WHY WOMEN AND YOUTHS?

WYART realizes that if you train a woman, you train a whole nation. When a woman acquires a skill, she is very likely to pass it on to her children. So, in this way the whole family is empowered.
As an art for empowerment programme, we intend to transform the lives of women because a good number of them are unemployed and are idle. We realize that the average Nigerian woman is hardworking but that her energies have to be redirected towards more productive ventures where she will derive more financial rewards for her efforts. We always paint this scenario of a woman who sells sweets and cigarettes by the roadside, sometimes with a baby strapped to her back under harsh weather conditions. If you were to sum up all that the wares amount to, it may probably be about N2 000. If that same woman is taught how to make beaded jewelry for instance, and invests N2 000 on buying beads and fittings, she will make 4 - 5 times that capital in one week and with less risk. So what are we saying here? The much talked about poverty alleviation is a reality with the WYART initiative. We have had experiences where workshop participants sell off their products even before the close of their training.
Women also need to be given a voice and gain recognition for their voices. WYART initiative provides that platform. We do not discriminate in our choice of participants. We have the ‘illiterates’ the ‘learned’ all coming together in our various fora. WYART therefore has become a unifying voice through which they can be heard. From our group, we have had participants become facilitators and resources persons. We keep track of all our participants and follow-up on their progress. A much as we want women of all classes to acquire these skills, our target audience is the unemployed women. We desire that the skills learnt are used to make a drastic improvement to their living standard. The youths are full of energy and are very willing to engage in creative work if given the opportunity. We have therefore had to work with various youth groups to achieve our aim. It is often said that the idle mind is the devil’s workshop. We hope to be able to cover more ground in this area of empowerment particularly in regions of unrest where we have restive youths. Engaging them in some productive venture will drastically reduce this social menace.

Why art? Because Art is life and Art is beauty. So we try to put in beauty into the lives of people by empowering them through skill acquisition. Art is one aspect through which Nigeria has contributed meaningfully to world civilization. We have had a rich traditional past and our heritage is of great renown....

The main mission of this Foundation is to empower women and youths, without any discrimination based on class, religion or age. We have trained so many women and youths in local and urban communities and also through religious groups that identify

The WYART initiative was borne out of her early life experience. Her mother, Princess Elizabeth Olowu is an artist and as a child she grew up learning a lot from her. She was always engaged in one activity or the other. She was also involved in art training and as a teacher, she not only taught her students while in school but was involved in several