Samantha Kasper |
On January 28, the Center for Possibilities Foundation (CFP) will be
staging a back-to-back event at the RCBC Plaza in Makati. At 5:30 in the
afternoon, the self-titled exhibit of 19-year-old Samantha Kaspar will open to the
public. At 7:00 pm, the Manila Symphony Orchestra will take center stage.
Art Auction
“Samantha” will consist
of around 40 artworks, some on fabric to be used as fashion accessories and
others on canvas for wall hangings.
“Samantha uses a wide
variety of media for her work and we wanted to show the gamut of her abilities.
She works primarily on piña silk using silk paints. She also uses acrylic paint
on canvas sometimes,” explains Samantha’s mother, Mitzi.
“She has a consistent
style with a lot of edges and lines, her artworks can be very linear. She also
has this certain way of giving shapes to her images which aren’t necessarily
realistic but are more cartoonish,” describes Samantha’s father, Martin.
While half-Swiss,
Samantha always tries to tap into her Filipino roots, coming up with
Filipino-themed artworks. She will be promoting some of that local culture when
she heads to the Philippine Center in New York for the Fashion Arts Autism
Benefit (FAAB) on April 7.
Samantha with her parents |
FAAB is meant to
showcase the artistic talents of children with special needs. Samantha,
diagnosed with Autism when she was one and a half years old, is one of eight
artists chosen to present their paintings on piña silk to be translated into
clothing by featured designers for the fashion show, Patis Tesoro and Anthony
Legarda. Master weaver India Legaspi is credited for teaching the artists the technique
of piña silk painting.
Samantha hopes to fund her trip with the proceeds of her auction.
Concert
The Manila Symphony
Orchestra’s “Soundtracks and Symphonies” will be conducted by Prof. Arturo
Molina and annotated by Jeffrey Solares. Included in their repertoire is a John
Williams tribute as well as pieces from greats such as Beethoven, Mozart, and
Bach.
Manila Symphony Orchestra |
The concert is for the
benefit of Special Education (SPED) Centers that have been the focus of the
Center for Possibilities’ recent efforts. To act as a venue for learning of indigent
persons with special needs, each SPED Center is operated by a teacher trained
in the SPED division of Reach International School.
The Sagada SPED Center has been up and running and will be
enhanced with a series of livelihood and vocational programs that will be
teaching skills for income-generating activities. “Caring for special kids is
very taxing because it’s usually just a one-income household so we also need to
help the parents improve their finances,” explains CFP founder, Dolores Cheng.
In Norzagaray, what they have right now is just the building
itself. A fence, a water tank, and a playground are still needed. “We are also in the process of doing
our due diligence by determining the number of special children in all the barangays relevant to Norzagaray. Next
will be an orientation for all the parents within the community. We are
subsequently planning for the provision of testing, diagnosis, and analysis for
the children with special needs,” Cheng adds.
Enrolment in the SPED
Centers is free so it helps alleviate the family’s cost of taking care of
special children. If you would like to extend assistance, you may reach CFP at http://centerforpossibilities.asia/
or (02) 723-1242 / (0918) 888-1759.
“Samantha” and
“Soundtracks and Symphonies” will be on January 28, 2016, 5:30pm at the Carlos
P. Auditorium of the RCBC Plaza, Makati.
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