Art Education

Art education is a very significant part of any child’s development. It encourages aesthetic appreciation and self-expression. It builds a child’s confidence and allows them to express themselves with honesty, perceptiveness and sensitivity.

At WHPS creativity is encouraged and art lessons are varied and challenging, allowing for creative expression in a structured environment. Imagination, inventiveness, problem solving and sharing of thoughts and ideas are encouraged. Various mediums are presented and explored. These include painting, drawing, embossing, printing, etching and 3-Dimensional design.

The teachers in the Art Department at WHPS believe that Art education is a never-ending, forever rewarding and fulfilling experience. We believe that a child who has had the opportunity to express himself creatively through art is a happier, more confident and well-rounded child.

Art at WHPS is viewed as an intrinsic part of society and with that in mind Art Alive, a fine art exhibition was started in 1986. Artists are invited to submit a selection of their work and a committee of Fine Art Lecturers and Artists, who are not affiliated to WHPS, are invited to come and select those works that will appear in the Exhibition. The Art Alive Committee then hangs the work and prepares a catalogue. All work is for sale and a 25% commission accrues to WHPS. This money is used to purchase a piece from the Exhibition for the School.

As a result of this steady and self-supporting fund raising, WHPS has been fortunate over the years to build an interesting and valuable art collection, which may be viewed in the Foyer of the Waterkloof House Theatre.

Art Alive exposes the WHPS community to fine art in its many different manifestations and extends the children’s artistic horizon. Workshops and trips to Art Museums run concurrently with the central exhibition and the artists themselves run some of the workshops for the boys. Every boy, from Grade 0 – 7, is taken on a tour of Art Alive and the works are explained to them. The works are not chosen for an audience of children and, therefore, the boys are challenged by the art and are asked to take up the intellectual and emotional gauntlet.

All the boys from Grade 0 – 7 have art lessons every week and the vibrant results of their time spent on classroom art projects are on display around the School. Through their efforts in this department the boys learn a tangible lesson about how art affects and contributes towards the environment. They make tiles and ceramics that are mounted on walls and which become a living history.

The boys may leave the School but they leave an indelible mark in the fabric of the School and their presence has beautified and enhanced the campus for the generations to come.

"Making art is the most relaxing, joyous, therapeutic stimulating way to spend your time, as you unleash the part of your brain that's been itching to get at it."

Harley Brown

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