16-year-old rallies 50 teens to hold charity art exhibition to raise funds for needy children
SINGAPORE — When Gisele Yew was six years old, her father, who was a volunteer at an elderly nursing home, spoke fondly about an active volunteer who was just 12.
The girl who was a team leader would regularly keep the residents company at the home, as well as deliver food to them.
That story from more than 10 years ago stuck with her and spurred the 16-year-old to take action recently to organise an art collective of more than 50 youths to raise funds for charity.
Gisele’s organisation, called Passionate HeARTS, will be holding a charity art exhibition on June 13 at the Visual Arts Centre, an exhibition gallery and art studio located at Dhoby Ghaut Green.
The exhibition will feature a silent auction of 45 paintings, charcoal sketches, cyanotype prints and digital artworks created by Gisele and other youths aged between 13 and 17. In a silent auction, bids are made either online or written on pieces of paper.
The money raised will go towards supporting underprivileged children under the President’s Challenge which funds around 80 organisations, ranging from children and family services to disability services.
“I was really heartened that someone so young could be a leader doing so much for society already," Gisele said, referring to her observations as a volunteer 10 years ago.
"I always thought that I was too young and that I couldn't make a big difference in the community. But this really motivated me to start thinking of how I could help a larger scale of people.”
Among the art pieces that Gisele will put up for sale is an oil painting that she worked on for more than 17 hours, which she estimates could fetch up to S$10,000 based on a potential offer from a friend of her parents.
Other art pieces crafted by Gisele that will be featured in the auction include her oil paintings of a red forest and a meadow with flowers, with each taking about 16 hours to complete.
She hopes to raise at least S$50,000 from the online auction on giving.sg that will last for a week after the exhibition event.
“We hope to utilise this platform to inspire youths in our society and highlight that anyone, irrespective of background or circumstance, can make a positive impact if they possess the determination and compassion,” she said.
STARTING A YOUTH ORGANISATION
Gisele’s first encounter with art was when she was three years old and her parents took her to the Van Gogh Museum in the Netherlands where she saw the works of Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh, known for his masterpieces The Starry Night and The Bedroom, among many others.
“I thought it was really interesting at the time that somebody can take a palette, a few colours and conjure up a whole beautiful vibrant painting, and I decided that I also want to do that,” she said.
Her parents sent her for art classes at age seven where she learnt how to do basic colour pencil sketches.
She then branched out to do charcoal sketches and oil painting, allowing her to replicate renowned artworks such as van Gogh's Sunflowers oil painting.
Gisele then started Passionate HeARTS at the start of this year with the intention of giving all children the opportunity to develop their talent in art.
To do this, Passionate HeARTS conducts complimentary art classes for children at Tanglin Community Club and Henderson Crescent Residents' Committee every week and is planning to expand to other community centres around Singapore.
To get more people to join her organisation, she spoke to her teachers from Nanyang Girls' High school, who gave her the opportunity to speak to students from the school’s art elective programme and spread the word about Passionate HeARTS.
Gisele also reached out to other schools such as Hwa Chong Institution which allowed her to speak to their students too.
Through this, Gisele received overwhelming support from her school mates and other youths who expressed interest in joining Passionate HeARTS, helping her organisation to grow quickly to more than 50 members currently.
Her team is constantly spreading the word about her organisation through flyers, sign-up sheets as well as through social media to get more volunteers to join her.
While passionate about her cause, she said it can be quite stressful juggling her organisation's work and school commitments but she has no regrets doing it.
"It was a great learning experience for me to initiate an organisation without the help of any adults. It helped me become more independent," she said.
Her parents are also proud of her efforts in making Passionate HeARTS come to light, having seen her overcome various issues of administrative matters, drafting different plans and getting more people to join.
“I’ve seen Gisele go through many challenges in the process of setting up the organisation and I am most proud of her ability to overcome any problems that come her way," said Gisele's father, Mr Mark Yew, 52, chief executive of financial firm Myer Gold.
