The children who attend the Kodjonya Presby Primary School in Krobo Odumase, Ghana, have been orphaned by AIDS. For them, making art is a luxury and access to art materials is rare. Andrea Bergart, an artist and Blick customer, was recently awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to teach art to these children for 10 months — the first artist in more than ten years to be selected by both the United States and Ghanaian committees. The artwork that accompanied her application was titled, “Paintings Based on Bead and Cloth Origins, Symbolism and Uses among the Ashanti and Krobo Peoples.”
Bergart appealed to Blick for art materials in preparation for applying for the Fulbright Scholarship. She then included Blick’s letter of support with her application. An integral part of a program that was established in 1945 to promote “mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries of the world,” Fulbright scholars are chosen for their academic merit and leadership potential. Bergart says Blick’s promise of support played a key role in helping her secure the coveted award. In August 2008, Bergart left for Krobo Odumase to begin her work there. In addition to teaching at the primary school, she is leading art projects that reach out to and include the local community.
How Blick is Helping
Among the art materials Blick donated to Andrea Bergart for her work with the AIDS orphans of Krobo Odumase are watercolor and acrylic paint sets, brushes, graphite and colored pencils, pens, sketchbooks, drawing pads, watercolor pads, scissors, glue sticks, colored chalk, and markers. Exterior acrylics, varnishes, and brushes were also donated to assist in the creation of community mural projects.
In a place where even a simple paintbrush is a rare commodity, Bergart says she’s enjoying watching students try many art materials for the first time, and they are all extremely grateful for Blick’s support and generosity.
Andrea Bergart’s Artist Statement
Ever since I was little I have had an intuitive fascination with color. I first learned about color from Legos, embroidery thread, gimp, plastic beads and potholders. By stacking, braiding, and weaving isolated colors, I was able to experience color relationships on a systematic and complex level.
I continued this process of discovery by experiencing a different culture’s use of color and how it is interwoven within their daily life. West African art, especially Ghanaian sign painting, kente cloth weaving and bead making, uses color for its aesthetic qualities as well as its functional symbolism in society. I have taken this inspiration and applied it to my own cultural experience in America. I am interested in finding and inventing upon American functional art, for instance, SMPTE bars on a television and color codes printed on cereal boxes. Today I am painting with the same intuitive curiosity I had as a child but with more self-awareness and maturity of my role as an artist reacting to the world around me.
