There is no doubt that art helps a child in the development path. At school, art lessons are an ideal medium through which children can develop skills, foster imagination and creativity, and build self-confidence. What we seldom realise, however, is that art teachers are also artists.

Fourteen peripatetic art teachers recently held a collective art exhibition, entitled Fusion, at Sir Robert Samut Hall in Floriana, with the aim of celebrating the art teacher as an artist.

"The exhibition brings together the art work of a group of people who are not only artists but also trained art teachers," Sina Bugeja, Education Officer of Art, wrote in the exhibition brochure. "The skills employed to make art are not the same skills that make a teacher. A good artist therefore does not necessarily make a good teacher. The common factor here is creativity. A good teacher has to be creative in that she/he feels his class of children and perceives the needs of each and every one of them.

"A teacher is then creative in her/his planning to cater for the needs of her/his pupils. This exhibition celebrates the teacher as artist. Who is in a better position to nurture creativity in our children than teachers who are themselves artists?"

Joanne Fenech Portelli, curator of the exhibition and one of the exhibiting artists, explained that art is both a recreational and a "service" subject where children teach themselves with the guided help of the art teacher. It is a time during which children can learn to achieve control and develop investigative and creative skills. They can learn about local and international art, and can go on educational trips to museums and exhibitions which give them the possibility of appreciating the local culture and artistic wealth. Art lessons also provide the basic vital tools for children to develop a deep interest in art, affirming that it is in the children of today that we find the artists of tomorrow.

Ms Fenech Portelli, who has been teaching art for the past seven years, explained how every child has his or her own experiences, and thus has stories to narrate and relate with. It is here that the need to express these stories artistically arises.

"Through art, a child can develop skills, self-discipline, and the ability to take decisions and solve problems, and remove inhibitions. This helps the child build confidence and a stronger self-esteem. "Since we are all different individuals, in art there is no one 'right answer', like in mathematics. It is very important to motivate a child and to support his/her individual self-image as an artist.

"Art nurtures this need through the development of sensitivity to sight and touch, and through the exploration of feelings.

"All these contribute to developing aesthetic awareness. In the process, children learn to see and observe through a variety of media, which later on helps them to work from memory and imagination."

At school, the art teacher is a very important resource because he or she is also an artist, capable of helping children find the creativity inside them and express it artistically. The art teacher is responsible for motivating children to grow and develop their emotional, intellectual and perceptual powers in a creative way, by catering for the children's sensitivity and needs in creating art experiences which include a variety of textures, colours, shapes and forms.

"This is very important, as it is in his or her artistic expression that a child tries to develop an ability to relate ideas which are creative and personal. Children need to go out of the classroom and into an art room, where they can relax, be free, imaginative, and creative. Hence, the art teacher is there to provide children with challenges to their own experiences and understanding."

Despite the benefits, Ms Fenech Portelli said that it is only since recent years that parents have become appreciative of the importance of art lessons in their child's timetable. However, there is still a long way to go, since there are schools which still lack a proper art room with display space, storage space, work space, and access to water in the art room itself.

"Children need an art room in their school, just like they need a laboratory. It is in the art room that children enter in a different world where they can be free to express their feelings, experiences and creativity through appropriate media. Children need their own work space and display space where examples of children's and other artists' work can be exhibited to provide a stimulus and to show that the children's art is truly appreciated."

The teachers who exhibited their works of art were Joanne Fenech Portelli, Donald Camilleri, Joyce Borg, Victor Pulis, Angelique Attard, Joseph Sant, Ruth Borg Galea, Joseph Camilleri, Anabel Cordina, Andrew Borg, Bernard Attard, Victor Agius, Charles Micallef and Saviour Chetcuti.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.