For one full day, the Philippine School of Interior Design graduating class of 2018 traded their design and construction tools for an armory of art materials to spend time creating masterpieces with children with disabilities.
Dubbed as Araw ng Sining at Disenyo, the art and design fair was held at La Sagesse Rehabilitation and Development Center, a vibrant facility that provides educational, social, and life training skills to children.
Activities such as origami, coloring, dance, fashion, collage, and freehand drawing allowed them to explore the arts and maximize their creative talents.
“As creative arts school students, we want our work to have a meaningful impact on society, and we can do this by reaching out to kids with disabilities and imparting to them lessons on creativity–with a dash of fun,” said PSID Batch 2018 president Andrew Nieves.
Interior design student Chelsea Chua shared, “We believe that everyone, regardless of their life situation, must be given an equal opportunity to explore and tap their creative talents and potential. We wanted to do something more meaningful by teaching the children what PSID has taught us—the heart of arts and design.”
Carefully mimicking each fold and each crease under the guidance of the PSID students, the children tried their hand at the ancient art of origami and transformed a mound of colored paper into canoe boats.
Armed with the colors of the rainbow in a box of crayons, the children also brought life to the black and white pages printed with their favorite things: an illustrated assortment of cars, boats, fruits, and animals.
One group also meticulously designed their own versions of traditional Filipiñana attires and the Philippine flag with an arsenal of fabrics, ribbons, buttons, sequins, beads, flowers, and gems in varying colors, shapes, sizes, and degrees of shimmer and gloss.
Pauline Alarilla, the student who led the freehand drawing activity, shared that every moment spent teaching the children was fulfilling. “The activity widened the imagination and design skills of students, all whilst having fun at making visuals,” she said.
To cap off the art-filled morning, the students of La Sagesse huddled together on tables and enjoyed a warm and hearty lunch with the graduating batch. As a token for their participation, the students of La Sagesse also received gold medals which plastered beaming smiles across their faces.
The outreach program at La Sagesse is one of the activities leading up to the celebration of PSID’s 51st year and the culminating exhibit of Batch 2018 entitled “JUXTAPOSE: Espasyo at Panahon.”
Co-presented by Santolan Town Plaza and in partnership with the National Commission for the Culture and the Arts, the exhibit will showcase 17 well-thought-out booths that will challenge proponents of the conservation of cultural heritage, developers, and the audience to find creative solutions in the restoration and rehabilitation of historic structures.
JUXTAPOSE will run for the whole month of October on the 11th floor of The Santolan Town Plaza in San Juan City.
