Group Painting Sessions: Pedagogical Tool for Cultivating Peace and Oneness

among Students of Various Ethnic Orientations at the Polytechnic University

of the Philippines1

by

JOSEPH REYLAN B. VIRAY2

Polytechnic University of the Philippines/Lakandayang Cultural Association Inc.

1 Delivered in the SEAMEO-SPAFA’s 3rd International Conference on Culture and Development: Channeling Real Change, National Library Auditorium, Bangkok, Thailand on November 26 to 29, 2008.

2 Mr. Viray is the current Chief of the Visual Arts Office, University Center for Culture and the Arts, Polytechnic University of the Philippines. He is also the Chairman of Lakandayang Cultural Association Inc. based in Manila.

Introduction

Painting and Its Functions

Painting is one of the oldest forms of visual expression and communication. It is used to express and communicate the innermost thoughts, feelings and sentiments of an individual in a subtle and creative manner utilizing the power of visual elements like color and lines. The drawings on the walls of Lascaux Caves (16,000-14,000BC) are testaments of the Paleolithic communities’ employment of painting as communication tool. These early nomadic cultures attempted to record the things they see around them and (perhaps) tried to communicate their experiences to distant generations like ours. Lascaux images are indications of prehistoric cultures’ sensitivity towards their surroundings and these drawings serve as surrogates and objects of contemplation for their most basic experiences of life and their culture. This particular purpose of painting in the Paleolithic era remains to be evident until this day and age.

Apart from its being a communication tool, painting, like any other art forms, has various functions and purposes. Lois Fichner-Rathus (1994) enumerated the following purposes of art: (1) to create beauty; (2) to provide decoration; (3) to reveal truth; (4) to immortalize; (5) to express religious values; (6) to express fantasy; (7) to stimulate the intellect and fire the emotions; (8) to create order and harmony; (9) to express chaos; (10) to record and commemorate experience; (11) to reflect the social and cultural context; (12) to protect injustice and raise social consciousness; (13) to elevate the commonplace; and (14) to meet the needs of the artists. Among these purposes, this paper endeavors to focus and stress on numbers (3), (8) and (11).

Firstly, painting reveals truth. Undeniably, a painter can educate his viewers or audience by revealing truths. Martin Heidegger, a German philosopher, gave three lectures on ‘The Origin of the Work of Art.’ In these lectures (1950), Heidegger connects art with truth, arguing that the essence of the artwork is not its ‘representational’ character, but rather its capacity to allow the disclosure of a world. Thus the Greek temple establishes the ‘Greek’ world and in so doing allows things to take on a particular appearance within that world. Heidegger refers to this event of disclosure as the event of ‘truth’.

With respect to painting as truth bearer, let us consider the Mexican painter named Frida Kahlo. Kahlo utilized her self-portraits to convey the truth about human sufferings. She used her own tragic life as a symbol of suffering

(Rathus, 1994). Another image portraying truth is a self portrait by photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. The photo discloses the truth about Mapplethorpe’s war against AIDS and his inevitable death (Rathus, 1994). It should be noted that any kind of truth may be conveyed on canvass. In this way, truths about cultural and ethnic diversity; peace, oneness and solidarity may be revealed in paintings just as well.

Secondly, painting reflects socio-cultural contexts. Paintings mirror life. They reflect the social and cultural milieu of the place or community where they have been produced or the place where the creator/painter comes from. Like for instance, Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks showcases the American city life in the late 1930s or 1940s. Hopper was able to use specific socio-cultural context to communicate an unsetting, introspective mood of aloneness (Rathus, 1994). Filipino painter Juan Luna’s Spoliarium reflected the social condition during the Spanish period of Philippine history. Spoliarium is an allegory of Spanish colonial rule in the Philippines (Flores, 1998). This is how Juan Luna portrayed the sufferings and anguish endured by Filipino natives during the occupation. The oldest surviving three-dimensional depiction of a woman’s body called Venus of Willendorf, older than the Lascaux images at 25,000 BC, is a depiction of social relations. Anthropologists speculate that the mystery of child birth elevated the status of women in early matriarchal communities (Kissick, 1993). Men were then looked down as inferior to women.

There is no other powerful depiction of culture through arts than the Egyptian artistic traditions. The history, heritage and tradition of Egypt as a nation may not be possibly learned and studied without having to consider the Egyptian hieroglyphics, pyramids, tombs, ornaments, clothing, and other decorative accessories which become vital parts of Egypt’s nationhood. In exactly the same way, thoughtful and academic discussions about Roman and Greek civilizations are impossible without taking into consideration the classical artworks that become synonymous with these civilizations’ genesis, progress and decay.

