Did you know that in Oulu children and young people have the possibility to pursue such a creative hobby as ‘word art’ – in Finnish ‘sanataide’? Ever wonder what kind of art this is, and where one can learn more about it? Ms. Maarit (Maami) Heikkinen, a teacher at Nukun Sanataidekoulu, the Word Art School of the Youth and Culture Centre Nuku (Hallituskatu 7), says that word art is rather comprehensive: “It basically involves activities like listening to, reading and writing literary texts. The main emphasis of word art is on dealing creatively with literature and language. Nukun Sanataidekoulu is one of the places in the city of Oulu where children and young people can engage in word art.”

Nukun Sanataidekoulu, which was established in 2000, offers a variety of word art groups. Children and young people who want to get involved can enroll themselves in the beginning of August. The tuition fee for each term of the school year, which lasts in Finland until May, is between 35 € and 55 €. The word art groups normally gather once a week, and they consist of 8-12 members. The age of the members varies, that is, there are groups available for children and young people up to the age of 20 years. Since 2003 special groups are offered even for babies and their parents or guardians. Each group and their members are guided by teachers and trainees who usually have a professional background or plenty of experience in word art education.

Ms. Heikkinen says that most of the children and young people who participate in word art groups at Nukun Sanataidekoulu are naturally interested in language and literature. She noticed that, as the group members engage in word art during their gatherings, they are eager to also make use of other kinds of art: “When reading stories the young children, especially, begin to paint a picture or start singing a song. Some of the older ones like to combine the reading of literary texts, produced either by themselves or by renown writers, with theatre or circus art.” She adds that “children and young people get inspired through different forms of art, and by joining them together they’re able to express their own creativity in unique ways.”

According to Ms. Heikkinen, the teachers at Nukun Sanataidekoulu are dedicated to pay special attention to ideas voiced by members of the word art groups: “Participants in our groups should be able to do what they are most fascinated in”. She gives the concrete example of a word art project that was carried out last autumn: “We read together the Finnish children’s book Prinsessan siivet (The Princess’s Wings) by Kaarina Helakisa. In the process both the boys and girls of our group got inspired by the flying ability of the book’s main character. Soon they invented their own stories about winged figures. On the basis of the children’s own stories, we then set out to write screenplays in a common effort and created animation videos at the Film School of the Youth and Culture Centre Nuku (Nukun Elokuvakoulu).”

Once a year the word art groups and teachers at Nukun Sanataidekoulu present their creative work to the general public at the Creative Writing and Drama Art Education Festival in Oulu (Valtakunnalliset lasten ja nuorten sanataidepäivät). They arrange such events as word art performances, writing contests, text and cartoon exhibitions, workshops and lectures on literature and language. In addition, they usually publish their own festival newspaper on the Internet. Perhaps these events, along with all the other activities organised by Nukun Sanataidekoulu throughout the entire school year, will awake the interest of other children and young people in Oulu to take up the hobby of word art.

Recently Nukun Sanataidekoulu has also established word art groups for immigrant children. Ms. Heikkinen and her colleague, Ms. Kirsi Eskelinen, started a project with immigrant children who are currently attending the so-called preparatory class at Koskela School. “The Finnish language level of these children varies. They have been in Finland only for a few weeks”, Ms. Heikkinen mentions. “We will proceed with this project according to the needs of the class. The idea is to build up the children’s Finnish vocabulary by reading illustrated stories with them. Some exercises in creative writing could follow. It’s fascinating to observe how word art affects the Finnish language learning of children whose mother tongue is different.”

For the next school year, Ms. Heikkinen is hoping that word art will attract a wider attention among children and young people, in particular those with an immigrant background: “I’m ready and looking forward to leading such groups, if there’s enough interest in Oulu, and if Nukun Sanataidekoulu provides resources such as time, space and finances.”

The financial resources shouldn’t be a problem, as Oulu’s Youth and Culture Centre Nuku lately received a considerable amount of money from the Finnish Ministry of Education to develop art education for the young generation. This could also provide a means to solve the issue of time and space. Thus it only remains to hope that Oulu’s children and young people, especially immigrants, will express an interest in word art.

Glossary
word art = sanataide
word art education = sanataidekasvatus, sanataideopetus
word art teacher = sanataideopettaja, sanataidekasvattaja
preparatory class = valmentava luokka

Mäkelä, Marja-Leena (Ed.) (2005). Sanaista taidetta. Helsinki: BTJ Kirjastopalvelu.