This school in Nagpur has a well-equipped building completely dedicated to art

As Tulika Kedia went about her daily rounds at Delhi Public School, Mihan, she saw a group of toddlers gaze at the huge murals on the wall and say, 'Even the walls at DPS can speak'. It instantly brought a smile to her face. That enthusiasm for art was what she hoped to see in her students when she established the Artist Village in her school earlier this year. The Artists' Village is one of a kind - it has a separate building with state-of-the-art facilities for the development of performing arts and visual arts and is intended to make students fall in love with art, music and dance. It also includes an amphitheatre with a seating capacity of 300 people, which acts as a platform for people to showcase their talents, and well-equipped classrooms for various art forms. Tulika, the president of both DPS Kamptee and DPS Mihan, plans to organise various cultural and academic activities here. 

All about art: Tulika Kedia, President, DPS Nagpur Kamptee and Mihan is an art enthusiast herself

Tulika herself is an art patron, an art gallerist and a wildlife conservationist and has been actively promoting dying art forms for the last decade or so. She first set up DPS Kamptee, where they had a number of art projects and workshops. "We made sure that art was introduced to all children studying there," she says, adding, "But then, one day, when we were sitting with the architect while conceptualising DPS Mihan, I wondered if we could take it a step further and emphasise on art. Art has a direct impact on and gives meaning to education. Art can be used for all subjects and be made easier. That was the idea behind having a dedicated Artists' Village." The village includes beautiful murals done by the resident artist. "She's been interacting with the students and parents, so it's a great place to learn and grow," says Tulika, "Art encourages fine motor skills, neural development and also, different problem-solving abilities. It's very important that teachers use it effectively to teach and understand other subjects. Not only does it help students process their world, but it also helps them deal with emotions in a proper way. It gives them a critical sensory input. It's also a great source of beauty and expression, as well as simply for the process of creating." 

Tulika recently had Sushma Bahl, a noted artist and art curator, visit the school and interact with children and teachers. "By bringing in more people like this, we can also encourage children to take up art as a career. They were all very inspired," Tulika notes. In the future, Tulika hopes to bring a lot of personalities from the art world - indigenous artists, dancers and theatre artists, basically a very intensive immersion in art for children in Nagpur, who have probably not seen it before.