Lastly, painters can create order and harmony by combining seemingly irreconcilable visual elements into one artwork which embodies excellent composition. Here, painters play god. They create, produce and organize. Though everything happens on canvas, the same may have realistic impact on the outside world. The painter himself may extend his artistic inclinations and talents to real life situations. Possibly, he can create order and harmony in his personal life by organizing different elements the way he organizes elements in painting. By extension, he can do the same in his family and eventually in his community. This could have positive societal impacts.

For one, peace among culturally divided individuals may be achieved through and by painting. This is because interculturality, which means interrelations and dialogue among diverse cultures (Demenchonok, 2005), is possible in painting either through individual painting projects or group painting sessions. Individual painting projects may be an effective instrument of intercultural dialogue towards peace. This is by emphasizing the individual works’ cultural content and highlighting their originality and sovereignty without the intention of becoming dominant but with an objective of developing cultural tolerance and coexistence. Like individual painting projects, group painting sessions also proved to be equally effective, if not better, tool of cultivating oneness and solidarity of people with variety of cultural and ethnic orientations. This point is strengthened in the following section.

Group Painting or Collaborative Painting as Pedagogy of Peace

Group Painting or collaboration painting is not new. In fact, visual images, both three dimensional and two dimensional art works, from earliest known civilizations like Catal Huyuk, Mesopatamia, Sumeria, and Egypt strongly imply, according to their complexities and sizes, that they could not have been created by single individual artist. But rather, they might have been products of collaborative efforts of the whole community or tribe with their leaders or tribal heads at the forefront. Evidently, an individual artist could not singlehandedly have built the mammoth Egyptian pyramids and intricate wall paintings. Likewise, the Stonehenge in England, which is built approximately 5000 years ago for some unknown purpose, may not have been a single person’s manual effort. For one, each gigantic sarsen stone weights fifty tons and to transport them from Marlborough Downs, roughly 20 miles to the north, is a feat of greater magnitude. It was estimated that around 600 men would have been needed just to get each stone in their places. In the middle ages, churches and cathedrals with extraordinary beauty like Notre Dame de Paris, Chartes, Rheims, Amiens in France; Westminster Abbey in London, Canterbury and many others have been products of cooperation and conjunction of skills of masons, stone cutters, sculptors, woodcarvers, metal workers, painters, glass blowers and others (Faurot, 1974). These works and structures have been monuments of common aspirations and they serve as unifiers among the community of laborers/artists. Hence, it is safe to infer that collaborative art like group painting is as old as or even older than individual art.

Indeed, group painting may be a tool to forge and cultivate solidarity. Nowadays, there are a number of organizations and institutions which prove this point. One, the Philippine Association of Teachers of Culture and the Arts (PATCA) launched in its 1998 Annual Conference a project entitled “sambayan” which gathered together teachers of arts and culture to collaboratively produce an acrylic painting. Because of the positive advantages of “sambayan” to the

relationship of the member-teachers, PATCA repeated it in many of its annual conferences and other gatherings.

On the Spot Artists Association Inc. (OTSAA), an organization based in the Philippines, launched in April 22, 2006 its project entitled The Art Miles Mural Project Philippines Collaboration Session with an end view of promoting peace among diverse cultures. With a theme, Fishes of the Ocean, this project is undertaken by seventy two artists who shared their time interpreting the theme. After painting nearly a hundred meter of canvas, the organization reported that positive results were achieved and that camaraderie and friendship among the participating artists of various orientations, gender and age were cultivated. The spirit of Filipino Bayanihan (cooperation) was also exemplified. This was a replication of what The International Education and Resource Network of Pakistan did in 2003.

Another organization named Art and Spirituality Center in Philadelphia USA initiated a project entitled MasterPeace: Doorways to Peace Mural on November 14, 2004. The project was a collaboration mural painting which aimed at nurturing cultural and interfaith dialogue among the participants which included Al-Aqsa Islamic Society, the Arts and Spirituality Center, the Mural Arts Program, artists Joe Brenman, Cathleen Hughs, and Fadwa Kashkash, community organizations of Kensington South and community schools. Participating schools included the Al-Aqsa Academy, LaSalle Academy, Moffet Elementary Public School, and Hancock St. John’s United Methodist After School Program. Preparations for this project began in 2003 as the collaborators planned for ways to strengthen neighborhood relationships and bridge cultural barriers and to create needed beauty in the neighborhood. The results were really satisfying. The organization observed that through the project children of various communities who at the start of the project dislike one another became friends at the end. There were even instances where the participants cried over the prospect of separation and project ending.

