote about what they had created.
Conducting classes the Art1st way, the educators were able to instill a very high level of critical thinking in the children. In a mind-bending activity, the children were asked to tweak factual statements with a play of imagination: ‘the sky is not necessarily blue, the moon is not always white, and the sun may not be yellow’.
Years of engagement 3 years
Grades 1-5
Art1st’s intervention at PSBB Coimbatore saw the teachers encouraging students to explore beyond the obvious. They elicit keener observations and imagination by asking ‘why’ when a student replied. The result: the reflections made by children were now instinctive, creative and insightful. Making a strong team, with a good project coordinator, the educators at PSBB Coimbatore met regularly, discussed, and planned classes. This made the exchange enriching for both the school and for Art1st.
A teacher mentoring session on contour drawing translated into one of the most exciting classroom experiences. To illustrate that contour drawings are unique to the maker, the Art1st mentor asked the teachers to draw a blind contour drawing of herself. Taking cue from it, the teachers walked the students through contour, continuous contour, and blind contour drawing – asking them to draw the same object with all three techniques in turn. Exercises such as these helped build a robust conceptual understanding of art, turning the classroom into a space of eager engagement and learning.
Years of engagement 2 years
Grades 1-5
Located in the middle of fields in a small town, DPS Ferozepur received the Art1st program with an openness that made the experience immensely refreshing for the mentors. From the very beginning, the educators arrived for the training leaving aside any presumptions about art and bringing with them an eagerness to learn. The mentors, meanwhile, arrived with the tenet of opening engagement with art not just for the art teacher but for all twelve educators from the school.
Experiential activities very swiftly built art as an identifier, making the educators feel confident that each of them, irrespective of their professional field, could engage with art, and in their own individual way.
It redefined art as an awareness of having and owning limitless perspectives, instead of a skill at drawing. In one such exercise, the mentor prepared a sensorial walk for all teachers in the fields, where, divided into five groups, each was assigned one sensorial engagement – sight, hearing, smell, touch, feel. Through that lens, in a 30-minute silent walk, they were to experience their surroundings and bring back their experience in the form of writing or drawings.
Engaging with the resources at hand, the mentor developed an exercise where as a group the teachers were asked to engage with the books in the school library, make connections and build lesson plans. In another, they were asked to think of local games of Punjab that they may have grown up playing and translate them into one of the lessons or activities from the curriculum and take it to class.
This saw the teachers innovate and turn the classes into play. One teacher used a 1960s Bollywood song ‘rail gaadi’ that is originally picturised on children, to introduce the concept of lines to the class. Here the students took the formation of a train, queuing up one behind the other, the teacher demonstrated different kinds of lines by guiding the human-train into zigzags, parallels, curves, etc. Needless to say, the class was a joyous riot! Another teacher drew different kinds of lines on the ground with chalk and had the children race on them with one foot in the air.
To introduce the concept of colour mixing, a teacher wrote names of different colours on chits of paper. The students then picked two chits and made a painting using all possible combinations with the two colours.
The involvement of different subject teachers brought in fresh perspectives to using the Art1st curriculum books. In an activity on family portraits, the educators had children gather responses from their fathers on ‘What does family mean to you?’; which they then shared with the class in individualist ways.
Using triggers, instead of demonstrations, the mentor guided the teachers in breaking unthinking visual patterns in students. For instance, to break the pattern of a house inadvertently being drawn with a triangle roof, a single door and a window, the students of Grade 4 were nudged to visualise their own house and draw it from memory. Instantly, the class buzzed with excitement as each child attempted to share what their house looked like. No two drawings looked the same as endearing details such as a tractor, a dog and TV became part of their storytelling.
The two-year collaboration with DPS Ferozepur stands testimony to the fact that with an open mind and the right guidance, art can find an easy integration with all aspects of teaching, thereby widening perspectives and breaking boundaries.
“We hope to continue this project in its second year as well so that we can build stronger relationships with the local residents of Sector 8 and inculcate the idea of taking on responsibility towards the neighbourhood and the environment amongst our students, all through the medium of Art.”
Years of engagement 3 years
Grades 1-5
Located in Charkop, Sector 8, a low income locality in Kandivali West, Mumbai, Akshara High School raised the bar with its year-end curation project. Engaging the local community, it saw an exhilarating exhibition of student works displayed in the lanes and bylanes of Charkop, in the barber’s shop and outside people’s houses.
The curatorial theme was a declaration: ‘We are at Sector 8’.
An Annual Integrated Art Education Project, it was designed to integrate and connect academics, art and the neighbourhood. What worked was envisioning the project right at the start of the year. Thereon, all art projects through the year were integrated with the ecology and culture of Sector 8. What also went a long way was support from the school administration, highly motivated teachers and enthused children.
