GREAT BAY – “I’m not trying to create artists but trying to create an interest, love, and appreciation for art,” says Silvia Carty, a Visual Arts teacher who has been teaching at local secondary schools for the past twenty years. She has started her own business, SABRina Productions, and will be having an open house Friday at 6 pm in Cay Hill where people will have the opportunity to register for classes.
According to Silvia “After teaching twenty years in regular education, I felt it was time for a new challenge, I also feel that we have so many talented people on the island who don’t have somewhere to go and give expression to their inner artist. Maybe they don’t have the tools, materials or the knowledge but they have the drive. Some people would like to just do something different to get out of the house and relax, and what better way than to go and be creative? Sometimes you want to do something but you don’t know what, this is a good way to find which art form suits you best without having to invest in all the materials and tools you may only end up using once.”
Art is something that Carty has done consistently all her life, no matter where she was or where she was going in her life – whether she was happy or sad – she created art and was involved in many large art projects. Being able to do large scale art with the communities she lived in has been a reoccurring theme. She says people love creating but at times may feel more comfortable doing it as part of a group, and that they still walk away with the same sense of accomplishment at the end, and she loves being part of that.
Now she has created classes that are geared towards variety, even for those who like only art or only crafts or for those who can’t choose. In the art classes, she offers a large variety of mediums and projects and takes the student to their next level. Same goes for the Craft classes where students can focus on the use of a wide variety of tools, techniques, and materials. The maker classes are specifically for those who like both Arts and Crafts as well as trying out other things that don’t exactly fit in either category. “We make stuff – all sorts of stuff,” she says, “A great aspect of the maker’s classes is recycling, creating art can be costly but it doesn’t have to be if you know how to recycle”. There will also be workshops for in-depth technique knowledge of a specific art form, workshops where basic skills will be taught like how to make minor repairs around the house and seasonal workshops.
There will be workshops where students can focus on a particular medium, tool or technique, for instance, a workshop in sculpting with papier-mâché, or a workshop about engraving, seasonal workshops, like before Christmas or during Carnival, and workshops with a specific goal, such as learning how to make basic house hold repairs, build basic furniture or learning how to work with electrical tools.
“I hope to establish a relationship with the local schools where students can come and take my classes as an extension to their chosen curriculum. I also hope to cater to not only to youths but to adults as well. Job-related stress is a common factor in the lives of most adults and when they get home they have their parental duties. And although when they were young they loved to create, now, life gets in the way. I would like to see my classes be a way for people to set that stress aside and feel recharged when they leave.”
Carty states that not only is she passionate about art, but more so, she is passionate about teaching art. She says there is nothing like seeing a student gets into it and watching them find their own passion, and to know she helped light that fire. She also says that she would like to be part of the movement that sets St. Maarten on the map as that place with so many talented people.
Source: TODAY http://today.sx/education/visual-arts-teacher-creates-creative-getaway/
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