In February 22, 2008, in Savannah, Georgia paintings done individually and collaboratively by sixty one children from Israel and Palestine were exhibited in “Children of Jerusalem: Painting Pain, Dreaming Peace”. The exhibit showed how two communities can come together and dream for peace. The project was sponsored by Jewish Educational Alliance and Savannah Jewish Federation. These are only few collaborative painting projects which promote peace and solidarity among cultures and ethnic groups. There are still a thousand of these sorts of projects around the world.

Group painting is used as pedagogy. In fact, group painting session as pedagogy may be classified under a larger category that is—cooperative learning.

Cooperative learning (CL) is an instructional paradigm in which teams of students work on structured tasks (e.g., homework assignments, laboratory experiments, or design projects) under conditions that meet five criteria: positive interdependence, individual accountability, face-to-face interaction, appropriate use of collaborative skills, and regular self-assessment of team functioning. Many studies have shown that when correctly implemented, cooperative learning improves information acquisition and retention, higher-level thinking skills, interpersonal and communication skills, and self-confidence (Johnson, Johnson, & Smith, 1991). Cooperative learning is a response to traditional curriculum-driven education. Here, students interact within a structured heterogeneous group to generate individual and collective learning.

Cooperative Learning is identified with Célestin Freinet, a French thinker and educator. In 1928, this methodology was known as ‘Freinet Pedagogy’ or ‘Freinet Movement’. Cooperative learning is characterized by social interdependence. In CL, high levels of interaction are achievable and each group is considered as a dynamic whole. However, members still maintain their individual freedom despite the nurtured solidarity. It must also be emphasized that learners, in cooperative learning pedagogy, must work together in order to succeed and that personal success only springs from group success. This is entirely different from Competitive Learning whereby the failure of one means the success of other learners.

Like any other activities associated with Freinet, group painting sessions are mainly undertaken and utilized in educating children. Mostly in the primary and secondary levels; and during the child’s development stage. This pedagogy has several proven benefits to children such as (a) Increased Self Efficacy; (b) Increased Retention; (c) Higher Motivation and (d) Preference for Future Coop-Learning Episodes. (Freinet Organization, 1999)

Undoubtedly, group painting sessions or collaborative painting may be an effective pedagogy for cultivating peace among diverse cultures. I will attempt to present to you the experiences we have about group painting; and how it can be utilized as a pedagogical tool towards cultivation of peace and oneness among the students of various ethnic orientations at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) in Manila. But before doing that, I will present to you the Research Setting—PUP in the following section.

PUP andits Role as Catalyst for Peace

Polytechnic University of the Philippines is the biggest university in the Philippines in terms of its number of enrolment. With PUP’s more than 62,000 students enrolled in all 16 campuses, 10 of which are in the provinces, it is a

home to students of varied ethnic and regional orientations. It becomes a meeting place of various students from different regions from the northern most part to the southern most part of the territory. Students from foreign countries like South Korea, Republic of China, India, Bangladesh, Taiwan, Singapore, and some other neighboring countries also go to PUP to earn their degrees in the arts, business, technology and engineering, languages and linguistics, education and law, and sciences.

The University’s resolve to create an atmosphere of friendship and peace is reflected on the policies and writings of its President. Dr. Dante G. Guevarra (2007), PUP’s president, stressed the role of the universities towards intercultural dialogue. He believes that universities bridge peoples and nations across oceans towards unity and understanding (Guevarra, 2007). He further pointed out that universities should lead in the promotion of world peace. He said:

In view of the major complexities in the world today, Universities has to take its international role of promoting world peace. The universities should take the cudgels of laying the groundwork for understanding the dynamics of multicultural diversity which is a very significant key in solving differences among peoples of nations. Wars or international conflict could be avoided if only universities of the world would initiate the moulding of international opinion. Every university must establish its own Center for World Peace. (Guevarra, 2007)

With Dr. Guevarra at the helm, the University becomes more favorable and conducive to multiculturalism. It is a policy of the University to accept students who passed the University’s entrance examinations and interviews regardless of their religious affiliations, gender, disability, race, political beliefs and opinions, and economic status. There are more than a hundred accredited student organizations of different nature ranging from academic, brotherhood/fraternity, athletic, cultural, religious, civic, political, etc in PUP. The University even provided a separate structure to house all these student organizations. To avoid conflict between and among these student organizations, the University would always conduct conferences and fora involving the leaders of these organizations. Consultations are also undertaken to polish some regulations which affect the studentry in general or specific organizations in particular. Students, like in other State-run universities, have their representative in the highest policy making body of the University, that is the Board of Regents. The student representative, who was voted by the students, may participate in the deliberations and debates about the policies that are formulated to air the student concerns. By doing this,

the University cultivates camaraderie among the students; and develops rapport between the University administration and the studentry.

