CCA aims to develop programmes within the community that would encourage the visual arts to become more integral in the daily lives of the public. We are currently designing a teacher package that will be sent out to schools, this package will provide information on upcoming exhibitions, themes and techniques that the exhibition explores and invites teachers to visit CCA7 and explore the visual thinking initiatives that we are developing.

CCA7 Saturday Morning Kid’s Club

Starting Saturday 11th January 2004, CCA7 will be continuing its Saturday Morning Kid’s Club, with art workshops for children, ages 4 - 12. The Kid’s Club will run each Saturday from 10a.m. - 12p.m. until 28th March 2004, with a fee of $350 per child for twelve weeks.  

Tessa Alexander Sloane-Seale will be facilitating the workshop. Tessa is the Arts Education Teacher at Blackman’s Private School. She has a degree in Fashion Design and Merchandising and has completed several courses at Ontario College of Art, Canada. An advocate for the importance of art in a child’s life, her workshop will expose the children to art from many cultures and time periods as well as the elements and design principles of art. The workshop will focus on process and free experimentation.

Participants are asked to walk with an old apron or old t-shirt to work in and lots of snacks. Basic materials will be provided for the duration of the workshop. These weekly Saturday Workshops are part of an on-going programme to increase access to, and participation in the Arts in the community, encouraging the visual arts to become more integral in the daily lives of the public.  

There are a limited number of places available and the workshop is open to participants from 4 –12 years. Please call 625-1889 / 6805 for more information.

Saturday Workshops

These weekly Saturday Workshops are part of an on-going programme to increase access to, and participation in the Arts in the community, encouraging the visual arts to become more integral in the daily lives of the public.  

The workshop accommodates participants 14 years to adult. These workshops are led by local artists. There is a $5 registration fee and participants pay $20 for each class. Most courses are scheduled for eight weeks. Classes are held from 2:00pm to 5:00pm. Studio visits to various artists spaces are also being introduced as part of the courses.

For more information, please call us at 625 1889/6805 or email at mail@cca7.org

Participants in the Carnival Project II Workshop

We are in the process of implementing various other activities, some of which are especially targeted to youth.

These upcoming programmes include:

Art IN Tent: A work in progress:

Art IN Tent: A work in progress was piloted through a week long series of talks and workshops that addressed particular themes that affect art making and understanding in Caribbean communities.
The themes included:

Writing, Looking and Talking about Art
Making Art Accessible
Art in Education

This pilot programme was developed in an effort to realise the long-term goals of helping to institutionalise educational programming, addressing the needs of as many sections of the community as possible. The feedback from Workshop participants is assisting CCA in identifying key points to be considered in developing an ongoing Education Programme at CCA7 and in developing an annual Art IN Tent Forum. The exposure and exchange enhanced group learning. Art IN Tent was held during the second week of August 2001. It was well attended by approximately sixty persons including: teachers, art administrators, members of the media, youth councillors, artists and students.

Participants in Art IN Tent

Art Camp 2003:

During the months of July and August 2003, Caribbean Contemporary Arts hosted its third Art Camp for young people. The CCA7 Art Camp 2003: B.C. The New Old World, which ran for two weeks, got its name from the upcoming exhibition in the InterAmericas Space at CCA7, Centre for the Contemporary Arts, “THE NEW OLD WORLD/El nuevo viejo mundo” by Puerto Rican artist, Marisol Villanueva. The exhibition documents the peoples, traditions, and landscapes of indigenous peoples in the Spanish and formerly Spanish Americas.

The participants aged 12 – 17, the majority from St. Dominic’s Home, the YMCA, KIND and FEEL were fully sponsored participants, with the generous support of the High Commission for Canada. The participants, with the guidance of Ricardo Bharath-Hernandez, Chief of the Santa Rosa Carib Community in Arima, learnt weaving skills and made fans and weaved finger games. John Stollmeyer showed them how to build an Amerindian Shelter using natural materials and Michele Murray from GRAS introduced the techniques of making handmade paper. Carlstead Seales taught clay pottery and a mural project was facilitated by Elsa Clarke. Natalie Butler documented the participants in the Camp and made a video that was shown during the Open day on Saturday 9th August 2003. The Open Day was well attended by participants and parents.

