An Exhibition By The Secret Garden 

The young students of the Secret Garden art school have been occupied preparing for their forthcoming art exhibition Expressionism which will be held at the Modigliani Gallery, Colombo on October 1 (Saturday) which is also World Children's Day. 

Priscilla Caren, the founder and teacher of the Secret Garden is tireless in her efforts to teach her students the finer points of art. Her students range from primary to secondary school children who display and infinite love for art. 

"Our main focus on this year's exhibition is portraiture. Children were taught to appreciate skin colour and not to be biased. Sadly, in many cultures, people are discriminated based on their skin colour. Children who are taught to see colour as part of a beautiful master-pallette, learn to be confident and reach self actualization because of hard work, integrity and intelligence, as opposed to social expectations of physical beauty determining who you are as an individual. We learned how just 4 colours go into making all skin tones and how we have more in common than that which separates us. And that true 'beauty' comes from within," explained Priscilla. 

Prior to working towards the exhibition, children learned how to capture expressions. Each of them took a turn to display an expression, and the rest of the class did quick sketches. The children also studied the biography of artist/sculptor Amedeo Modigliani after which, the children used Pastels (Oil and Soft) to draw a portrait of someone who inspires them. The children painted self-portraits using Acrylic on Canvas. They transformed basic shapes into complex ones, blending colours, capturing expressions and working on finer details which were all part of the challenges they faced. 

"We did a study of masks and what they meant historically, why they were worn and how they were used for cultural and performing arts. After the study children used paint and assorted materials to create their mask on wood. These will be on display at the exhibition too. You will see clay sculptures of famous artists done by each class, when they were tasked with working as a group" said Priscilla. 

This is the 7th year since the Secret Garden opened its doors for children to experiment and explore art. Participating artists are aged 4 to 15 years. Visitors will be able to get their portrait sketched by a prominent artist at the gallery. Entrance to the exhibition is Rs. 50 and all proceeds/donations will go towards purchasing art materials for the Uduvil Girls' School in Jaffna. 

When: October 1 

Where: Modigliani Gallery, 56 Stratford Avenue, Colombo 6 

Time: 10AM - 6PM