And to nurture cultural tolerance among its students, the University undertakes programs towards this direction. The University helps the students understand multiculturalism through the courses it offers (Carague, 2000). For one, it provides courses such as but not limited to the following: Philippine History and Government (HS 110), Philippine Literature (LT110), World Literature (LT210), Anthropology, World Civilizations, Asian Civilization, and Humanities (HU 110). All these courses are meant to educate and inform the students that their immediate community, their country, and the world are places where seemingly conflicting cultures are abound. And to harmoniously co-exist with other cultures, one should tolerate and recognize this reality.

Among all these courses, the University highlights art and humanities studies. PUP included these courses in almost all its curricular degree and non-degree programs. The University, through the Department of the Humanities and the Graduate School, offers Humanities and other related courses to almost all the eighty two (82) undergraduate and graduate academic degree programs. With its faculty members numbering about forty seven (47), the Department of the Humanities continuously elevates human artistry and creativity. Similarly, faculty members from the Graduate School undertake programs to propagate culture and arts. With these efforts, the University allows the flourishing of humaneness in the students. It continuously provides its students a kind of education which is imbued with international humanism.

Arguably, Polytechnic University of the Philippines values the study of the Humanities3. PUP shares this with other world universities like University of California Davis, Harvard University, University of Toronto, and other members of Association of American Universities (AAU).4 To be faithful and

3 Humanities include, but are not limited to, the arts of literature, painting, music, sculpture, architecture, and dance, and the discipline of philosophy that permeates all the arts and unites them all (Lamm, Cross 1993, 6).

4 In 2004, AAU conducted a research about the Humanities and education. The research concluded that there is a need to reinvigorate humanities courses in universities (Mathae and Birzer 2004). The importance of arts and humanities to education was stressed by the former Harvard University President Neil L. Rudenstine in one of his talks at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1998. “The arts and humanities are essential to a liberal arts education because of their direct connection to human experience”, Rudenstine remarked (The Harvard University Gazette, 1998); In his study of Philippine universities, Samuel Wiley of Gregorian University in Rome stressed the importance of the humanities in the academe. Wiley quoted Samuel C. Florman to drive his point, Florman enumerated five reasons why liberal arts education is important. These reasons are as follows: (1) to improve intellectual competence and expand imaginative powers; (2) to develop those qualities of character and personality that make for leadership and successful careers; (3) to enrich our personal lives with new knowledge

truthful about the university’s commitment to the humanities, it is only appropriate to allow its faculty members to devise their own specific methodology on how to teach the courses in the arts and humanities. In this way, the faculty is given free hand to choose the best suited pedagogy, however, with a pronounced condition that the very objective of the courses that is international humanism, among others, would still be on their agenda.

Part I:Assessments of Group Painting as Pedagogy of Peace

As to Content

Content is sometimes used synonymously with theme. But this is not exactly correct because content is broader than theme. It refers to the thing/idea being represented in the painting. It is that which makes the painting what it is. In Understanding Art (4th Edition), Rathus (1994) said that the content of a work of art is everything that is contained in it. The content of a work refers not only to its lines or forms, but also to its subject matter and its underlying meanings or themes. There are three levels of content which we have to consider. These are as follows: (1) element and composition, (2) subject matter, and (3) underlying or symbolic meanings or themes (Ibid, 68).

The contents of the paintings produced by the students of art and humanities in PUP manifest a variety of techniques used by the teachers in doing the activity. I interviewed faculty members of PUP who used group painting as pedagogy.5 In an interview with Prof. Guillermo Bungato, a faculty of PUP handling the subject, he said that he lets the students decide how they would do the painting and what subject matter it would contain. The composition and the meanings attached to the painting are likewise decided by the students themselves. He likewise pointed out that the content of the painting is deliberated by the students through their interaction. However, sometimes students would not even sit down for short planning and just face the canvas and do the painting without any discussion among the group members. As Prof. Bungato observed, works which are well planned are better than those which are spontaneous and unplanned.

