Kids learn art, become junior museum guides

MANILA, Philippines – "Do not touch the back or front of a painting," instructed Susie Garcia, museum assistant at the Jorge B. Vargas Museum and Filipiniana Research Center at the University of the Philippines in Diliman.

Eight kids aged 8 to 14 years old then eagerly watched Garcia as she proceeded to demonstrate how to hold and carry a painting properly: use gloves, carry the painting with both hands, one hand beneath and one hand on the other side of the frame, or with one hand on either side, whichever seems more stable.

Then the kids took turns holding artworks, stacking them on padded blocks, and piling them face to face, back to back, with only the frames touching each other with the assistance of Garcia and museum assistant Ryan Reyes.

Kids learn how to handle prints and other museum objects at the Junior Museum Guides Program of the Vargas Museum. Credit: Karen Galarpe, abs-cbnNEWS.com

This lesson on handling museum objects is just one of the many topics the eight kids learned this summer in the 8-day Junior Museum Guides Program of the Vargas Museum. Already on its 6th year, the program has catered to a total of 42 kids since 2005.

"The Junior Museum Guides Program was created to promote art appreciation and museum awareness for kids. It aims to teach and train kids on museum activities and functions such as giving guided tours for visitors, planning and setting up an exhibit and other basic responsibilities of a museum as a public institution that gives services to the community," said Garcia.

Aside from museum work, the participants also attend art workshops "to further kindle the kids' interests in art, [and help them] understand art production and appreciate art as a whole. It became an annual program of the museum (every May) in celebration of the International Museum Day," added Garcia.

Artist Marcelo Baldomar teaches the kids drawing techniques. Credit: Vargas Museum.

This year, the kids enrolled in the program studied drawing under Marcelo Baldomar, clay art under Aba Lluch Dalena, and print-making under Ambie Abano of the Philippine Association of Printmakers.

Sabina Santiago, 10, a grade 4 student, shared she made a little piggy sculpture using terra-cotta for the clay art workshop. She said the program is "fun. You get to learn new kinds of art. Art is important because it’s a kind of style and it’s to express oneself."

At the time of the interview, Sabina was excited to see her works on exhibit, which was to be held on the day of their graduation last Friday. She was to exhibit her oil pastel work entitled "The Nice Apple" and monotype prints "Stars" and "The Hands."

Prints done by the children enrolled in the Junior Museum Guides Program. Credit: Vargas Museum

Jeffrey Noel C. Agustin, 14, a 3rd year high school student, revealed he has been into art since he was small. His favorite workshop in the program is print-making. He did three prints: "One is entitled ‘Fuzzy Lights’ and it’s about a boy sitting in the meadows staring at the stars. The other one is ‘A Familiar Drawing’, showing the cartoon characters Pon and Zee." He did an angel for his clay sculpture project.

Although Jeffrey wasn’t sure yet if he will study fine arts in college, he is all praises for art since it lets people express themselves and communicate in a way that words cannot express.

"Most of the parents appreciated the workshop and recommended it to their friends. They are also very supportive in promoting the program," said Garcia.