From November 6 -16, the Ministry of Education (MoE) for the second consecutive year will host an art exhibition foregrounding the work of students and teachers of Visual Art at the National Gallery of Art, Castellani House. Writing in the Visual Art Magazine, produced to coincide with the exhibition, Visual Art Officer within the MoE Lori Ann Jacobs said that 2024 has thus far been a year of “tremendous growth and transformation for Visual Arts education in Guyana.” This has included continued upgrades of the Visual Art classrooms’ personnel, materials, and equipment. Relative to personnel, 20 Visual Arts teachers from Regions 2, 3, 4, 5, and 10 are currently undergoing specialised training in Leathercraft, Ceramics, Painting, Graphic Design, and Textile Design. This follows the training 13 teachers received in Leathercraft, Ceramics, and Textile Design in June 2024. Jacobs wrote, “These educators are honing their skills in an environment that prioritises the preservation of traditional techniques while embracing modern artistic innovations, which are essential for better curriculum implementation in Visual Arts.
“The Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Unit, under the leadership of Marcia Paddy-Andrews, Assistant Chief Education Officer (Technical), has been instrumental in ensuring that schools are equipped with the necessary tools and materials to enhance their Visual Arts programmes. This support has led to an upsurge in the number of students choosing Visual Arts, with some schools boasting as many as 26 candidates sitting for the [Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate] CSEC Visual Arts examination in a single year. The results have been remarkable. In recent years, the CSEC Visual Arts pass rate has steadily improved. In 2024, Guyana achieved a historic milestone, with a national pass rate of 84%—a significant increase from 67% in 2023 [and less than 50% in past years].
“Visual Arts, beyond aesthetics, is a practical field that nurtures innovation, problem-solving, and cultural identity, all of which align with the broader objectives of TVET.” Indeed, in a context of aggressive globalisation and our country being inundated by foreign capital-driven interests, our cultural identity is at risk of severe erosion. Thus nurturing the arts, not just visual art, is important to allow articulations that are beyond politically motivated sloganeering. Nonetheless, I digress. In her report of achievements for the year, Jacobs noted that 15 students gained Grade Ones in 2024, nearly double the high flyers in 2023. The 2024 Grade one CSEC students and their areas of specialisation are as follows:
The CSEC Visual Art syllabus requires that in addition to two-production disciplines, students produce a reflective journal that documents their research into their chosen topic(s), artist(s), techniques, and media. The journal also chronicles the conceptual and technical development of the student’s work. With the production papers, there is no scope for cramming and re-presentation of learned facts or demonstration of practised procedures to do well. The good student of art has to be mentally astute, technically and intellectually flexible, and an occasional problem-solver. For instance, media does not always behave as it should. Working with clay can be quite harrowing! Imagine preparing your clay – you have cleaned it, kneaded it, and wrapped it well in plastic to work the next day only to discover on the day of the examination that it has dried out too much or is much too moist, necessitating more time than is allowed. A quick change in plan may be necessary. And oh my, what if the exam piece breaks before it can be fired!?
This year’s exhibition will feature the work of the CSEC Visual Arts students who at the last sitting earned Grade One and work of students registered for the Secondary Competency Certificate Programme (SCCP) and the Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ). Visual Art majors from among the graduating class of the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE), and the work of students enrolled in the MoE’s mentorship programme will also be on display along with teachers who recently completed the 2023-2024 BSA Professional Development Programme. Along with the exhibition, a one-day fair was hosted on the exhibition’s opening day featuring displays from the BSA, CPCE, the University of Guyana, and Visual Art businesses. During the ten-day exhibition students will have opportunities to engage with artists as they give their artist talks – presentations about their work,
Congratulations to Jacobs and her team of teachers for managing this feat of an exhibition drawing on the talents of students as far as Skeldon in the East, Annai in the South, and Charity in the West. Furthermore, the ongoing work to enhance the Visual Art classrooms thereby giving the work to be done within those spaces a foundation for excellence is to be commended.
Going forward it is hoped that Jacobs and her team will meet basic expectations with consistency. It is inexcusable to hang a work without an indication of its name either alongside it or in a catalogue. Equally inexcusable is celebrating students’ and teachers’ accomplishments without associating their names with their work. Perhaps by the time this is printed these omissions of day one would have been addressed. It is also hoped that in mounting the exhibition a bit more care is taken in hanging works so that those requiring distance to be viewed are appropriately hung while those that can easily be viewed within shallow space are not given prime gallery space.
Last year’s exhibition showed work that revealed astonishing talent among high schoolers. This year’s exhibition is no different and deserves our visit to view and support as we see fit.