Prof. Nelson Baun, a faculty member of the same Department, shared this idea. Prof. Baun said that the contents of the painting should be deliberated by the students. He discouraged doing the activity without any prior planning. He emphasized the importance of group discussion to agree on the theme of the

and insight, with keener appreciation of beauty; (4) to elevate the standards of our profession; and (5) to contribute to the common good (Wiley, 1981, 10).

5 The interviews were conducted from November 2 to November 18, 2008.

painting. Prof. Baun believes that without planning, it is impossible for the work to generate intelligible meaning.

Prof. Baun likewise, stressed that to cultivate peace among students of diverse cultural backgrounds, intercultural communication should start to occur prior, during and after the activity. It must be underlined that intercultural communication is a process where exchange of information between and among students who are culturally unalike (Rogers & Steinfatt 1999). Hence, this is a process where the participants/students would come to a common understanding and unanimously agree on the particular content of the artwork despite their cultural differences.

Like Prof. Baun, Prof. Agnes Sunga-Oblefias gathers her students and motivate them to first have initial interaction and exchange of ideas as to what would their painting be like. She imposes no specific rules in doing the interaction. It is enough that students would come to an agreement as to the content and that agreement must be well embodied in the painting work.

A senior faculty, Prof. Pacelli Eugenio also prefers that his students would talk first about what subject matter and composition would be utilized; and what meaning of the work should be articulated before they would execute the activity. Prof. Eugenio, however, explains thoroughly the aims and specific objectives of the activity before the preliminary phase of the activity starts. Prof. Eugenio makes sure that his students understand first the reasons why the activity is undertaken. This way, according to him, students can execute the activity much better.

There are some faculty members of the College like Prof. Kriztine Viray, who on the other hand, prefer that the subject matter of the painting must be pre-imposed. This means that the teacher himself or herself imposes the subject matter before the students even start to interact. This, according to her, is very convenient because the students would just execute the work. In her classes, she would give the students a broader theme like ‘social relevance’, ‘nature’, and ‘basic emotions’. Correspondingly, another advantage is that it is easier for the teacher to evaluate and rate the works when there is a common theme.

Prof. Racidon Bernarte, a part time faculty of the Department of Humanities, shares the opinion of Prof. Viray. Prof. Bernarte provides the students with themes like ‘fear’, ‘friendship’, ‘family, etc. Interestingly, Prof. Bernarte imposes themes which start with common letter in the alphabet.

Prof. Raul Roland Sebastian differs from the rest of the group. Prof. Sebastian gives focus and emphasis on the visual composition. How the elements are put together and organized. He also underscores the

significance of the process of doing the activity and how the students interact with each other either verbally or otherwise.

There is really a big difference between planned paintings and unplanned ones. I will show to you some of the works done by our students. So you may understand the difference.

(Plates Viewing)

Plate No. 1 (unplanned): There is no specific intelligible theme and meaning contained in the work. It should be noted, however, that the splattered paints all over the canvas suggest some powerful emotions. Though the meaning is not comprehensible, the painting is not without any value. Note that the painting may generate varied responses from its viewers. The visual elements and composition contained in the work conform to the tradition setforth by Jackson Pollock—that is abstract expressionism.

Plate No. 2 (Theme: Pre-imposed): Here is a work done by Communication students of PUP Open University under Prof. Kriztine Viray. Notice that the lines seem to direct the eyes of its viewers towards the center. That’s how the students manipulated the visual elements. Try looking at closely the center figure and you would realize that it is an unspoiled island surrounded by clear sea waters. The image seems to have popped up from a state of environmental disorder and chaos surrounding it. The message conveyed was really very clear. Environmental issues were addressed.

Plate No. 3 (Planned): This painting was done by teachers of culture and the arts who came from the different regions and provinces of the country (Philippines).

The theme of the painting as agreed upon by the participants is ecology and environment. There is an apparent disorder in the composition. However, this artwork produced in 1999 was united by three (3) realistic objects: Leaf, shell and a coke tin can.

Plate No. 4 (Planned: participants grew up together in the same orphanage): This was done in September 2008 by PUP Rondalla members who grew up together in the same orphanage—the Children’s Joy Foundation. The group members carefully planned the theme, content and composition of the artwork. Because of this, the art seemed to have been done by a single person or artists.

All of the faculty members who were interviewed for this paper agree that students can possibly learn the basic elements of visual arts by experiencing ‘painting’. Moreover, students also learn how to correctly analyze a particular work of art according to these elements. Apart from this, students can have intercultural understanding and communication by discussing the theme, elements, composition and meaning of the work prior to, during and after the activity.

