‘Every child is an artiste. The problem is how to remain an artiste when we grow up’. – Picasso
The New Acropolis Culture Circle hosted “Everyone Can Paint”, a workshop in a garden in the Colaba area on Sunday 12th February, 2023. Purnima Sampat a professional artist having taught art and design in India as well as the US, for more than 30 years facilitated this workshop. She started with acquainting participants with the works of famous artistes, such as Monet, David Hawke explaining their approach, style and methods while sharing how art is about expressing ones feelings and that creativity is about making connections and finding harmony in differences.
Through the workshop participants learnt how to paint without the fear of the outcome, nudged on by Purnima to involve all the senses – to be able to smell the flowers, hear the birds singing or feel the gentle breeze as they painted. Many of those who attended, expressed how their learnings in the workshop could help connect to aspects of their life- to do the right thing irrespective of the fear of outcome, to use all our senses that are our inner tools to view life rather than seeing it from a narrow perspective, to look for unity and to be able to see the bigger picture. The participants demonstrated that everyone can paint, but also paint joyfully and beautifully.
Purnima Sampat has helped students prepare portfolios for specialist fields in art, design and architecture. As an elected world councillor at the InSEA (International Society for the Education through the Arts – an arm of UNESCO), she has represented South East Asia and Pacific at the world forum from 2011 – 2014. She has been on the advisory board of NCERT and has contributed significantly to the Arts Integrated Learning Program which is implemented across schools in India.
