An artistic break for teachers

TEACHERS create their own mandalas to express their personal thoughts and feelings. JESSICA B. PAG-IWAYAN/CONTRIBUTOR

As part of the annual observance of National Teachers’ Month, Metrobank Foundation conducted recently a free art workshop and lecture on cultural education for high school and elementary teachers at Le Pavillion in Pasay City.

More than 150 teachers from 22 schools in Metro Manila joined the seminar Metrobank Art and Design (MADE) Art Exploration: Art and Wellness Workshop for Teachers.

Throughout the day, teachers danced, sang and created various artworks aimed at helping them deal with stress and release their inner thoughts.

In Sining sa Pagpapahingalay (Art for Well-being), which was conducted by psychologist
Dr. Grace Brilliantes-Evangelista, teachers were encouraged to reflect on their present lives. Evangelista said that teachers were too busy juggling their responsibilities as educators and their other roles that sometimes they forgot how to live a balanced life.

The psychologist talked about how art could be used to promote one’s well-being.

Through the mandala or Sanskrit circle, teachers were encouraged to express their inner thoughts and feelings. They enthusiastically mixed colors to try to create a perfect harmony of hues that would reflect their selves as they released their emotions through art.

Project HeART: The Art of Mask Making and Print Making was an integrated art workshop in mask designing led by some MADE artists. The project aimed to help participants identify their strengths and find their inner peace.

Teachers were asked to design masks that showed how they felt when they helped someone. Some teachers said that it was quite challenging to create a mask because they had little inclination toward the arts. But they were able to express satisfaction with their output.

Some teachers created nature-inspired masks, or masks that connected to their mandalas. But all the masks reflected the perspective of each individual.

Sulyap sa Kulturang Pilipino (A Glimpse of Philippine Material Culture), supervised by Blesilda M.C. “Baebee” Ocampo Reynoso, introduced participants to some native Filipino musical instruments like the kalingatongali (nose flute), hegalong (native guitar) and kubing (Jew’s harp).

Reynoso, an advocate of cultural development for values education, talked about Sulyap sa Katutubong Habi or the art of weaving.

She said that in weaving, patterns were in the minds of weavers so every pattern was unique and the woven fabric reflective of a story.

Joey Ayala conducted the last part of the workshop, Music and Cultural Identity. The former chair of the music committee of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts enlightened teachers on the relationship between music and cultural identity, and how a person’s musical preference defined him or her.

The whole day allowed teachers to release their thoughts and take a break from their jobs. Most of all, it made them feel important, as the various organizations involved in the project showed their appreciation of teachers.