As to Process and Method

As pointed out, PUP allows its faculty members to utilize their own method in delivering the courses assigned to them. As earlier established in the paper, professors of Humanities in the university usually conduct group painting sessions. However, though they have similar pedagogy, faculty members may still differ as to the approaches they apply.

Their choice of methodology depends on the following factors: (1) Goals; (2) Participants’ Profile; (3) Mediums Used; and (4) Knowledge of the basic elements of visual arts; and (5) timeframe.

Goals

Prof. Eugenio highlights and discusses the aims and goals of the activity first before it actually starts. For instance, if the activity’s goal is peace cultivation, the same should be explained to the participants. The participants should know the fact that group painting sessions may be a possible avenue by

and through which cultural differences would be tolerated and intercultural understanding could be developed. True, teachers should not leave their students innocent about the things that would transpire in the activity. Moreso, it is a capital sin for a teacher not to tell the students about the meaning and importance of the activity.

Prof. Segundo Dizon, Director of Cultural Office of PUP, shares this opinion. Prof. Dizon identifies two goals: one, learning the elementary concepts about visual arts; and two, cultivating peace, friendship, and camaraderie. According to him, discussions on the basic concepts involved in the visual arts should be given more emphasis. This is to be true about the idea of using group painting as pedagogy. He claims that the second goal of group painting activity—that is peace,etc—would be realized by the participants/students along the way.

Aside from the goals of the activity, Prof. Dizon would also discuss to his students the possible benefits that can be derived from the activity such as the enjoyment it could spawn; skills that could be developed and honed; and of course, grades, accolades, and admirations the art work could earn.

Prof. Josefina Parentela, Chairperson of the Department of the Humanities, likewise tells her students first of what the end points of the activity are. Usually, her discussions about the goals of the activity are undertaken side by side her discussions on the history, basic elements, and understanding of visual arts. This way, according to her, the students would know that the activity should be a learning activity and not only for enjoyment purposes.

Prof. Racidon Bernarte, Prof. Kriztine Viray, Prof. Agnes Sunga-Oblefias, and Prof. Raul Roland Sebastian are also unanimous in saying that the goals of the activity should be put across and explained at the very onset. Through this, the students would have a clear direction; would feel and realize the value of the activity; and would contemplate on the impacts the activity could generate even at its inception.

Despite of the variety of reasons, there seem to be a unity of opinions on the matter. Majority of the faculty members agree that the goals of the activity should be first laid down before the activity would start.

Participants Profiling, Mediums Used

During the interviews with the faculty members, I discovered that most of them do not profile their students before constituting the groups for the session. Most of them would just divide the class into several groups and the number of members for each group is dependent on how big the class is. The faculty members do not mind at all the cultural orientations of the members

in a group; their regional affiliations; gender; religion; age; and other dividing factors.

I submit that if the activity is to be utilized as a tool to cultivate peace and oneness among them, it is important to profile the students carefully, though this is very tasking on the part of the teacher. Groups should have members of varied, if not conflicting cultural orientations or other factors. Teachers can only do this grouping with justice by giving the students a short survey. After the survey results are gathered, the teacher can easily constitute the groups with a primary design to join together students of different backgrounds and orientations.

If all the members of the group are from the same cultural background, the activity would be in vain and worthless. Why? This is because there is already a presumption that peace between and among these members exists. No conflict to settle. No differences to forge. No intercultural dialogue and communication is possible. At the very least, what can be nurtured is interpersonal communication and relationship.

As to the medium, the majority of the faculty members do not require the students a particular medium to use, rather the students are given liberty to choose from among all the available mediums.6 This is because the students would know what medium they are comfortable using. Students usually use in their art works three common mediums. These are: dry pastel, watercolor, and acrylic.

By looking at the paintings, I realized that when the medium is imposed upon the students, there seems to be discord in the organization. But when the students choose their own medium, beautiful artworks are produced. I will show some paintings done in different mediums chosen by the students themselves. We can observe the aesthetic value of each work. And show you one painting done in a medium imposed upon the students.

(Plates Viewing)

Plate No. 5 (Pastel): These three pieces of artworks by the students of Prof. Racidon Bernarte are mistaken to have been done by professional artists. The organization in each of the painting would indicate that the

6 Prof. Rodolfo Divino, who is on leave, differs. He imposes on a group a particular medium. One group is assigned to use oil; other group in the same class would use pastel, another would be water color, and so forth. The idea of Prof. Divino is to let the students learn the advantages and disadvantages of the different mediums. And that at the end of the activity the students would discover what medium that can fit their needs and their skills.

students who collaborated to paint them possess artistic talents. True, the students who did the paintings are art students and that they have pronounced artistic inclinations. Try to observe the blending of colors in these 3 artworks and you would realize that the students have mastery of the mediums they employed. Notice the harmony in the paintings, they seem to have been painted by individual artists.