To plan the curation, the Art1st mentors and Akshara teachers conducted field visits around the school; brainstorming over project ideas that could be meaningfully integrated with each site. Sites for student field trips were shortlisted from these, based on feasibility, safety, ease of drawing and documentation.
Akshara stands next to a rich expanse of Mumbai’s mangroves; with unique and undiscovered flora and fauna. During the day, the narrow by-lanes in the school’s immediate vicinity are dotted with shops, carts, as well as motorbikes converted into mobile stalls, selling daily supplies. At night, these streets turn into a bustling bazaar offering an assortment of sweets and snacks.
With a site-specific exploration of concepts, the students were able to actively engage with the culture of the community, and build a relationship with their natural surroundings.
The project underlined the wide scope Art1st curriculum has of localisation and contextualization. For example: For the Grade 5 project “Let’s face it”, students were taken for a field trip in the by-lane of the school, to interact with the vendors they frequented every day. Children then requested to photograph them and drew their portraits. In the curated show, these portraits were displayed within school premises, and the shop vendors invited to visit with their families.
The project gave space for bringing in personal experiences and interests to shape a dynamic learning environment. For example, one of the student's parents initiated a Sunday Lake Cleaning Project, inviting his peers for it. This resulted in a field visit to the lake. The children sketched the landscape, capturing its many facets, highlighting the impact the water body had on the surrounding area.
The administration gave teachers the freedom to design their classes. The collaborative learning and teaching environment was conducive to innovate effective teaching methods. For instance, in a mural exercise on The Past, Present and Future of Charkop, the history teacher and the senior-most teacher of the school collaborated with the art teacher. An engaging discussion ensued on how Sector 8 was a few years ago, how it is now, and how it should be. After bulleting the same on the blackboard, the students were divided into three groups to illustrate the different themes in black and white murals.
The final curation saw a hands-on exploration for display strategies, with mock display of samples, identifying sites that required permissions before display, as well as employing strategies such as curatorial walk-through, if the display sites were far apart. The artworks included portraits of the residents and regulars of Charkop, drawings of their homes, surroundings, environment and belongings; binding them into an indelible relationship with Akshara.
Years of engagement 1 years
Grades 1-5
Art1st’s collaboration with Antar Bharati Balgram was both challenging and gratifying for its dual nature of being both an orphanage and day school for neighbourhood children. It had the mentors and teachers weave a way around the gaps of poor attendance, limited/no access to smart phones for online classes, and a lack of familiarity with English.
With open conversations, the Art1st mentors had the teachers explore the oft-missed reality of there being different types of learners, as well as more experimental and experiential ways of introducing concepts of art to students. Engaging in mindful discussions on the concepts of viewing and teaching art, they were now able to assess student work in ways to deepen learning.
A change was also visible in the teachers’ adapting to changes (such as using Google Classroom for online documentation), working collaboratively (seeking help with filling lesson reflections in English) and demonstrating a hands-on approach to solution finding. In one instance, when the children did not have access to certain material, the teacher improvised and asked them to use household items to create their sculptures.
Years of engagement 2 years
Grades 1-5
Peer learning, among both teachers and students, served as the most effective tool to change the landscape of education in DPS Nashik. The teachers, willing and enthusiastic, adapted to their new roles as companions in learning, opening classrooms to discussions and unbridled expression.
Nudging the thinking process with ‘What more would you like to add’ or ‘What else do you see?’, they encouraged students to look at artworks more closely.
A teacher came up with an interesting approach towards questions raised by students. He directed the questions back at the rest of the class, thereby encouraging students to think and come up with answers themselves. This facilitated self-reliance and problem-solving skills in students.
It was evident and heartening that students were able to view, examine and discuss art much more intelligently.
Years of engagement 4 years
Grades 1-5
Our four-year long collaboration with TSUS Hyderabad stands testimony to the impact that AEP made in the school. It transformed art from a skill to a way of seeing and exploring. Art classes were no more confined to a closed classroom, and the teaching no more inhibited by any formulas of right aesthetics. For the project ‘Trees trees trees’, the teachers requested children to log in from their balconies, gardens and windows, and used the phone camera to talk about different kinds of trees. This project idea was the outcome of a discussion when the Art1st team encouraged teachers to make use of material and resources available with children at homes.
For a story on trees, the class was conducted in a treehouse where the students explored the fantastical world of all that lives in trees.
While learning the concept of dots, children were each armed with a zoom lens and let free to discover dots in the school garden.
It invited children to engage with a variety of mediums, express freely and with confidence, and explore the works of artists from across – all with a spirit of play. In an online session on understanding colour, the students were asked to walk around their house and spot multiple objects of different shades and tints of any one colour.
