"We must not destroy the integrated world which each child strives to build up in his own mind, and on which depends his happiness, his originality or creativeness and his future achievements." These were the words of the pioneer of child art, Mrs. Cora Abraham, who founded and brought her theory and methods of teaching art to Sri Lanka from the West in the tangible form of the Melbourne Art Classes in 1949. Since the establishment of the art school, the venue has moved to High Level Road, Colombo 6 and has changed its name to the Cora Abraham Art Classes. This year sees the 60th Anniversary of the school which has enjoyed years of success and given the gift of art to numerous students.

Mrs. Abrahams opened the school with a vision to give children and students the freedom to express themselves without the inhibitive influence of adults. Her method is not so much teaching as guiding the students through a learning process through which they can freely express themselves and their feelings without feeling restricted. Teachers at the school are trained in the Cora Abrahams methods of teaching. They learn to guide students by sympathetic interest, encouraging them to use their creative urges effectively. Art Education as presented by the late Mrs. Abrahams was not for the fostering of talent but a means of inspiring those with or without talent. There are no exams, competitions, or any sort of competitive encouragement, no one students work is favoured above the other and no one child is deemed more talented.

The school is a non profit establishment and is not privately owned. Most of the teachers have themselves been through the school and work there on a part-time basis. In order to make ends meet each student must pay an admission fee and a certain amount toward materials which are freely accessible and no restrictions as to the quantity used are implemented.

Mrs. Abrahams believed that education through Art is a character building process because freedom of expression gives one the freedom to think and make choices and grow into a confident and well-balanced person. This process does not occur overnight but is nourished and sustained over a period of time with far reaching consequences. The therapeutic value of 'education through art' is an extremely important aspect of the schools theory and can be seen in the development of the children, both as individuals and through their art. As the 'Father of child art', Frans Cizek discovered, children can draw without any instructions from a teacher or adult, that artistic strain is already there and only needs to be nurtured.

During my visit to the school I spoke to Mrs. Nirmala Riza the school’s principal, Ms. Chandramani Thenuwana Chairperson of the Cora Abraham's Art Classes Trust, and Mrs. Shanta Gunaratna, Trustee of the school. All three women have themselves been through the school, and have remained actively involved. As Ms. Thenuwana put it, many people are attracted by the schools way of "going against the grain of today's society". In some instances three generations of the same family have attended the school, which in itself highlights the outstanding success of the Cora Abraham Art Classes.

The art classes are divided into age groups in order to suit the psychological needs of the different levels, the groups range from 4+ and going up as far as 15+. The children in the 4+ classes are not interested in specific forms, they experiment using different colours and paint and draw shapes and objects of their own invention. Often the colours they use express a particular emotion or feeling. If a parent or teacher was angry or sad, the child will incorporate that into their pictures using different colours in order to express this. The teachers at Cora's believe that this expression of emotion through art has a therapeutic value in releasing the child of the offending emotion. The younger children draw what they know, rather than what they see. For example if a child draws a bus, even though you cannot see the people on the bus from outside, they will draw all the people on the bus. To them it is logical as they know there are people on the bus. The students are given a free reign as to what they decide to paint or do during the classes, as Mrs. Riza explained, at the school they "do not believe in teaching", rather teachers encourage the students to express themselves in their own individual way.

The 4+ group that I observed were extremely relaxed and it was lovely to see them so absorbed and involved in what they were doing, even the presence of strangers did not deter them from their work. Each child worked independently on a communal collage, mixing and matching colours, each lost in their own world. There was none of the restlessness that is so often seen in Western schools where the children have an extremely short concentration span. This goes to show the positive mentality of the Sri Lankan people and also the effective methods of the school itself.

At Cora's art is an escape, a way of getting rid of the pressure of school, exams, and the environment is extremely conducive to this. The school believes that creativity and art slowly reduce and eliminate the inhibitions of the children, allowing them to freely express themselves. There is an atmosphere of freedom in the school, and the children also go there to enjoy themselves.

Another group of slightly older children were busy cutting out figures and objects they had drawn. This exercise required a lot of concentration on the part of each child and you could see some of them struggling with the sharp corners, but in the end each figure and shape was successfully cut out. The second part of the exercise was sticking the cut out figures onto a blank sheet of paper and dabbing it with various different coloured paint, something they all seemed to thoroughly enjoy doing.

With the older group that I observed, the 8-10 year olds, you could see the progression and how they were now conscious of structure and the shape of things. The development was clearly visible and quite astounding to see. The class was a stick figure class where the children first drew objects and people after which they clothed the figures using different types of material. It was fascinating to see the movement of each child's figures and also the different scenes they had chosen to depict. One girl had numerous people dancing each with a different movement and she was using sequences and glitter to dress them. Another girl had chosen the scene of people going to a temple, their clothing was more subdued and low key, befitting a visit to the temple. Yet anther boy had chosen to portray a policeman and a crowd of people at a traffic light.

By allowing the children to cloth the figures with fabric, and use string, leather and various other materials for the background, they were learning about different textiles and fabrics in a fascinating way. As Fazna, the 8-10 year olds teacher explained, children at that age are also learning about perspective and how to distinguish and draw light and shadow in their paintings, something which can be quite difficult to grasp and portray in art. As the students get older and their grasp on how to portray visual scenes develops, a clear change can be seen, but those early years of learning and experimenting are vitally important to that later more conventional knowledge of art.

Occasionally outings are organized for the children and they go as a group to a location and sketch what they see. This sort of activity encourages close observation of objects and teaches them to draw what they see. A trip to the zoo for example is not only a great learning activity, but also immensely enjoyable for the children. Other activities organized by the school include a recent fashion show where the children modeled for each other and then drew each other afterwards, an exercise that was enjoyed by everyone.

Last year saw the beginning of the highly successful Cora Abraham Summer Camps, which were specifically requested by the parents of the students. Like the classes the camps are divided into age groups and five consecutive sessions of three hours per day are given. Material, as in the regular art classes, is freely provided. There is an eclectic mix of children attending; from Sri Lankan's living in Colombo and abroad to students from the International schools in Colombo. The success and demand for these summer classes positively reflects the school and its methods.