Plate No. 6 (Acrylic): Undoubtedly, this artwork done by marketing and business students of PUP has soaring artistic value. The use of vibrant colors and the masterful manipulation of geometric shapes suggest that the artists comfortably handled the medium —that is acrylic--well.

Plate No. 7 (Acrylic): This artwork is done by the students of Prof. Rodolfo Divino, a PUP professor of Humanities who is currently on leave. The students obviously mishandled the medium. There was no harmony in the artwork.

Knowledge of the Basic Elements of the Visual Arts

About 95% percent of the students who take Humanities courses are not enrolled in courses like architecture, interior design, and fine arts. Understandably, a teacher of humanities must explain and orient his /her students about the basic concepts about visual arts including but not limited to elements, history, appreciation principles, art theories and other elementary lessons on visual arts. This is to make the students well informed.

Although psychology and psychoanalytic theorists would assume that artists unconsciously reflect their psyche and personality in the art works, it is still important that the artists know the elements of the art work and what underlying psychological meanings do these elements represent. Expectedly, majority of the students do not have the skills yet but when they are well informed about visual arts, a certain liking towards it would be nurtured.

Hence, it is incumbent upon the teacher to teach the theories first before going to any activity.

Timeframe

During the interviews, I gathered that the faculty members only allow their students to finish the artwork within a period of 3 to 4 hours. This period refers only to the activity itself. This does not include the time spent for initial planning, discussions and lectures on the elementary concepts, gathering of materials, and post-activity sessions like understanding the artwork, interpreting the works by the students and assessments.

I will show to you some paintings which are doubted to have been produced for a short span of 3 to 4 hours because of their intricacies and complicatedness.

(Plates Viewing)

Plate No. 8 (Intercultural Marriage)

Plate No. 9 (Garden Paradise)

Plate No. 10 (Vortex)

As to Facilitation and Acceptability

Group painting sessions in PUP are being facilitated by the teacher of the course himself or herself. At times, if the class is big enough, the teacher will invite other facilitators who are most usually visual artist or other art teachers. There are no hard and fast rules being followed by the teachers in facilitating the activity. They do not follow strict guidelines and approaches. There is also no common objective and goals set. This is perhaps the reason why there are some group painting activities which fall short of the expectations.

On the other channel, in terms of the level of acceptability of group painting, I would say that it is well accepted by the faculty, students and university administrators. Albeit, there was no actual baseline study yet that determines the acceptability of group painting session as pedagogy in PUP. We can only infer this to three things: (1) the continuous patronage being given by the University and College administrators to the activity; (2) the positive reactions of the students towards the activity; and the (3) incessant

employment of this type of pedagogy by the faculty members. All these suggest that group painting is acceptable PUP community.

As to Effectivity to forge and cultivate oneness and peace among students of various ethnic and regional orientations

I tender the following observations which all point to the basic argument that group painting is an effective tool to forge and cultivate oneness and peace among the students of PUP of various ethnic and regional orientations: (1) Cultural exchange and intercultural communication occur; (2) Cultural dominance is avoided; (3) Democratic participation is encouraged; and (4) the art work virtually unites the students.

Cultural exchange occurs in group painting (Rogers, 2006). There are two ways by which this cultural exchange happens in group painting sessions in PUP. During the preliminary phase of the activity, students would normally converse with one another as to the content and theme of the artwork to be painted.7 Through these conversations, the students would unconsciously unfold and reveal themselves to each other. They would share their ideas with each other thereby giving them chance to assimilate each others cultural orientations. This also happens during the activity proper. Here, students would meet minds as to the execution of the artwork albeit non-verbally.

Consequently, cultural dominance (Rogers, 2006) is avoided. How? In group painting, the students are considered of equal footing. No leader to speak of. No dominant and subordinated culture. Only common aspiration—that is to come up with a beautiful art work. For instance, a student from northern region who has a different culture with that of a group mate who hails from the south, ideally would set aside for a moment his/her orientations just to work collaboratively with his group mates. Avoiding cultural dominance in group painting, however, does not prevent the members of a particular group to assert and speak up. It just encourages the members to learn how to compromise towards the direction a particular goal.

Democratic participation is encouraged. In group painting, every member of the group is encouraged or even required to contribute to the completion of the art work. Here, when we speak of contributions we don’t refer to those which are financial in nature, like monetary expenses, but rather those which refer to efforts exerted, ideas shared, emotions invested, labor, and other intangibles that are necessary in the completion of the work.

