During the pandemic, a free art class for children was launched by Akan Collective, a "Made in Ghana" concept shop in the tiny fishing town of Elmina, Ghana. Elmina is home to Africa’s oldest slave castle/dungeon and a World Heritage Site as well as one of the most visited tourist locations in West Africa. Akan Collective opened to provide a unique shopping experience focusing the works of local artisans for visitors during The Year of Return, an initiative of Ghana’s Tourism Authority which welcomed thousands of African diasporans from around the world including famous personalities such as Steve Harvey, Colin Kaepernick, Danny Glover, and Tina Knowles to visit Ghana to commemorate 400 years since the first enslaved Africans arrived in North America.
Once the pandemic hit and Ghana’s borders were closed during lockdown and tourism and international visitors were not allowed entry into the country and soon after opening, the doors to Akan Collective were temporarily closed. Schools were also closed across the country and children in the community were greatly impacted. Since there were no customers during this period, the owners of the shop decided to make use of the dormant space and invite local children for free art classes. They initially only expected a few children, not more than 10 but after a few weeks, word of the classes quickly spread and every Saturday morning approximately 30 children between the ages of 4 -15 would show up to the class.
The first 8 week session of classes was led by a local artist, Richmond, who introduced students to color combinations, shapes, lighting and perspective with weekly projects. All supplies including paper, paint, colored pencils, brushes, canvases and the teacher’s fee were covered by Akan Collective as well as snacks for the children.
The students loved the class so much that on most mornings children would arrive at Akan Collective an hour early to get a space in the nearly overcrowded class. It became difficult to turn any child away.
The first session culminated with an award ceremony attended by an array of family members, friends and other curious neighbors and community people who'd long been wondering what was going on in the shop! The students received a beautiful bag containing their artwork, certificate of completion and food and drinks for the 100 guests.
A new art teacher was selected for the next 10 week session and this time even more children showed up for classes with some sessions squeezing up to 50 children in the small store. The students in this session were introduced to using art from a sustainable and functional perspective utilizing folded recycled paper to make a decorated paper gift bag, a cloth covered footrest made from plastic bottles and a wall hanging made from recycled paper adorned with drawings of adinkra symbols.
It was clear that the local children and families were inspired by being exposed to creative arts and many of the students have demonstrated a surprising interest in art with a few truly exceptional students whose natural talent is worthy of cultivation, guidance and advanced study.
We are seeking donations to continue and expand the art program with the purchase of art and craft supplies, stipends for the art teacher and staff person as well as a scholarship to further art studies for some of the promising students. We want to ultimately move the art classes to a larger space to accommodate any more children and a gallery space to exhibit their works and the works of other local artists.
