And this year, the Philippine franchise of Global Art plays hosts to the Annual International Competition with the theme “Heal The World.” It will be held at the SM Aura Convention Hall on November 15, 2004.
“It is both an honor and a pleasure for Global Art Philippines to be chosen to host this year’s competition,” says Yenny Saw, Country Manager of Global Art Philippines. Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia have played host to the said event in the past years.
A total of 300 art students from Global Art Philippines will be pitted against 200 students from other Global Art campuses around the world. Young artists from Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Brunei, Myanmar, China, India and Hong Kong will gather together to compete with their fellow art students and showcase their artistic talents and skills.
On the said date, Global Art Philippines will simultaneously hold a competition among students from local branches— the winners of which will advance to the International Level where they vie for a slot among the best artists of Global Art worldwide
Categories
The competition will be divided into four categories based on age groups. In each category, there will be specific directives and guidelines on each template (such as coloring and adding objects, drawing on a given blank template based on a particular theme, and adding personal ideas and objects according to the contender’s imagination) that contestants will follow and finish within a given time limit.
Category A is for kids ages 4 – 6 years old and they will be asked to color and add some objects on the given drawing template in 90 minutes. Category B, meanwhile, is for 7 – 9 years old. The contestants will be asked to add ideas and imagination on the given drawing template + coloring for 90 minutes. For 10 – 12 years old under Category C, kids will be asked to draw on given blank paper based on the given theme with a time limit of 2 and ½ hours. And under Category D for 13 – 17 years old, participants will be given 2 and ½ hours to draw on given blank competition paper based on the given theme.
Judges for the Global Art International Level Competition are Mr. Mahair Goh; founder of Global Art); Mr. Ajin Thong, Global Art Master Trainer and Ms. Gean Fong, Global Art Assistant Trainer who will choose winners based on these criteria: creativity – 40%; drawing skills – 20% and coloring techniques 20% and overall presentation 10%. There will be a grand champion and several runner- ups per category/age group. Prizes include a trophy plus cash prizes for the grand prize winners.
Aside from determining who the best artists are, Saw and Global Arts Philippines hope that the said international competition will be an excellent opportunity for visiting delegates to realize, discover and explore the beauty of our country and the richness of our culture.
“We hope that our guests from other countries would also get acquainted with Filipino arts and culture and appreciate the wealth of lessons they would gain from this unique learning experience,” Saw expounds.
Global Art and the art of mentoring young minds
At Global Art, a company founded in Malaysia in 1999 by Mr. Mahair Goh, children are taught not only how to copy a drawing but to create their own artwork, design and interpretation through different techniques.
The school boasts of having touched over 500,000 young artists’ minds and hearts in 15 countries including Malaysia, Singapore, India, Sri Lanka, Brunei, Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, Vietnam, China, USA, Cambodia, Myanmar, Hong Kong and the Philippines.
In the Philippines, Global Art accepts students as young as 3 years old to adults and teaches them varying level of skills using diverse mediums like color pencils, oil pastel, poster color, acrylic paint, watercolor, glass paint, ink pens, and pencils. The multi-level programs allow each art enthusiast to learn at their own pace and use their own ideas to create an artwork.
“We provide our students with templates but we inspire them to do their own version and their own take on any pattern or blank sheets,” Saw explains. She and husband Dexter Saw founded Global Art Philippines in 2009 from a small place in Greenhills but have since opened 11 more branches in Metro Manila, Cebu and Davao city to accommodate the surge in the number of students and parents who want to experience their method of teaching.
Global Art Philippines puts a premium on the quality of teachers they hire and the teaching methods they practice. “Our teachers undergo training both on art techniques and on how to effectively transfer knowledge to an aspiring young artist,” Saw says.
Different programs are available for different age groups The Junior Level (for ages 3-4 years old) introduces the toddler to the wonderful world of color and shapes through story-telling, coloring and handicrafts while the Foundation Level (for 4-6 years old), motor skill and attention span are guided through dotted lines, addition of more objects in the template and coloring. As the child advances to the Basic Level (7-9 years old), he is given the opportunity to tackle “projects” where he is required to come up with a story based on a particular theme and retell that story into the drawing board.
It is in the Intermediate Level (10-13 years old) that the child is taught how to further enrich his drawing and sketching skills, illustration and poster-making, acrylic painting and cartoon and comic making, this time, through the use of both dry and wet medium.
“A lot of life-changing innovations come from the minds of young people who dream and think creatively. Global Art Philippines hopes to provide a place for children who dare to dream and create something, to teach them other life skills, to cultivate their creativity and equip them to be competitive globally in the future, towards a better world that fully embraces creativity and innovation,” Saw says.
(For further information and inquiries on Global Art Philippines and the International Art Competition, visit or call their main office at Unit 101, Sekai Center, 368 Ortigas Avenue corner Madison Street, Greenhills, San Juan; Tel no. 726-0435. Like them on Facebook: www.facebook.com/globalartphil or visit their website at www.globalart.com.ph )