Clay pottery

Liz Brown from the High Commission for Canada
with participants

Art Camp: Earth and Body:

This first Art Camp held at CCA7 commenced on August 13th 2001. It was a two week long series of workshops in visual and performing arts for thirty children, ages 8 - 18, which concluded with a Family Day and a week long exhibition of their work in the InterAmericas Space. The workshops were led by various artists, and focused on drawing, mural making, sculpture, the environment, video making, photography, dance, storytelling and music. Participants in the Art Camp included children from St. Dominic's Home. Their participation was supported by Packaging Manufacturers Limited.

Teaching artists included: Naima Ali (Theatre Arts Educator), Emilia Azcárate (Painter), Cathy Blackbernn (Storyteller), Eddie Bowen (Painter and Sculptor), Elsa Clarke (Teacher and Painter), Christopher Cozier (Artist and Writer), Susan Dayal (Photographer and Sculptor), Nina Katchadourian (Visual Artist), Lupe Leonard (Sculptor and Designer), John Stollmeyer (Environmentalist and Conceptual Artist), Dave Williams (Dancer and Choreographer).

The response to this programme confirmed the need to continue this Camp as an annual summer programme for children.

Art Camp: Earth and Body

Chris Cozier facilitating drawing workshop

Children in Emilia Azcárate‘s workshop

Artist in the Community Programme in collaboration with the YMCA:

CCA has re-established an Artist-in-the-Community Programme.  In this programme, artists will live in communities for a four to six week period.  They will be given a studio space in either a school or community centre, and ideally live with a host family.  Artists will work with local residents, and in particular children, and engage in a project specific to the concerns of the communities.  This might be a mural or an installation, and incorporate both the works of the artist and the community members.  The work will be shown to the public on site.  Initial planning has began with schools and community centres in Trinidad in the areas of Point Lisas, Couva, Mayaro, Toco, Blanchisseuse, Lopinot and Carenage.

Marlon Griffith was based in Lopinot Village for a period of 6 weeks in December 2002 - January 2003.  He worked on his own pieces as well as interacted with the villagers, learning about the history, lifestyle and incorporated this knowledge into his new work.  He hosted an Open Day and gave an Artist Talk just before the end of his residency in Lopinot, where the public was invited to view the work done during the 6 weeks.

Marlon's shadow

“Kairi” Trinidad & Tobago International Film Festival 2002:

In response to the interest and positive feedback from artists, critics, students and filmmakers, CCA hosted and produced "Kairi" Trinidad and Tobago International Film Festival 2002 from November 14th - 18th 2002.  "Kairi" came to life through the generous support of the Hubert Bals Funds and the Rockefeller Foundation and with the kind assistance of the Association of Caribbean States, Banyan, COSTAATT, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Embassy of the United States of America, the High Commission for Canada, TIDCO and the University of the West Indies.

Screenings of films and videos from the Caribbean and the Caribbean Diaspora took place Friday 15th, Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th November 2002 at the Deluxe Cinema in Port of Spain.  A two-day Symposium/Workshop featuring local, regional and international film directors and professionals took place Friday 15th and Saturday 16th at CCA7.  

Featured guests included Jerry Carlson Film Producer/Lecturer City University of New York, renowned film director Robert Townsend as well as local industry professionals Horace Ove, Christopher Laird, Bruce Paddington, and Robert Yao Ramesar.  Regional filmmakers and producers participating and/or running workshops included Errol Williams from Bermuda, Richard Fung from Canada, Reyna Joe from Curacao and Dr. Jayne Bryce from UWI, Cave Hill Barbados.

Videos on Caribbean artists were shown to Secondary School and UWI students on Monday November 18th 2002 at CCA7. Later on that evening, highlights of the Festival were presented at the Learning Resource Centre, UWI.

The production team behind "Kairi" included Artistic Director: Bruce Paddington, Festival Consultant: Sanjhevi Kempadoo, Festival Co-ordinator: Patti-Anne Ali, Festival Assistant: Sharon White and Programme & Development Director: Charlotte Elias.  

Advisory / Screening Committee members included: Christopher Laird (filmmaker); Georgia Popplewell (filmmaker/writer); Elspeth Duncan (multi media artist); Chris Cozier (artist/critic); Bruce Paddington; Asha Lovelace (filmmaker); and Robert Yao Ramesar (filmmaker).

