A Word from our sponsor
Breez Finance congratulates USQ Artsworx, students and teachers having brought alive David Burton’s delightful play, Captain Pathos and His Army of Imaginary Friends.
Imagine for a moment - if you were given an hour, how would you teach a child about responsibility, differences, friendship and imagination?
Tonight, in less than forty minutes, not only has this production captured these elements, but children watching this play will learn how to deal with other important issues such as companionship, loneliness, respect and how to connect with their classmates.
In schools today there is a growing diversity of students with different cultural, social, and economic backgrounds that result in very different ways of thinking, learning, and behaving.
The arts are languages that most people speak, cutting through individual differences in culture, educational background, and ability. They can bring every subject to life and turn abstractions into concrete reality. Learning through the arts often results in greater academic achievement and higher test scores.
As a mother of three, I understand that children use creative play to communicate their feelings. As you will agree, they might not always be able to explain verbally why they’re feeling angry, depressed, happy or frightened. But in an encouraging environment, they are able to express these feelings using paint, colour, movement or music. It’s their way of learning. It’s a way for them to walk in another person’s shoes, so they understand what someone else is going through.
A child’s play is his work and the toys are his words. Children learn by using all their senses and must experience their world in order to make sense of it. Drama, music, dance and visual art fosters creativity and imagination in children. These activities also help young children develop their senses through exploration and discovery. They let children express how they view the world, and their place in it.
George Bernard Shaw once said “Imagination is the beginning of creation". You imagine what you desire, you will what you imagine, and at last you create what you will.
Breez Finance sponsors USQ's Children’s Festival because every single child deserves the opportunity to be exposed to the arts. A life without the arts is a life of seeing without feeling, hearing without listening and touching without connecting.
We believe that when children are exposed to the arts and encouraged to use their imagination, they are given opportunities to express visually what they may not be able to say verbally.
Thankfully, one thing that hasn’t changed over the generations is that children still have imaginary friends.
If a picture paints a thousand words, a play creates a million dreams.
To the caste and crew, thank you so very much for engaging the imagination of everyone here, tonight. The pleasure has truly been ours.
Francis Fernandez, Breez Finance