My name is Arrow Hargis, I’m an 18-year-old Princeton University student. I have the privilege to volunteer at Phare Ponlue Selapack and teach art to kids. I teach with Lokru Lao, one of the founders of Phare and a former student of the French humanitarian Véronique Decrop. She taught art to children in refugee camps (post-Khmer Rouge) as a form of art therapy, then later began Phare with nine of her students, including Lokru Lao. If you visit Phare’s campus, you might get a tour of the art that was produced by refugee children after the Khmer Rouge. Seeing scenes of war and violence in the innocent medium of a child's hand is haunting and reality-inducing.
As I’ve continued teaching the Leisure Class, I’ve noticed that the students are still producing art that has to do with the recent border conflict. I find it heartbreaking but simultaneously reassuring that they have an outlet to express this. I feel especially passionate about my volunteer job because art education is often undervalued for the ability that it has to aid children in gaining important life skills. Art education helps build confidence, decision-making, concentration, and even empathy (The Art of Education).
As someone who has been active in art communities my whole life in America, I can’t help but feel that Phare is special. Murals are on the walls of every building. Massive 3D puppets are placed around the campus. And at night recycled lanterns light up, giving Phare an appropriately magical glow. The beauty of the campus itself relays an understanding of Phare's impact on students. This arts school taps into the beautiful rich heritage of Khmer culture to not only preserve Khmer identities but also to make the practice of art economical, accessible, academically enriching, and community-building.
I help with “the Leisure Class." Essentially, if students have gaps in their schedules, they can come hang out in this classroom and create art with the guidance of Lokru Lao and me. I host different workshops centered on the idea of being resourceful and creative with your materials. Acquiring art supplies as a kid in Battambang can be difficult, whether it’s price or accessibility. I show them ways to make art from items in nature, found objects, trash, leftover materials, etc.
I’ve been in Cambodia for six months and have been taking formal Khmer classes for five. I speak enough Khmer to give my students basic guidance, but I mainly demonstrate in order to teach them. To my surprise, my students are quite patient with me, engaged in my lessons, and overall passionate about the work they create. I introduce them to fun ideas, but I rely on their motivation to make art. I am fortunate to have students who are enthusiastic about my rather simplistic lessons and compassionate enough to listen to my slow, broken Khmer.
I feel incredibly proud to be a part of a community that is such an excellent representation of the power, or "brightness," of the arts.
“Phare Ponleu Selpak – in Khmer, The Brightness of the Arts”
Want to be part of exciting art festivals and events like S’Art in the future? Join Phare Ponleu Selpak as a volunteer and get first-hand experience changing lives through the arts.
***
