VSU campus radio to launch visual arts education program with East-West Center, Hawaii

“We can do this together, be part of the change, be the change yourself.”

These were the words of Dr. Christina A. Gabrillo, the main proponent of the recently approved radio program proposal of the Department of Development Communication (DDC) and the university campus radio DYDC-FM, when asked how she came about with their newest educational broadcast.

The project is a radio school that will teach the use of visual arts to promote mental wellbeing and create awareness on environmental conservation and protection.

It will be funded by the East-West Center (EWC) in Hawaii, USA as part of the 2021 EWC Innovation for Sustainable Development Fellows along with fifteen other funded projects across Asia and America.

This educational broadcast is anchored on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG No. 3 on Good Health and Well-being, and SDG No. 13 on Climate Action.

For a span of one month, there will be modular virtual arts lessons to be aired at VSU Radio DYDC-FM with a simulcast on its official Facebook page. All lessons will follow a rundown sequence patterned from a real classroom setup that includes a roll call of students, the introduction of the current lesson, review of the past lesson, giving of quizzes or exams, and reading of feedback or comments from students.

This educational program is the first of its kind that will teach visual arts across two mediums—radio and social media.

Target audience of this program is Filipino junior and senior high school students enrolled in the Music, Arts, Physical Education, and Health (MAPEH) subject including students who are enrolled in the Department of Education’s (DepEd) Special Program for the Arts.

Prof. Jude Nonie Sales, a faculty member of DDC and the newly appointed Head of the VSU Culture and the Arts Center (CAC) will be the main resource person for this project. He will be joined by Ariana Loehr, 2019 East-West fellow based in London, United Kingdom.

This radio program will enroll 100 to 120 students where they will be provided with visual art kits containing a canvas, inks, and brushes. Students will also receive an electronic load subsidy.

At the end of the program, a virtual coffee table book will be launched featuring 50 of the best outputs of the enrollees.

Other listeners, who are not necessarily enrollees are free to tune in to the broadcast.

As for Dr. Gabrillo, she hopes to see the program grow and become a source of information for visual arts not only for MAPEH students but for MAPEH teachers as well.

Dr. Gabrillo is the head of DDC and this is her second consecutive funding from East-West Center following the implementation of a radio drama on disaster preparedness last year.

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