Children and young adults who have been part of an art therapy programme are getting a secondary benefit from the initiative. Last week, Advance Edukos held its fourth First Thursday Art Exhibition to sell the art made in the programme.

All money from sales goes straight to the artist, said Wendy Abrahams, the founder of Advance Edukos, which celebrated its sixth anniversary on 1 June, at the exhibition held at Rocklands Library on Thursday 4 June. Abrahams thanked the library for its ongoing support, which includes providing space not only for the exhibition but for the programme too.

Emotional growth

Abrahams spoke warmly of the visible growth shown by the children who took part in the programme.

“One of the young men stopped writing words for more than six months, and on Tuesday for the first time he started writing again in our space. I’m really honoured. We have been working with him for three years now,” she said.

She gave the example of a young man from Noluthando, a special needs school in Khayelitsha, where Advance Edukos has an education hub. During an art session, the student did not stop on the front of the canvas but turned it over and filled the back with writing too.

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“He just started and when this wasn’t enough, he turned the page and he started writing there,” Abrahams said, lifting the artwork from the display to show TygerBurger the back, which was filled with random words.

Noluthando programme manager Andrea van Wyk agreed.

“He is going through a transition, but it is all growth. He used to do these writings and he used to ask us to read them, but he hasn’t for a while. It was encouraging for me to see him doing that again because he really enjoys it. I think it is also a bit of freedom that he is feeling in your space,” she said to Abrahams. “So you are doing something right. There has been so much growth with him.”

Prize winners

Among the artists at the exhibition were brothers Kayden (16) and Mason (10) Mabee, who both won third place in their respective age categories in the Norval Foundation’s art competition in 2025.

Kayden’s acrylic painting was about South Africa and the people who fought for freedom. Mason’s work expressed the feelings of the people of South Africa. Both received art supplies as their prize, including paintbrushes and sketchbooks with different types of paper.

Kayden said he would love to make art his career one day. “There is a big part of me that wants to become an artist and pursue art in my career one day, but in today’s life you have to have another back-up plan,” he said. He is considering a career in medicine, with art as a serious side pursuit.

Mason, on the other hand, said art was not something he wanted to do for a living. He told TygerBurger he wants to be a police officer.

Partnerships

Emcee Yolanda Naudé, the literacy coordinator of the Storytelling Through Art Literacy programme at False Bay College, stressed that the eduhubs and the work they do would not be possible without Advance Edukos’s sponsors. She thanked ward councillor Elton Jansen, the National Lottery Commission, the City of Cape Town’s Arts and Culture department, and the Department of Sport, Art and Culture for their continued support.

Art sold on Facebook

Abrahams added that art not sold at the exhibition would still be available and would be showcased on Advance Edukos’s Facebook page. The artwork will next be on exhibition on again at the end-of-year graduation.

Some pieces have listed prices but others can be bought by auction or donation.