Dream, Create, Exhibit! 

As an art trainer at Gaia, I was eager to see how the exhibition and sale would turn out. It was an opportunity for parents, friends and family of Gaia’s learners to witness the imaginative work of their young ones.
As part of the Gaia Art Curriculum, exhibiting your work is a vital piece of the learning curve. As important as it is to create art, it is all the more important to showcase it and be open to feedback.
Creating artwork for public showcase requires your best ideas and artistic skills. Working towards this goal, incorporated numerous hours of effort on both individual and team levels. In Gaia’s Art Lab, the trainers and students actively conceptualised, designed and produced one-of-a-kind pieces which included canvases, footwear and furniture for sale inspired by Philip K. Dick’s novel ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’. Our take on the book lead us to the theme of ‘EYE DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP’. The process demanded heaps of creativity, decision-making and problem-solving from trainers and learners.
The exhibition highlighted the different styles of each individual and the theme strung together their pieces to create the collection. In addition to being introspective while creating art, the exhibition gave learners the opportunity to get outsiders’ perspective and analysis. This allows for conversation and appreciation and ignites confidence and belief in the learners’ ideas and work.

There are numerous benefits to putting out a Collective Exhibition. Children learn to be responsible for their work as well as the work of their peers. It creates a fundamental support system within and outside the classroom. Learners understand the importance of commitment and completing their work within a stipulated time frame. This helps them start small and be able to take on large-scale exhibitions in the future. This is why we, at Gaia encourage our learners to participate in exhibitions to see some of the many possibilities in their creative art journey, come to life.

On the day of the exhibition, Gaians arrived at Time Square Mall early in the morning and set up the entire stall among other vendors. The ARTE Market had a calming and welcoming buzz, surrounded by many passionate and talented craftsmen and women who were there to share their stories and sell their crafty pieces.
Gaia’s Art Stall fit in perfectly. The colourful and quirky exhibits brightened the faces of many children and adults passing by, who stopped to find out what the stall was all about.  It was amazing to see how Gaians honed their artwork and explained their concepts to visitors. ‘What if artificial intelligence and robots in our world could dream? What would they dream of? Would Robots count electric sheep as they sleep?’…were among the several questions the young artists would ask visitors, who thoughtfully replied to their questions.

Showcases and exhibitions such as these give young artists the tangibility to put their passion into practice and thereby, dream big and dream real! And this what we, at Gaia, will always believe in and push among all our learners.