The Academy for Visual Arts
Building a home for the arts

By Eldon Chim

Art is often emphasised less than other academic disciplines
in school.

The Hong Kong Arts Centre is looking to change that, though,
by creating the first Academy for Visual Arts, an institution that
will offer the community a venue to train budding art professionals.

The Art School, formerly known as the Education Department of
the Hong Kong Arts Centre, is planningto expand. Financing an
academy, however, involves much more than just teaching art.

“As a self-financed body, The Art School has to get more
donations and sponsorships to upgrade its facilities,” said Ms.
Susanna Lee, director of The Art School.

“To launch our expansion plan,” she said, “we need time, extra
funding, human resources and government support.”

The high cost of rent is also a large obstacle, especially while
The Art School searches for studio space.

The Art School has already launched a new learning centre on
the first floor of the East Town Building in Wan Chai.


It is still looking for another location to accommodate the
increasing number of students and the demand for workshops
and studios, however.

Apart from money, community support for the arts is also
important.

Ms. Lee said that parents face a dilemma.

“On the one hand, parents want to nurture their children’s
talents in the arts, but on the other, they feel happier if their
children get more A’s in school and on public exams,” said
Ms. Lee.

Facing such a conflict, parents often deny their children the
opportunity to explore the arts.

While changing social perceptions requires a long-term effort,
increasing the number of staff is a more immediate need.

“There is fierce competition for teaching staff among different art
institutions,” Ms. Lee said.

“Hong Kong needs a formal institution to train people for the art
scene.

“We lack formally trained art educators and management staff,”
she said. “Our students can be our future teaching staff, but we
need time.”

It will take at least two years for students to earn their master’s
degrees and be able to return as teachers.

“We don’t have a timeline now. Every step takes time,” Ms. Lee
said.

The Art School will submit its proposal to the government and
launch the expansion project early next year.

“What we can do now is to make our course system more
organized,” she said.

While it is still important to offer courses that satisfy personal
interests in order to promote the arts, The Academy for Visual
Arts will focus on providing formal training for people who want
to dedicate themselves to the fields of painting, design, ceramics, photography, sculpture and so on.

“The number of students in our degree programmes has increased four times in recent years, from 20 to more than 80,” Ms. Lee said.

“Also, there is an increasing demand for diploma and higher diploma courses,” she said.

By teaching art and aesthetic education, the Academy would help students to develop creative and critical minds.

“Companies no longer hire people for repetitive tasks. They want creative people who can solve problems independently,” said Ms. Lee.

Mr. Ho Siu Kee, programme coordinator for Fine Arts, said, “Visual arts not only nurture one’s creativity, but also enrich one’s life.

“Art should be learned at a very young age, either as an interest or for professional skills,” he said.

Mr. Ho said it is time to take further steps in the promotion of the visual arts.

“Hong Kong people are now stressing creativity more,” Mr. Ho said. “They are getting to know the importance of creativity as a weapon in the competitive business world.”

Mr. Stanward Ng, programme coordinator for Media Arts, said visual arts education could bring fortune to Hong Kong as well.

“Hollywood is a good model,” he said. “The industry flourishes because of creative ideas and people.

“If there were more resources for art education, artwork of higher quality would be found in Hong Kong, too.”

Indeed, the government has been allocating more resources to the promotion of arts and education.

As Ms. Lee said, though, while art and aesthetic education have a louder voice in the current system, the ideal is still far from the reality.