‘Art Papers’:

CCA has approached artist/critic Chris Cozier to edit a quarterly newsletter, from early 2004. To be printed on newsprint, this publication will aim at including art reviews, critical writing, short stories and a calendar of events and services from the Caribbean region.

As part of CCA’s education mission, we are currently developing a programme that would see young people from the community and Laventille-area schools (traditionally an economically depressed area of Trinidad) coming into the centre to attend workshops and ‘talks’ lead by practicing artists. Our goal being to teach young people about the practice of making work; to encourage them to see art as integral to themselves; and to introduce them to the potential role their work may play in cultural enterprise.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Ministry of Education has endorsed CCA’s educational mandate: students – between the ages of 10 and 18 – from area schools have already begun to use the facilities through the Artist in the Community, International Residency Programme, which involves participating artists dedicating two days a week to working with young people from area schools.

Additionally, with the help of the Ministry, we have been able to establish contacts with the following five schools in Laventille and its environs: Morvant/Laventille Secondary, Success/Laventille Composite, Barataria Secondary Comprehensive and South East Port of Spain Secondary (these schools are all within easy walking or travelling distance of CCA7). These schools can be likened to inner-city government schools: they are under-funded, overcrowded, and largely attended by children from broken and/or depressed homes. So far, their use of the centre has been initiated by CCA’s relationship with the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry’s desire to increase students’ access to a facility of this nature and the artists who come to make work here.

One particularly interesting result of our interaction with the Ministry has been the realisation that art teachers stand to benefit a great deal from coming into the centre also. In preparatory conversations with the Director of Schools Supervision about student interaction in our residency programme, the DSS reminded us that, "teachers will want to be learning from the artists too, you know!"

Master Classes

Master Class was a 2-day Intensive Workshop, held at CCA7, Centre for the Contemporary Arts, in the Main Gallery.  These Intensives were exercises and experimental workshops in Painting.  The workshops were intended to encourage art students and artists, to produce work in a short period of time, but with demanding results.  The Classes were held in the Main Gallery, to allow participants to have no limitation on the size of their work.  The walls in the Main Gallery are over 7 feet tall.

Peter Doig hosted the Painting Master Class on Wednesday 16th and Thursday 17th July 2003.  Doig is a well-known painter from London, who currently lives in Trinidad.  Doig specialises in landscapes, sometimes mysterious or vaguely threatening, which often hark back to the snowy Canadian environment of his youth. Before moving to Trinidad, Doig lectured at the Royal College of Art in London.

Participants were:
Mary Adams
Joanne Boopsingh
Laura Gomes
Piero Guerrini
Shannon Hutchinson
Marcus Leotaud
Suzanne Nunez
Rachel Rochford
Peter Sheppard
Eric J Williams

Ways of Working, ah ten days

On the 2nd of August 2000, CCA was the site of a two week workshop called ‘Ways of Working’ lead by artist Chris Cozier. The workshop hosted 8 young artists and students - from communities in and around Port of Spain - in studios here at CCA7. It focused on the realisation of ideas and concepts through the production of work, discussion and exchange of ideas. At the end of the workshop, the artists mounted an exhibition (for many it was their first experience displaying work in a recognised gallery) which was very well attended and received. Ideally, we would like to be able to host many more workshops such as this.

Names of participants in ‘Ways of Working’:

Lara Dahlmann
Ross Ferreira
Adeola Gibbons
Kemba Jaramogi
Naila Maharaj
Wendell McShine
Zoya Tommy
Alison Wells

Ways of Working Exhibition, August 2000

Talk Series

CCA's artists’ Talk Series, is an initiative that aims to bring artists and members of the community closer together through dialogue and discussion in the creative space. Artists who exhibit their work at CCA7 or participate in our International Residency Programme are asked to give a talk (with a slide presentation) about their work and creative processes to an audience which might consist of artists, students, historians, and members of the community. The talk takes the form of an open forum, and the audience is encouraged to participate, contributing questions or views on the work. This kind of interaction has been beneficial both to artists and the community, as new insights are gleaned from the discussions.
For information on our upcoming talks, please see the Calendar.

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Surekha (India) Artist Talk

Nikolai Noel (Trinidad) Artist Talk