NIA director Arlene Halley, Education Minister Wycliffe Smith and local artist Tess Verheij.
PHILIPSBURG--Education Minister Wycliffe Smith received on Tuesday a number of visual art materials donated to National Institute of Arts (NIA) by Orange Company, an art organisation in the Netherlands. After Hurricane Irma, Orange Company reached out to NIA to see how it could help youngsters by using the medium of art.
Orange Company was able to get a donation of art supplies such as paint and brushes, easels and canvases from Royal Talens, a large company located in Apeldoorn that supplies all sorts of arts and craft materials.
“In addition to ensuring that NIA and schools and artists receive art supplies, the Orange Company has received paintings from two of our St. Maarten artists and has organised a traveling exhibition in the Netherlands,” Smith said during the Council of Ministers press briefing on Wednesday. “This means that the work of Roland Richardson and Tess Verheij will be exhibited in several cities and towns in the Netherlands.”
In an unrelated subject, Smith said that in continuing the intervention at St. Maarten Vocational Training School (SMVTS), a two-day workshop had been held last week for the teachers of that school. The workshop dealt with how to deal with behavioural challenges that teachers face in the classroom and in the schoolyard.
Smith said a task force had been established to deal with the various challenges and problems at the school. The task force is currently busy with the plans for the way forward for the improvement of the school for management, teachers and the students.
