First Year Emergency Art Kits

While we have all been struggling with the effects of the global pandemic and lock down there have also been some good news stories.

Staff in Fine Art have been working hard to develop and deliver online learning and other learning materials to students all over the country.

In response to the COVID19 lockdown all first-year students at Michaelis have been issued with Emergency Art kits. These kits contain basic art materials which will enable our first-year students to complete their projects, while in lockdown, at home and away from their studios. They contain paper, ink, rollers, pencils, ink, brushes, glue and a number of other “emergency materials”. The idea is that between this kit, and found materials, such as recycling and household products, students should be able to continue to make artwork.

The packages came out of an idea presented in a staff meeting by lecturer George Mahashe. Undergraduate course convenors, Fritha Langerman and Svea Josephy decided to try and make this idea a reality. Catherine Moss at local art store, Artsauce, was able to supply a number of art educational materials and Pargo were able to deliver to locations near to students all over the country. Print making technician, Madelize van der Merwe decanted lithography ink for the packages. Photography technician Sitaara Stodel helped with organization, waybills, packaging and followed up with many emails and WhatsApps. Everyone worked together as a team to make this happen in under two weeks, during lockdown, which was quite an achievement considering the challenges of sourcing materials and delivering them to students.

Thank you to the Humanities Faculty, UCT, Artsauce, Pargo, Catherine Moss, Berni Searle, Afiefah Rajap, Svea Josephy, Sitaara Stodel and others for making this happen. The first years were very pleased with their packages. And in the first week of online teaching, we have already seen the fantastic work that these materials are helping our students produce.