The school curriculum in the Kingdom should incorporate art education to help instill confidence and understanding among students at an early age, said Manal Dowayan, a leading Dhahran-based Saudi woman artist. Dowayan was one of the artists that participated in Workshop on Art Education organized here jointly by Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA) and Bab Rizq Jameel (ALJ) Community Services Program and sponsor of Saudi Education Program in cooperation with Edge of Arabia, an internationally acclaimed platform for artists. Over 150 students from five schools in Riyadh attended the three-day workshop last week. About 10 leading Saudi artists chipped in their services to educate the young Saudi boys and girls to learn the techniques of art and painting. Dowayan described the Saudi school curriculum as weak that requires not only the incorporation of arts in the education system but hiring of trained art teachers to teach at schools. Students in schools that teach art as a subject have shown much confidence, intelligence and high caliber of learning as against those that don't have art education, she said. “As part of the creative activity the science and art classes should be combined to allow the schoolchildren at primarily level to experience and explore more innovative and creative ideas,” Dowayan said. Stephen Stapleton, Director, Offscreen Education Program and Head Curator, Edge of Arabia, Contemporary Art from Saudi Arabia, said students that do not have art as an option at schools, especially boys showed enormous creative potential in the short time “that we spent with them in the workshop.” “We look forward to building on this model as we develop our Saudi Education Program in partnership with Bab Rizq Jameel, Mawhiba, SAGIA and other partners,” Stapleton said. Stapleton said there was an overwhelming response from the students attending the workshop. “I love art, we paint at school but this workshop is different. At this moment I feel that I'm a famous artist”, Stapleton quoted one student as saying. “I would like to be a fashion designer,” Stapleton quoted another student as saying. The workshop coordinators included Aya Mousawi and Ajlan Gharem and the leading Saudi artists were Manal Al-Dowayan, Amal Saud, Abeer Odeh, Ali Al-Ruzaiza, Yousef Jaha, Mohammed Farea, Ayman Yossri Daydban and Mahdi Al-Jeraibi, Nadia Al-Shaikh at Bab Rizq Jameel, Sarah Al-Faour of SAGIA. Deborah and Ansar were teachers of Mawhiba schools, Dr. Ashfaq at ICAF, the teachers and staff of Hewar Art Gallery in Riyadh that contributed to the success of the workshop.
