Art Lessons at Khraft

Some of our kids are very passionate about the visual arts, and they’re talented painters, too. Over the years, they have received art lessons from several inspiring teachers; they created paintings that were sold at auctions and donated to sponsors and special visitors; and they planned and painstakingly completed a stunning new art gallery here at Little Hearts. 

Since last year, however, they have been without a painting instructor to guide them because their last teacher moved on to pursue a master’s degree in fine art. But recently, two wonderful new sponsors, Jake McVety and Helen Xia, stepped into the void left by his departure to continue the kids’ artistic education. 

Jake and Helen own an arts and crafts store called Khraft in central Phnom Penh. One of our staff reached out to them because they were known to have donated art materials to disadvantaged students before. Soon thereafter, Jake paid Little Hearts a visit to meet our staff and some of the kids, and to assess our art needs. He and Helen promptly decided to help us not just with materials, but also by hosting art lessons at Khraft. 

The first thing, though, was to find a teacher. Enter Donna Scotty, an art teacher at the Canadian International School in Phnom Penh, who responded to Jake’s advertisement and volunteered to tutor our kids for free on Sundays, thus making the art classes possible. During the first class, which took place last week, Donna and Helen tested the students’ skills by having them sketch self-portraits and colour them with watercolours. This gave them a clear idea of each child’s level and skill so they could plan the next lessons accordingly.

Based on the assessment they then created a six-month curriculum that covers sketching, painting, printmaking and sculpture, so our kids will be busy creating artworks of all kinds every Sunday afternoon until July! And Khraft, aided by the community of artists who frequent the store, are generously donating all the supplies needed for each class.

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We’re all excited to see how the kids will progress and learn to express themselves through art. We cannot thank Jake, Helen and Donna enough for their kindness, enthusiasm and dedication to this project. It is a wonderful opportunity for the children, who are already looking forward to next Sunday! 

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