7 These type of conversations occur even if the theme is pre-imposed. However, in which case, the students would only talk about the process by which the theme is to be articulated.

Accordingly, when a student contributed to the art work, he/she identified herself/himself to it (art work). This is how Karl Marx looked at labor. Labor relates the individual to his creation (Hooker, 1996). Hence, virtually all the participants in the activity would identify and relate themselves to the single artwork despite the perceived heterogeneity (Scheufele, Hardy, Brossard, Waismel-Manor, & Nisbet, 2006) that exists among them. This way the participants are united by the art work they collaboratively produced.

Part II

Helpful Workshop Plan/Outline

In this section, I outline a basic plan for group painting activity. I divide the entire process into three, namely: (1) Preliminary Phase; (2) Actual Group Painting Session Phase; and (3) Post-Activity Phase.

Preliminary Phase1. Discuss the history, elements, and functions of painting 2. Motivate the students by showing them images of collaborative painting

activities and their positive results 3. Identify the objectives of the activity4. Determine the Profile of the Participants as to their cultural

orientations by giving them a Cultural Questionnaire/Survey8

5. Based on the results of the survey, constitute the groups by making sure that the members are not coming from the same orientation

6. Give the members, time to talk with each other about the activity; and time to plan for the painting’s content, organization and visual composition.

Actual Group Painting Session PhasePrerequisites:

8 Refer to Appendix a (Reynolds & Valentine, 2004).

1. The facilitator/teacher should possess the following competencies during the actual painting session:

a. Solid verbal communication skillsb. Ability to work with a variety of peoplec. Common and good judgmentd. Willingness to play and share a sense of adventure with the

participants; ande. Good sense of humor

2. Should also possess the following skills:a. Basic understanding about the visual arts, the benefits and

objectives of the group painting activityb. Ability to explain the rules and consequences of the activity

Things to be considered by the facilitator:

1. Position the groups distant from each other to avoid intermingling of ideas and plans.

2. Set the timeframe.3. Make sure that all the students are doing the activity. If there are

some students who do not participate, call their attention. 4. Do not allow the students to cross group lines. 5. As they do the activity, do not leave the activity area. Stay.6. Roam around the activity area at times in order that the students

would feel the seriousness of the activity. 7. Be firm in your decisions.8. Once the time allotted expires, stop all the groups regardless of the

status of the work.

Post-Activity Phase

1. Ask one group to interpret the works of other groups.2. Ask the students to explain their own works.3. Ask them to explain the experience.

Concluding Remarks

There are one thousand and one ways by which peace and solidarity among diverse cultures can be achieved and nurtured, group painting is comparably just a single spec. I hope that our experience in PUP, though admittedly so simple or uncomplicated, be a notable contribution towards the attainment of universal peace. Hopefully, as students in group painting did, nations of varied cultures can come together and exchange ideas to forge solidarity and oneness.

Thank you.

Bibliography

Carague, O. M. (2000). Culture and Arts Teaching: Coping wioth Information Technology. (J. F. Nicolas, Ed.) Sinag , VIII, 2.

Demenchonok, E. (2005). Intercultural Discourse and African-Caribbean Philosophy No.1-2/2005. Courtesy of the author. Dialogue and Universalism (1-2).

Faurot, A. (1974). Culture Currents of World Art. Quezon City: New Day.

Freinet Organization. (1999). HIstory of Freinet Pedagogy. Retrieved November 15, 2008, from www.freinet.org/icem/history.htm

Guevarra, D. G. (2007). Selected Writings of Dr. Dante G. Guevarra. Manila: Polytechnic Unviersity of the Philippines.

Hooker, R. (1996). Alienation of Labor. Retrieved November 15, 2008, from World Civilizations: www.

Johnson, D. W., Johnson, R. T., & Smith, K. A. (1991). Active learning: Cooperation in the college classroom. Edina, MN: Edina, MN: Interaction Book Company .

Reynolds, S., & Valentine, D. (2004). Guide to Cross-Cultural Communication. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Rogers, R. A. (2006). From Cultural Exchange to Transculturation. Communication Theory , XVI (4), 475-479.

Scheufele, D. A., Hardy, B. W., Brossard, D., Waismel-Manor, I. S., & Nisbet, E. (2006). Democracy Based on Difference: Examining the Links Between Structural Heterogeneity, Heterogeniety of Discussion Networks, and Democratic Citezenship. Journal of Communication , LVI (4), 729-737.