With the change in the teaching methodology, teachers turned researchers, viewing art in its endless possibilities of integration with all aspects of life. The exercise on hand animals set the students on a scavenger hunt to find any waste materials around them to create an animal they had in mind.
Self-motivated, the educators mapped their own individual journey to engaging the creative transformative power of art, building lesson plans in tandem with other subject teachers. One of them, Madhavi Sylesh, began writing her own articles on art education – ‘Insights from personal experiences as an art educator and a parent’.
In a session on model neighbourhoods, the students walked around their neighborhoods, keenly observing its strengths and lacks. Introducing them to the idea of a community, they were asked to identify local heroes and interact with them. As a final outcome, they were asked to create their model neigbourhoods using any available material.Artwork by xx, Grade 4
‘The knowledge is limited, the imagination has no boundaries.’
Years of engagement 1 years
Grades 1-5
Art1st’s collaboration with Antar Bharati Balgram was both challenging and gratifying for its dual nature of being both an orphanage and day school for neighbourhood children. It had the mentors and teachers weave a way around the gaps of poor attendance, limited/no access to smart phones for online classes, and a lack of familiarity with English.
With open conversations, the Art1st mentors had the teachers explore the oft-missed reality of there being different types of learners, as well as more experimental and experiential ways of introducing concepts of art to students. Engaging in mindful discussions on the concepts of viewing and teaching art, they were now able to assess student work in ways to deepen learning.
A change was also visible in the teachers’ adapting to changes (such as using Google Classroom for online documentation), working collaboratively (seeking help with filling lesson reflections in English) and demonstrating a hands-on approach to solution finding. In one instance, when the children did not have access to certain material, the teacher improvised and asked them to use household items to create their sculptures.
“We hope to continue this project in its second year as well so that we can build stronger relationships with the local residents of Sector 8 and inculcate the idea of taking on responsibility towards the neighbourhood and the environment amongst our students, all through the medium of Art.”
Years of engagement 3 years
Grades 1-5
Located in Charkop, Sector 8, a low income locality in Kandivali West, Mumbai, Akshara High School raised the bar with its year-end curation project. Engaging the local community, it saw an exhilarating exhibition of student works displayed in the lanes and bylanes of Charkop, in the barber’s shop and outside people’s houses.
The curatorial theme was a declaration: ‘We are at Sector 8’.
An Annual Integrated Art Education Project, it was designed to integrate and connect academics, art and the neighbourhood. What worked was envisioning the project right at the start of the year. Thereon, all art projects through the year were integrated with the ecology and culture of Sector 8. What also went a long way was support from the school administration, highly motivated teachers and enthused children.
To plan the curation, the Art1st mentors and Akshara teachers conducted field visits around the school; brainstorming over project ideas that could be meaningfully integrated with each site. Sites for student field trips were shortlisted from these, based on feasibility, safety, ease of drawing and documentation.
Akshara stands next to a rich expanse of Mumbai’s mangroves; with unique and undiscovered flora and fauna. During the day, the narrow by-lanes in the school’s immediate vicinity are dotted with shops, carts, as well as motorbikes converted into mobile stalls, selling daily supplies. At night, these streets turn into a bustling bazaar offering an assortment of sweets and snacks.
With a site-specific exploration of concepts, the students were able to actively engage with the culture of the community, and build a relationship with their natural surroundings.
The project underlined the wide scope Art1st curriculum has of localisation and contextualization. For example: For the Grade 5 project “Let’s face it”, students were taken for a field trip in the by-lane of the school, to interact with the vendors they frequented every day. Children then requested to photograph them and drew their portraits. In the curated show, these portraits were displayed within school premises, and the shop vendors invited to visit with their families.
The project gave space for bringing in personal experiences and interests to shape a dynamic learning environment. For example, one of the student's parents initiated a Sunday Lake Cleaning Project, inviting his peers for it. This resulted in a field visit to the lake. The children sketched the landscape, capturing its many facets, highlighting the impact the water body had on the surrounding area.
The administration gave teachers the freedom to design their classes. The collaborative learning and teaching environment was conducive to innovate effective teaching methods. For instance, in a mural exercise on The Past, Present and Future of Charkop, the history teacher and the senior-most teacher of the school collaborated with the art teacher. An engaging discussion ensued on how Sector 8 was a few years ago, how it is now, and how it should be. After bulleting the same on the blackboard, the students were divided into three groups to illustrate the different themes in black and white murals.
The final curation saw a hands-on exploration for display strategies, with mock display of samples, identifying sites that required permissions before display, as well as employing strategies such as curatorial walk-through, if the display sites were far apart. The artworks included portraits of the residents and regulars of Charkop, drawings of their homes, surroundings, environment and belongings; binding them into an indelible relationship with Akshara.
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